By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : Nepal’s new President Ram Baran Yadav has stepped in to end the country’s deepening political crisis and invited the Maoists to form the new government within seven days, but the former guerrillas have rejected the call and accused him of overstepping his powers.
After three months without a government and growing discord between the Maoists – who emerged as the largest party in the April election – and caretaker Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his Nepali Congress party, the president made a surprise move Tuesday night, asking the Maoists to prove their majority in the house and form the new government.
The communiqué issued by the president’s office said the Maoists would have to prove their majority in the constituent assembly, which also serves as Nepal’s caretaker parliament, within one week.
But the gesture angered the former rebels, who said the ceremonial president had violated the constitution with his initiative.
“The president has no power to dictate to us,” senior Maoist leader and lawmaker Dinanath Sharma told IANS. “A new government has to be formed and it will be formed in accordance with constitutional provisions. The president has violated the statute with his call.”
The Maoist leader said the constitution had laid down the provision that a government should be formed on the basis of consensus among the 25 parties in the assembly.
“We have begun consultations with the other parties and are in the process of reaching a conclusion,” Sharma said.
In case the parties fail to reach an agreement, the statute lays down that a new government can be formed on the basis of simple majority.
Currently, there are 594 members in the house. The Maoists, who have 226 seats, need to garner the support of 72 lawmakers from other parties to come to power.
Sharma said when the caretaker parliament convenes Wednesday, his party and its allies would move a proposal for a vote in the house for the Maoists to prove their majority.
“If the president had wanted to end the deadlock constitutionally, he too should have proposed the election instead of issuing an order,” the Maoist legislator said.
Though Koirala resigned officially this month, the formation of a new government is still in limbo as the Maoists said they would sit in opposition after a smarting defeat in the presidential poll that saw Koirala’s party member Yadav shoot past his rivals.
“We have no moral right to form the government as we lost the presidential election,” Maoist chief Prachanda said.
However, the former guerrillas changed their mind soon after that and began fresh negotiations with their former allies, the communists, with whom they had parted ways during the presidential poll.
Now a new alliance between the Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), is on the cards. The two parties have again come together to oppose Koirala’s attending the 15th SAARC Summit in Colombo Friday.
The Maoists, who waged a 10-year war from 1996 to end Nepal’s all-powerful dynasty of kings and establish a communist republic, came close to their target two months ago after they laid down arms to fight the battle of the ballot.
The April election saw them streak past the other ruling parties and in May, the newly elected constituent assembly formally declared an end to the kingdom’s 239-year-old monarchy.
If they are able to cobble an alliance now, it will be the first time in Nepal’s history that the Maoists would come to power, a development that is likely to have a deep impact on the politics of the region, including southern neighbour India, where Indian Maoists are still waging an armed struggle against the state.