Eyes turn to Pokhara

March 10, 2004
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Kathmandu: – Unless Prime Minister Thapa has courted internal divisions by his new change in Cabinet portfolios in his otherwise unitary ministry, it is clear that His Majesty the King’s civic receptions will have pro-longed his chair in government.

Otherwise indications are that the government has succeeded in isolating itself from Thapa’s own RPP party, the agitating political parties and the rest of civil society with the confidence that is in none else than the monarchy that must dismiss him.

Initial reactions of the change in portfolios suggest that Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani is unhappy at his demotion to third man in the Ministry given senior Dr Bekh Bahadur Thapa’s fillip to the foreign and health portfolio.

Moreover, Minister Buddhiman Tamang who was proxying Premier Thapa’s role of Home Minister is said to be disgruntled at the Home Ministry shifting to Kamal Thapa. How these developments will impact upon the eight-man cabinet internal performance ultimately remains to be seen.

These developments apart, eyes must necessarily be turned to HM the King’s Pokhara felicitations which after the Nepalgunj Royal proclamation is expected to give a much needed impetus to current politics of stalemate.

With the political parties’ clearly maneuvering for the coming elections that they publicly proclaim is an impossibility and the Maoists announcing their continued terrorist presence, His Majesty is expected to give a more precise direction to the present status of politics.

If previous experience in the conduct of party politics is a clue, the agitating parties will deride any election attempt without their participation in government as trumped up. This explains their growing clamor negating the chances of elections which the government insists will take place. On the other hand, Girija Prasad Koirala in particular prepares his party for the polls with unity moves currently rejected by the Deuba congress.

Amidst this strategy, the UML’s Madhav Nepal appears increasingly cornered from within his own party. His grassroots has been swept by the Maoists and his leadership would want to entrench him in his failures under congress initiatives.

Clearly, something must budge somewhere. It is not for nothing that eyes turn to Pokhara.