Kathmandu: Government is going to take longer in the making. Prime Minister Deuba must at least appear to cash in on his “reinstatement” claim. The UML must appear to make organizational gains within its “anti-regressional” standpoint, which it says has been partially corrected. The RPP must await the nature of the UML participation to justify its presence in the cabinet. The other minor parties must focus on the “all-representative” nature of the cabinet formation which given ti some scope of representation.

Deuba organizationally must use the cabinet to retain his support within his own party by not appearing to give too much to the UML in his primary responsibility of forming a national government. His first two choices, Bimlendra Nidhi from Terai and Prakash Man Singh from Kathmandu, reflect the organization orientation as much as it does also the need for clean figures from his previously much tainted political support base.

For the UML the task is even harder. At least Deuba as Prime Minister has retained his personal dominance over the party from government. Prime Ministerial aspirant Madhav Kumar Nepal can’t join government, can’t increase competition within his own party by allowing new Deputy Prime Ministerial challenges from such figures as Bam Dev Gautam and K.P.Oli who represent the all too eager section advocating unconditional UML participation. Having kept him and this competition out of the cabinet, Madhav Nepal must cobble up a seemingly representative UML cabinet strength that can both unite and strengthen its representation in the UML.

Pashupati Rana’s RPP has made it easy from senior participation particularly after the Thapa section has chosen to follow up homework on a separate party. Chances are that Deuba will attempt representation from this section too preventing a possible Thapa-Girija alignment.

There are chances of even former deputy prime minister Badri Mandal agreeing to a ministerial part in the national government sharing his berth with competitions Hridayash Tripathi whose Sadbhawana splinter has yet to disassociate with the Girija led agitation.

Clearly, staffing is merely one of the many problems besetting the cabinet formation and appears the easiest.

The more difficult ones are to do with the need to change public postures from standpoints adopted during agitation to standpoints to be opted for upon assumption of constitutional responsibility.

For Deuba, it is not just his claim of reinstatement tat is hard to sell since no other party besides his own supports the theory. The more technical one arises from the manner with which he has had to swallow his demand for a constituent assembly made publicly on the streets in course of agitation. It is highly likely that this turn around will affect the projected talks with the Maoists whose agreement becomes fundamental to scheduled elections.

For the UML its anti-regression changes, its several point programs the latest of which is the post Lucknow Road Map of Madhav Nepal must now be gleaned over on grounds of a minimized common program. On all likelihood, the UML will find that pressing Deuba too hard for the reinstatement of locally elected offices or the new appointments so it as also constituent assembly standpoints and the demands for the abrogation of legislation deemed “regressive” in the past twenty months.

In real fact it is these standpoints that contribute to the seed of discord in a cabinet yet to be formed.