By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Certain to face a tough challenge to his leadership in the winter session of parliament, embattled Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala obtained a reprieve Monday with the house adjourning for 10 days.
With the stage set for a stiff fight between the Maoists backed by their communist allies on one hand and Koirala and his Nepali Congress party on the other, the winter session that began amid high expectations and tension Monday afternoon however adjourned after only 13 minutes in a way that is becoming characteristic of the procrastinating ruling alliance.
Speaker Subhash Chandra Nembang adjourned the session for 10 days at the request of the parties.
The adjournment was on the cards after Koirala called a meeting of the ruling parties and the Maoists in the morning to resolve the deepening crisis and the meeting, characteristically, ended without any agreement.
The parties asked for more time in a bid to reach an agreement after several meetings failed to reach a consensus.
The Maoists are sticking to their demand for the immediate abolition of Nepal’s 238-year-old monarchy and a new election system.
The demands received a boost in the recent special session of parliament when the rebels won over the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), the second largest party in Koirala’s ruling coalition, and the house approved the demand with a simple majority.
On Sunday, in a bid to mount further pressure on Koirala, who is resisting both demands, the Maoists held mass meetings in Kathmandu valley as well as other districts, warning that they would look for a new leadership if the prime minister ignored the demands.
“If the Nepali Congress is loath to abolish monarchy and adopt a fully proportional representation system for the election (despite being directed by parliament), the prime minister must step down,” senior Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai said at a rally held by his party in the capital.
Bhattarai also warned that if Koirala failed to implement the two demands in the winter session, his party would start a new protest movement.
Challenging Koirala’s assertion that if the Maoists chose to stay away, he would hold the twice-postponed constituent assembly election without them, Bhattarai dared the government to go ahead and do it.
Since 1990, Nepal has been unable to hold any election due to the Maoists’ opposition.
Though King Gyanendra conducted a municipal election last year during his army-backed regime, over 90 percent of the parties boycotted it and it was declared null and void by the new government that came to power after his fall.
Despite the threats, Koirala and his party have said they would not agree to axe the crown in parliament but leave the decision to the election.
The embattled premier faces a thorny situation with his MPs saying that even if they were asked to vote for the Maoist proposals, they would defy the party whip.
The crisis arises because according to Nepal’s new constitution, the king can be sacked only if two-thirds of the legislators vote for the demands.
Though the Maoists and communists have a simple majority, they still need support from Koirala’s party to increase their tally.
While the Maoists say it is morally binding for Koirala to heed parliament’s majority decision, the prime minister says there are technical difficulties.
If the winter session can’t resolve the deadlock, the fragile peace process will take another blow.
A fresh election date would become impossible and with the festivities over, the Terai plains in the south would become restive once again.
One of the strongest parties from the plains, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, has threatened to start protests from this week if the government failed to implement the commitments it had made almost two months ago.