Trouble for Koirala

Discontent over the G.P. Koirala government and the new security rules promulgated by his government grips Nepal.

NOW, the faction-ridden Koirala government in Nepal is on shaky ground. Taking advantage of the volatile situation in the wake of the June 1 massacre at the Narayanhiti Palace, Maoist insurgents and mainstream communists have launched a countrywide stir against Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. Coinciding with the opening of the budget session of Parliament on June 25, the pro-Chinese, ultra-Left Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) burnt copies of the new security rules, promulgated on June 4 when King Gyanendra was crowned. The new rules allow detention of any person suspected of working against Nepal's sovereignty, integrity and public peace. The CPN (Maoist), which refuses to accept the official probe report on the Palace killings (the report found the late Crown Prince Dipendra responsible for the regicide) has emerged as a strong force in the prevailing political situation.

The Maoists have decided to observe a Nepal bandh on July 12. The chairman of the underground CPN (Maoist), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachand, said in a statement that by imposing the security rules the Koirala government had exposed its anti-national and fascist tendencies. "This comes at a time when the people are still shocked and angry over the massacre, carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States with help from Indian spies and other outsiders to corner China," he alleged.

Maoist insurgents have resumed their armed attacks in a number of districts, including Morang, Koirala's home district. Interior Ministry officials said that over 200 rebels attacked a police post at Nagar in western Nepal on June 15, the day the probe report was released officially forcing 36 policemen to surrender. The rebels, mostly confined to the western region, seized a cache of weapons during the raid. They bombed three business establishments at Biratnagar close to Indian border.

What is of serious concern for India is the Nepal Maoists' growing links with their extremist counterparts in India and Nepal's territory being increasingly used by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to work against Indian interests. In April, Arshad Cheema, First Secretary in the Pakistan embassy in Kathmandu, was arrested with a large quantity of RDX (Research Department Explosive) and later expelled from Nepal (Frontline, May 11, 2001).

The mainstream Left party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), popularly called UML, is also up in arms against Koirala. Its renewed demand for his removal virtually caused the suspension of Parliament's proceedings. The UML, along with other Opposition parties, had stalled the winter session of Parliament in April demanding the Prime Minister's resignation over a controversial aircraft deal: it accused the government of leasing a Boeing 767 from Lauda Air of Austria on unfavourable terms. Throughout April, activists of the UML and five smaller Left parties organised strikes, rallies and roadblocks in Kathmandu, during which effigies of Koirala were burnt. The UML is not seeking mid-term elections; it only wants Koirala replaced by any other leader of the Nepali Congress.

"The demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister is justified," said K.P. Oli, UML standing committee member. Besides demanding transparency in the aircraft deal, the UML has sought Koirala's explanation for his failure, although he is in charge of Palace Affairs, to inform the people promptly about the massacre. With full vigour the UML has started a programme of protest demonstrations all over the Kathmandu valley.

With discontent over the palace and the Koirala government becoming widespread, Nepal is in the grip of political disorder. The latest provocation is the implementation of the new security regulations. These rules provide sweeping powers to officials of the country's 72 districts. They also prohibit the publication of news and articles, as well as the making of speeches and the staging of demonstrations that the government may deem likely to disrupt peace and security. The Koirala government seems to have enforced these rules to check the growing clout of the CPN (Maoist). The government has also constituted a Committee of Secretaries to study and recommend security measures to be followed inside and outside the royal palace. The two-member inquiry committee consisting of Chief Justice Keshab Prasad Upadhyay and Speaker of Parliament Taranath Ranabhat, which went into the palace killings, observed that there had been serious security lapses in the palace owing to administrative laxity.

Meanwhile, in a significant move, the CPN (UML) has asked the new monarch to declare his assets, even as the party's student wing demanded that King Gyanendra's son Prince Paras not be made Crown Prince in view of his 'wayward ways'. Media reports said that the high power secretary-level panel set up to study the probe report had suggested, among other things, an amendment to the kingdom's succession laws to enable a daughter also to be made a heir apparent. The Nepalese daily Rajdhani, quoting official sources, said the recommendation was made in the wake of Dipendra being blamed for the killings. The naming of Dipendra on June 2 as the next King when he was in a coma had sparked a heated debate among intellectuals.

The UML also called for reforms in the prevailing social conduct and traditional practices of the Palace even as the police arrested Navaraj Subedi, a Member of Parliament of the National People's Front, for describing the June 1 massacre the result of a"conspiracy". In an apparent reference to the charges of alcoholism, gun-toting and drug addiction made against Dipendra in the probe report, Jhalanath Khanal, senior CPN(UML) leader, said that the incident had exposed the weakness in the social conduct, particularly of the royals, and called for relevant reforms.

R.K. Mainali, senior leader of the UML, wanted the Narayanhiti Palace converted into a memorial and the property of King Birendra and his family handed over to the government as there are no direct heirs. This demand makes it clear that the communists want the institution of monarchy abolished. Maoists have already passed a resolution announcing the end of monarchy in the Himalayan kingdom. They are clear in their demand for a one-party communist republic.

With the communist factions intensifying their "oust Koirala" campaign, and the likelihood of a simmering revolt in the Nepali Congress, the Prime Minister is in trouble. Since the introduction of multiparty democracy, Nepal has been passing through an unstable phase in its political history. The fragile democracy has not been successful in satisfying people's expectations. During the past decade it has produced 10 governments, many of them shaky coalitions.

Koirala, who is also president of the Nepali Congress, assumed power only a year ago, easing out his colleague Krishna Prasad Bhattarai who is leading a rival faction within the party. The Bhattarai group, consisting of around 50 of the 113 Nepali Congress parliamentarians, is not in a position right now to hit back at Koirala. According to informed sources in the Bhattarai camp, there is an attempt to garner support from seven more MPs in order to gain majority within the party in order to remove Koirala. Sher Bahadur Deuba, another former Prime Minister, is being propped up by Bhattarai to replace Koirala. The Bhattarai faction hopes that the Koirala group would lose its majority soon. The leftists, on the other hand, think that a strong movement against Koirala is the only way to force him out.