Prachanda aims at ‘renewed push’ for the Nepal Left as new govt. gets going
After joining hands with former Prime Minister Oli with the promise of rejuvenating the ‘Leftist movement’ in Nepal, Prime Minister Prachanda on Wednesday formed a new Cabinet by inducting Ministers from his new coalition partners, two days after breaking
wo days after breaking the oneyearold alliance with the Nepali Congress, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on Wednesday formed a new Cabinet by inducting Ministers from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist), his new main coalition partner, and two other parties.
In a sudden move, Prachanda on Monday broke up with the Congress and joined hands with former Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli, Chairman of the CPNUML, with the promise to give a renewed push to the “Leftist movement” in Nepal.
Prachanda, also the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), inducted eight Ministers from the CPNUML, five Ministers from his own party, four from the Rastriya Swatantra Party and two from CPN (Unified Socialist) on Wednesday.
Lately, Prachanda had been repeatedly saying that his government had not been able to yield the desired results. Party insiders and political commentators said his remarks, however, stemmed from the notion that Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba was continuously stalling his plan to reshuffle some Ministers.
T“The Prime Minister wanted a free hand in the functioning of the government but he was not getting that. So he was looking for an excuse to ditch the Congress,” said Mumaram Khanal, a writer and political commentator.
Also, some decisions taken by the General Committee meeting of the Congress party last month had caused discomfort in the Maoist party. Some Congress dissidents had raised questions about alliance politics and had called for not forging alliances with any party in the next elections, which Mr. Deuba agreed to.
The MaoistCongress relationship had broken beyond repair, according to Minendra Rijal, a Congress leader.
Prachanda found a good excuse in the impending election of the National Assembly chair. Ignoring an earlier deal with the Congress, the Maoist Centre said it would field its own candidate. The National Assembly chair election is scheduled for March 12. The post is crucial because the chair is a member of the Constitutional Council that recommends members for various constitutional bodies.
‘Bound to happen’
“I am not surprised as a communist coalition was bound to happen sooner rather than later,” said Mr. Rijal. “It was known to all that Prachanda would do all he could to stall handing over power regardless of the deal that had been forged.” According to an agreement that the Maoists and Congress signed in February last year, Prachanda was supposed to hand pver power to Mr. Deuba after two years. “Prachanda was not willing to do so. Already in his third stint as Prime Minister, Prachanda wants to continue in power as long as he can,” said Mr. Rijal. “Therefore, that he would reach out to Mr. Oli was not a matter of if but when.”
Prachanda has a history of switching sides.
The CPNUML and the Maoist Centre had merged in 2018 to form the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in a bid to form a large Left force in Nepal. However, power struggle between Prachanda and Mr. Oli led to the implosion of the NCP in 2021.
After facing a gradual electoral decline over the years, the Maoist Centre fought the 2022 general elections under an alliance with Congress.
After the Congress party’s refusal to let him lead the government in December 2022, Prachanda swiftly sided with Mr. Oli, and was elected Prime Minister with the CPNUML’s backing . However, in February last year, the UML pulled out of the government after the Maoist Centre decided to support the Congress candidate in the presidential poll. Congress joined Prachanda’s government. A year later, he is back with Mr. Oli again.
‘Personal interest’
“This MaoistUML alliance has been formed purely out of Prachanda’s personal interest,” said Mr. Khanal. “His onepoint agenda is remaining in power, by hook or by crook. He knew his tenure was going to end as per an earlier deal, so he pulled a switcheroo, which he is very good at.”
Commentators in Nepal even dub Prachanda the source of instability, given the way he tends to switch sides at the drop of a hat.
On Monday afternoon, while talking about the change in alliance, Prachanda said: “The country will be in turmoil until the day I die.”
Hours after breaking the old alliance, Mr. Prachanda on Monday said that he would relaunch the communist unity efforts immediately.
Observers, however, say a communist unity is a farfetched idea. Though both the Maoists and the CPNUML call themselves “communists”, they are poles apart ideologically. The CPNUML has for long been a vocal critic of the Maoists’ “people’s war.”
Hari Sharma, a writer and political commentator, described the new development as “nothing but some interest groups coming together.” “Nepali political parties changing partnerships frequently in the name of forging an alliance is rather a dalliance,” said Mr. Sharma.
A communist unity in Nepal is something Beijing has always wished for, and the new developments may come to its liking. On Tuesday, noting the developments in Nepal , Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said, “We would like to work with the new government to advance the ChinaNepal strategic partnership of cooperation featuring everlasting friendship for development and prosperity”.
New Delhi has not reacted to the suddenly evolved communistdominated dispensation in Kathmandu.
That he was a vocal critic of India is a thing of the past and Prachanda cannot afford to ruffle Delhi’s feathers now, say observers.
(Sanjeev Satgainya is an independent journalist based in Kathmandu)