While Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has adopted silence over the appointment of his daughter Ms. Suajata Koirala as Nepal’s deputy prime minister in the current 22-party coalition government, some middle-ranking NC leaders have met secretly in a corner of Kathmandu.
According to political sources, some of the leaders who met to forge out their tactics to cope with any possible blows from Mr. Koirala include Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, Chiranjivi Wagle, Dr. Narayan Khadka, Purna Bahadur Khadka, Bimalendra Nidhi, Prakashman Singh, Ram Chandra Poudel, Bala Bahadur KC, Sushil Koirala and Nara Hari Akcharya. They are understood to have discussed over possible tactics to cope with the dictatorship and Maoists’ advancement in the country.
Among those who met, Ram Chandra Poudel and Sushil Koirala are reported to have stressed on institutionalizing Ms. Sujata Koirala’s appointment as the country’s deputy prime minister at the personal request of her father and NC President Girija Prasad Koirala. Mr. Ram Chandra Poudel said, “We are not against the appointment of any NC leader as deputy prime minister. We are against the personal approach involved in it, which undermines democratic practices,” sources quoted.
However, another NC leader Mr. Nara Hari Acharya is understood to have stood for the replacement of Ms. Koirala by somebody better qualified for the post.
Most of the participants in the discussion are reported to have pledged to fight against hereditary rule within the NC.
The sources further state that NC leaders participating in this secret meeting also discussed on the tactics to cope with the growing influence of Maoists throughout the nation. They are understood to have seen Maoists’ entry into the mainstream peace process as a major threat to the existence to their party politics. They put blame on Mr. Koirala for the progress of Maoists. Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, who is also believed to have been associated with CIA, stressed on the NC stand against the integration of Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) men into the Nepal Army, sources stated. However, he was not against the rehabilitation of the PLA men.
The Comprehensive Peace Accord signed between Maoist rebels and the then Seven Party Alliance (SPA) in 2006 was a major milestone in Nepal’s peace process, still undergoing. Following the emergence of former Maoist rebels as the largest political force with its commitment to pluralist and peaceful politics in the Constituent Assembly elections held on 10 April 2008, Maoist agenda of republic mandated by the 2006 mass uprising against the feudal monarchy was formally implemented through a declaration in the first meeting of the elected Constituent Assembly. Since then the NC has returned to its regressive mood.
Analysts doubt the success of the peace process while almost all parties have united to project the former armed rebels into the brink of violence. Maoists, however, have re-affirmed their indomitable attachment to the current peace process.