Deuba back to Singha Durbar: Opportunity to ‘right his wrongs’

Deuba back to Singha Durbar: Opportunity to ‘right his wrongs’


(Manoj Karki)

KATHMANDU:  President of the largest political party in the parliament, Nepali Congress, Mr Sher Bahadur Deuba is back at the helm of affairs of Nepal, after a gap of 12 years. Deuba has become a frequent occupant of the leading spot in Singha Durbar, with this becoming the fourth time that he has taken over the leadership of the country.

However, as Deuba will experience in the days to come, it is not necessarily an easy time to head the Nepali council of ministers. Not only because the tenure is limited, but also due to the many important tasks that he will have to complete within the next eight months or so.

The most challenging task ahead is the full implementation of the new constitution that will start with now holding the second phase of local level elections, scheduled for June 28 to follow it up with the provincial and general elections by January 2018. Handling a coalition government made up of almost two-third majority in the house will be another challenge for this seasoned politician.

Apart from meeting the challenges ahead, Prime Minister Deuba also has to prove his critics wrong, and rectify the failures he has had in his last premierships, most notably when then King Gyanendra ousted him after branding him ‘incompetent’. Though Gyanendra has now become a commoner, a party that is voicing for his reinstatement with the restoration of constitutional monarchy in the country was one of the many parties that ensured Deuba’s comfortable win in the election to the post of the 40th Prime Minister of the country.

After completing his cabinet, which has been inaugurated with three deputy Prime Ministers, Prime Minister Deuba’s first challenge would be to ensure that the Madhesh-centric political parties take part in the second phase of local level elections.  For this, Deuba has to address their major demands including amendment of the new Constitution.

Fortunately for Deuba, he will have to garner only a handful of votes to ensure two-thirds majority, required to amend the constitution. In the election held at the parliament on Tuesday, the lone candidate in the race for premiership, Mr Deuba was elected with 388 votes in the 593-member house. Unless there is undemocratic and unruly obstruction of the house by the main opposition, getting a two-thirds majority for amending the constitution should not be a problem for Deuba. However, he needs to make sure that the amendment he sanctions does not lead to demand for more amendments to the constitution which is not even two years old.

Nepali Congress was limited to the second position in the first phase of the local elections, which many claim to have been contributed by some controversial decisions taken allegedly by Deuba, including the decision to impeach Chief Justice Sushila Karki. Though many reasons have been pointed out for the same, Deuba’s liking for Jaya Bahadur Chand to head Nepal Police organization came to the fore as the ground that eventually led to a fall out between the executive and the judiciary . Deuba’s decision to collaborate with the CPN (MC) in the first phase of local elections also did not fair good for the party, most notably in the bid to get his predecessor’s daughter become the mayor of the newly designated metropolitan city of Bharatpur.

Hence, Prime Minister Deuba now has the opportunity to learn from his past shortcomings and make this latest stint of his at the helms of affairs at Singha Durbar a positive and fruitful one not only for himself and his party, but for the country as a whole.

Speeding up the now stalled post-earthquake reconstruction process, maintaining the continuous supply of power that happened in a miraculous fashion during the previous government’s tenure, maintaining the significant economic growth rate and maintaining equdistance between neighbours China and India are other challenges that Deuba will have to be address in his very short tenure at Singha Durbar. Dealing with a very vocal and stiff opposition in the CPN-UML will be another challenge that the four-time prime minister will face in the days ahead.

However, given the short span of term and the grave responsibilities ahead, Prime Minister Deuba has the golden opportunity at hand to establish himself as a true statesman of the country by rising above his petty personal and party interest and working for the greater good of the nation as a whole. RSS

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