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Note No. 467 25-Aug-2008
NEPAL: Prachanda Takes over as Prime Minister: Update No. 170.
By Dr. S.Chandrasekharan
On August 18, Maoist leader Prachanda ( Pushpa Kumar Dahal) took the oath of secrecy in the name of the people at the Singha Durbar. Significantly, the outgoing Prime minister G.P.Koirala did not attend the ceremony. For a communist, Prachanda must have been baffled by the decorations made to the entrance to the PMO of earthen potteries, yogurt and fruits that were meant to have an auspicious tenure for the incumbent prime minister!
The ceremony itself was spoiled by an avoidable controversy by the decision of the central committee of CPN (Maoist) to provide the inner ring security to the Prime minister by their own PLA followed by an outer ring of armed Police. The security of the PM is the responsibility of the Nepalese army and yet the army gave way to the PLA to provide the security.
Both the UML and the MJF- the coalition partners criticised the decision of the Maoists in making use of the PLA to provide security. This is one of the teething problems that could be expected and soon the Maoists will have to learn to conform to the existing rules and regulations.
Another surprise was except for Janata Dal (United) of Sharad Yadav no other Indian party sent any delegation for the swearing in ceremony. Sitaram Yechury was conspicuously absent! .
Allotment of Portfolios:
Despite initial agreement of distribution of portfolios, till the 17th of August, the three parties, the Maoists, UML and the MJF failed to make a headway on the question of distribution of portfolios. Finally on 21st August a final ( hopefully) agreement was reached not only on the distribution of portfolios but also on the "code of governance" and "dos & don’ts" for the ministers.
The portfolio distribution is s follows.
Maoists: Defence, Finance, information and communication, commerce & supply, employment, peace & reconstruction and housing & urban planning ministries.
UML: Home, Local Development, forests & soil conservation, industry, youth & sports ministries.
MJF: Foreign Affairs, agriculture & cooperation and physical planning.
It appears that MJF demanded communications which would never have been given by the Maoists to any party other than their own and instead MJF got agriculture and co-operatives.
There are crucial ministries for which there is no information as yet and these are education, land reforms and local administration. Each one has something to do with the overall agenda of the Maoists in restructuring the country.
Rules of Governance:
The following rules of governance were agreed to among the three parties.
Government to mobilise security bodies with the consensus of political parties involved in the government.
To forge a consensus on matters of national importance.
To implement decisions taken in the joint political coordination committee.
Cabinet to review its performance at least once a week.
Do’s and Don’ts for Ministers.
The three parties agreed to an elaborate do’s and don’ts for the ministers. These include
To publicise the details of property at the time of joining and leaving the government.
To abstain from irregular and corrupt behaviour, shun nepotism and favouritism
To follow democratic norms and principles.
Not to accept expensive gifts and economic benefits from anywhere.
To follow austerity measures
Not to embark on useless and expensive foreign visits.
Not to publicly air opinions that are at odds with cabinet decisions.
To make political appointments without any biases.
To resign when recalled by respective political parties.
To quit if found guilty of irregularities.
Not to treat subordinate bodies as places for cadre recruitment.
Some of the clauses like the last one or of democratic norms must have been added at the behest of the UML and the MJF while the others are that of the Maoists who must have seen how corrupt and inefficient the politicians become once they get appointed as ministers.
Prachanda’s Address to the Nation:
On taking over, Prachanda addressed the nation wherein he outlined briefly his objecitves. He said-
Nepal would follow the principles of Panchsheel in its relations with all countries including its neighbours.
He would step up efforts to strengthen national unity based on equality among people of all regions.
He would end age old class, ethnic, regional and gender discrimination.
Promote public-private partnership in order to achieve socio economic goals.
Will have short-medium and long term plans for the development of agriculture, hydro power and infra structure.
Ensure peaceful relations between labourers and employers.
Take the peace process to a logical conclusion. ( integration of the PLA with the regular Army)
Write the Constitution on time will be the main task of the government.
He urged the international community and particularly the neighbouring countries to provide moral and physical support for the historic transformation of Nepal.
It looks that Prachanda will look for parity in relations with India and China and will be averse to any special relations with India. This also ties up with their long-standing objective of reviewing the Indo Nepal Friendship treaty which provides certain special relations between the two countries. It is time India finally gives up this " make believe" special relations which never existed in the minds of the Nepalese administration.
The controversy over Sunsari Floods:
The very first problem Prachanda faced after taking over was the flooding of the Sapthakoshi river in Sunsari district making over fifty thousand people homeless besides causing immense damage to property in the populated areas. Because of the collapse of two spurs of the dam and breach of one of the banks, Koshi river changed its course by one and half kilometres through populated areas causing immense hardship to the people. Prachanda visited the flooded areas and sought international help. While addressing the Press he said " Koshi project was a historical mistake and it should be reviewed and a permanent solution has to be found for the flood havoc caused by the Koshi river. This is similar to what late King Birendra said that Nepal had been "cheated" by India on the Koshi project. That impression perhaps continues even to this day.
It is unfortunate that Prachanda should begin his tenure with an anti Indian rhetoric which is out of place and unjustified. India should therefore be wary of entering into any "state to state" hydro power/irrigation projects in Nepal in future too.
One other interesting action of the new government was to stop the "Miss Nepal" show sponsored by the Dabur Industries of India. Indian media reports indicate that some restrictions have been placed on the Dabur company itself.
Prachanda’s visit to China:
Prachanda visited China to attend the closing ceremony of the Olympic games. This was his first outing outside the country. Some India media analysts see something sinister in Prachanda making his first visit to China and not India as it used to be. This is rather unfair as the opportunity for visiting China came up because of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games and that too when the President of Nepal who was invited for the opening ceremony could not attend.
In Beijing, Prachanda met the Chinese President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiapao and Wang Jiami, the head of the International Liaison department of CCP. Wen Jiapao told the Nepalese Prime Minister that China respected the social system and way of development Nepal has chosen according to its situation and that he believed that Nepal would realise its political stability through the joint efforts of all political parties under the leadership of Prachanda. The reception from the Chinese was described by many as "warm and friendly."
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