Quickfix Coalition

FOURTEEN years after he was voted out of office, arch-royalist Surya Bahadur Thapa, 69, has again commandeered the prime minister's chair, at the head of a quickfix combination adhering to a tenuous power-sharing pact. On October 9, he won a vote of confidence in the 205-member Pratinidhi Sabha, with 109 MPs going with him. The solitary two votes against him were cast by the man he replaced, Lokendra Bahadur Chand—who had taken over from Thapa in 1983—and his colleague Padma Sundar Lawati.

바카라 웹사이트Thapa's Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) regime is the fourth in less than three years. But it's hardly likely to lend stability to the topsy-turvy scenario that has plagued Nepal after the 1994 general elections threw up a hung parliament. Since then, the RPP has held the balance of power with a mere 19 members—the personal rivalry between RPP supremos, Thapa and Chand, being instrumental in the rise and fall of governments.

Thapa's present dispensation was catapulted to power after Chand's RPP-led coalition lost a no-trust motion during which his own party legislators abandoned him. Chand's coalition partner was the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist)—which abstained in the October 9 confidence motion. Thapa's regime, in a curious twist, is backed by the centrist Nepali Congress (NC). "We decided to align ourselves with the NC because the mutual trust needed to work together between us and the CPN (UML) was eroding," says Kamal Thapa, foreign minister in both the Chand and the Thapa RPP governments.

The NC is undeterred by the fact that the RPP is a royalist party of former Panchas—who had ruled Nepal for 30 years under the autocratic leadership of the king. Says Taranath Ranabhat, general secretary, NC: "The fact that they are now fighting elections under the multi-party system is proof enough of their democratic credentials."

바카라 웹사이트But the NC seems to have overlooked the fact that Surya Bahadur Thapa, as prime minister, was responsible for defeating democratic forces in the 1980 referendum—in which Nepalis were asked to choose between the partyless system and a multi-party one. In the referendum, widely believed to have been rigged, the Nepalis 'voted' for the one-party system. Thapa had also called for the hanging of former premier B.P. Koirala of the Nepali Congress, the then symbol of opposition.

바카라 웹사이트Four-time prime minister, Thapa is considered a shrewd politician. One of the reasons for his fall from King Birendra's grace in 1983 was that he was thought to be too pro-India. But little is expected to change in Nepal's foreign policy. Says foreign minister Thapa: "The broad principles will be the same. Only the priorities and emphasis may change." Nepal's major concern vis-a-vis India will continue to be the revision of the 1950 Indo-Nepal treaty. An issue raised by Kamal Thapa during his visit to India in September. "The ball is now in India's court," he says. "Nepal and India are sovereign nations and should respect each other's national interests."

As for the NC, the motive behind propping up a government led by former foes seems to be to prepare for the 1999 general elections. "We are confident the RPP will hand over power to us in the second half of the period before the polls," says Ranabhat. The RPP refuses to acknowledge such a specific agreement has been reached. "Our parties have agreed to form the government together. (Its) leadership and shape can change according to our understanding," says Kamal Thapa.

Recent history testifies to this underlying flux. This is the second RPP-NC coalition in less than a year. Chand had replaced the earlier NC-led coalition government in which RPP was a junior partner. After which, the majority of RPP MPs had joined hands with the CPN (UML) as it offered Chand the premiership.

The NC is expected to formally join the government after its general committee meeting later this month. NC chief and parliamentary party leader G.P. Koirala, who is blamed for the NC's poor showing in the polls, has to salvage his image before this. The RPP too has its general convention scheduled for November and a battle royale is likely between the Thapa and Chand factions for the presidentship. One point in Thapa's favour is that he has ensured his prime ministership well before the convention. Meanwhile, the CPN (UML) is waiting in the wings. "If circumstances allow, we are willing to take up power," says general secretary Madav Kumar Nepal.

The prize for all this posturing is to go into the next polls at the head of government. And stranger combinations in the future cannot be ruled out. That is, until the next elections when one party may come into Parliament with a majority. Or else, the rigmarole begins anew.