Ritu Raj Subedi

On last Wednesday, Nepal’s politics underwent a nasty jolt, threatening to derail its hard-won stability. The internal conflict of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) headed to a dangerous climax, with its top three leaders, who are also ex-prime ministers, demanding the resignation of incumbent Prime Minister and chairman KP Sharma Oli at its secretariat meeting.

They blamed that PM Oli showed his authoritarian character and working style, which they argued, badly tarnished the image of the government and the party. In his knee-jerk reaction, the PM announced that if he was to step down from the post, he would pass the baton to vice-chair Bam Dev Gautam after the ongoing COVID-19 crisis comes to an end. He also proposed senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as the chair of party to contain the factional bickering. The proposal was unexpected for the top stalwarts dead set to knock him off his pedestal. Gautam said he was flummoxed by Oli’s offer but he seems clueless as to how can his journey to Singha Durbar be orchestrated under existing constitutional provisions.

Strategic move
However, Oli’s proposal to bestow the premiership on Gautam is not new. The anti-Oli axis composed of chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, and leaders Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal had some time back pressed Oli to recommend Gautam for the National Assembly member and then pave the way for his ascent to the prime ministerial position through the constitution amendment. The constitution allows only the directly elected lawmaker to vie for the PM post so there is fat chance for Gautam to succeed Oli anytime soon.

Many observers see Oli’s bid as a strategic move to weaken the alliance of his bêtes noires inside the party. Nonetheless, the growing rift has not only put NCP’s organisational unity on the slippery slope but also the nascent federal system. Oli, who led the party to a thumping electoral win in the 2017 three-tier polls, is now halfway through his five-year term, and his announcement to anoint Gautam as the new PM has not only taken all aback but also sent negative message to the public. Gautam had lost an election to the House of Representatives in the same year but ironically he has been restless since the poll loss to occupy the hot seat of Singha Durbar through a short-cut route.

Just a few weeks back, no one had imagined that the PM would face such a predicament. It is sad to note that no government- be it democratic or totalitarian - has completed its full term in office since the downfall of the Rana rule in 1951. The Oli government, formed after the country adopted federal republican constitution, is the third strongest one in its modern history. In early 1960s, the first democratically elected government of BP Koirala met tragic end in a bloodless royal coup. Another majority government, led by late Girija Prasad Koirala following the 1990 democratic movement, was also dissolved owing to the bitter intra-party strife. Is the Oli-led government is destined to meet similar fate? Is Nepal condemned to again reel from the cycle of instability? These questions are hammering Nepalis who are now living under the prolonged lockdown enforced to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged across the globe. It is a big paradox that the NCP which pulled off a resounding victory in the historic elections on the planks of stability and prosperity is seemingly at the end of its tether as it comes in the grip of internecine conflict.

The ongoing crisis has burst open with the introduction of two controversial ordinances, which have already been rescinded following public outcry. The ill-timed ordinances had apparently targeted to split some Madhes-based parties. Akin to it came the scandal of kidnapping of a lawmaker of newly formed Janata Samajbadi Party- Nepal in which some ruling party lawmakers were accused of being involved. These unpleasant events shook the moral fibre of the party, intensifying disputes among its top guns. However, at the same time many had ignored a dodgy game played by the new Madhesi party- its long-term plan to create ‘multi-state,’ which is nothing but a covert design to disintegrate the unified Nepali nation at the behest of foreign players. And one must not forget that Oli had stood up to all disruptive elements hell-bent on imposing ethnic federalism in course of drafting the new constitution in 2015.

Given that PM Oli has mended his ways, it is simply irrational to seek his resignation at this time of unprecedented national crisis for this will push the fragile republic into the new round of instability, eroding its ability to tackle the pandemic and looming economic recession. Following the decades of political volatility, Oli formed the powerful government poised to realise his lofty goal of “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali.” First and foremost, it has ensured the stability that is the key to policy consistency, bureaucratic confidence, smooth economic development and flow of foreign direct investment. If the NCP, despite having overwhelming numerical strength in the parliament, falters to deliver a stable government, the public will lose faith in its governing capability and deal a fitting answer to it in the next elections.

Collective leadership
Therefore, in order to deal with the formidable challenges that lie ahead, the ruling party must function on the basis of collective leadership and unity of purpose. Now the PM should take all his top-notch rivals into confidence through sufficient amount of self-criticism, rigorous debates and new credible moves. While consolidating inner-party democracy, the leadership must promote consultative culture from top to bottom so that coherent ideology, strict discipline, principled stand and ethical values prevail over the partisan and vested commercial, geopolitical and NGOs/INGOs’ interests, which are thriving inside the party. If the NCP and its government fail to keep these entrenched inimical elements at bay and to work for the larger interest of people, the progressive nation-building task goes down the tube no matter who is in the driving seat of government.

(Deputy Executive Editor of The Rising Nepal, Subedi writes regularly on politics, foreign affairs and other contemporary issues)