By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : As a historic battle over the fate of embattled King Gyanendra resumes in Nepal’s parliament Thursday, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala now faces a cut-throat contest with the Communists, the second largest party in his ruling coalition, eyeing the top executive post in the country.
The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), the traditional rival of Koirala’s Nepali Congress party, is now ready to quit the marriage of convenience it had entered into two years ago in a bid to oppose the king after he seized power with an army-backed coup.
After days of speculation over a secret pact between the Communists and Maoists to sack the king and the prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, chief of the UML and a former deputy prime minister, has now come out in the open about his desire to step into Koirala’s shoes.
“If I am made prime minister by mid-December, I can hold elections by April and bring lasting peace,” Nepal said late Wednesday during a popular BBC programme.
Flaying Koirala and his aide home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula for the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, Nepal said a government led by his party would be able to restore security in the turbulent Terai plains, curb criminal activities and control the Maoists.
Warning of a crisis if the twice-deferred election was not held by April, the Communist leader said during the “Sajha Sawal” programme recorded in Kavre district in central Nepal that a government headed by his party would be able to transform the country in five years.
The no-holds barred Communist attack came on the eve of the resumption of parliament.
On Thursday, the ruling parties and the Maoists will begin anew their battle over Nepal’s two-centuries-old monarchy.
The Maoists, who quit the government in September and blocked the November election, are demanding the immediate abolition of the throne and the adoption of a fully proportional election system.
The demands, which at first seemed doomed to fail, received unexpected backing from UML, and won a simple majority in parliament.
The alliance fuelled reports that the Maoists had in exchange offered to topple Koirala and hand over the premiership to Nepal and created a rift in UML.
The Communist chief’s statements bode a stormy winter session and cast a cloud over the efficacy of the meeting of the top parties to be held Thursday, before parliament convenes, in a last-ditch attempt to thrash out an agreement.
Koirala’s party, the largest in parliament, has indicated it will oppose the demands now being pushed by the Maoists and Communists.
Technically, it can block the demands since Nepal’s constitution says major changes can be pushed through only with the support of two-thirds of the legislators, a number that will elude the challengers as long as the Nepali Congress remains opposed.
To put pressure on Koirala, the Maoists have threatened to start a new revolt if the house fails to implement their demands.
The octogenarian PM is also under pressure from the international community to hold the election at the earliest, which would be impossible without the Maoists’ consent.