Kathmandu: Enduring over a month long “labor pain”, prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has finally “delivered”.
When the beginning is so tedious and time consuming then the outcome of the whole efforts is understandable.
A weak prime minister as he has proved himself to be, Deuba is encircled by ministers, both from his own party and the UML, who will pull the carpet under the feet of the Prime Minister but yet Deuba will not feel the occurrence of the earthshaking event.
What Deuba has done marvelous this time during the formation of his cabinet that he finally managed his own “Mother-in-Law”, Mrs. Pratibha Rana, getting inducted in his cabinet. For the political analysts, Mrs. Rana’s induction into the cabinet is an added attraction and perhaps for the majority of the population as well.
All in all, Deuba will have now hopefully a small kitchen cabinet comprising of the prime minister, mom-in-law and Madame Deuba who is already being talked in the bureaucratic circles as to be the de facto prime minister. A good combination indeed. The nation is sure to benefit from such an unprecedented event.
Now to come to the point. Deuba by sidelining his trusted and tested aides like Dr. Rizal and Dr. Khadka has bought enemies for himself. The induction of Dr. Prakash Saran Mahat is talked to have been done to pose challenge to Dr. Mahat’s own elder brother, Ram Saran Mahat, at time of the elections. This could have been a strategy but then, say analysts, was not a well-drawn strategy. The junior Mahat is still to come of his age comparatively speaking.
Nevertheless, Deuba’s desire to bring in new and non-corrupt face in the cabinet deserves appreciation but Nepali analysts say that one is against corruption and corrupt practices until he is deprived of such opportunities. It will have to be watched as to how long Deuba nurtures this illusion.
Minister P.B.Khadka who once enjoyed the portfolios of Home and Industries and commerce is told be a fair personality but not a clean one.
How Deuba manages to satisfy his top-rung colleagues who were all prepared to become ministers but were denied for their past notorious activities being in government will have to be watched. The fact is that Deuba Congress-democratic is a political party because of the presence of those tainted former ministers or else Deuba’s party is just a house of cards.
Now that Deuba has become the prime minister and that he has with him in the cabinet a sizeable chunk of his inner friends, analysts hope that the NC-D leaders will now concentrate their efforts at strengthening their weak and loose organization. Thanks that NC-D has been awarded some ministries that yield golden eggs if properly squeezed. If this were so then that would be the beginning of the beginning of Deuba’s political fall.
Analysts believe that as a person Deuba is a fair personality and does not harbor any ill intentions towards any one, however, he is advised to remain alert from his own “near-and-dear” ones.
Deuba as nation’s prime minister, as a matter of fact, analysts say, should remain cautious of his communist partners who will await any opportunity, which damages the prestige and the popularity of the government, and they will do so taking into account of their own political benefits. The men who have been representing the UML are all “yes-men” of strongman, Madhav Kumar Nepal, who continues to nurture wish of becoming the next prime minister and this he can accomplish when he and his partymen in the government play double.
Talking of the NSP representation, Badri Prasad Mandal, Deuba can trust in him for he is in the cabinet only to enhance his image in the Terai plains or else he would have denied the ministerial post easily. Mr. Mandal is a harmless personality for Deuba.
Analysts have so far failed to understand as to what forced the constitutional monarch to send his nominees to the cabinet? In effect, all the ministers in the cabinet, were all his men. If it were so then why he preferred to send his men? Or the King is being simply accused?
Unless it is clarified by the Palace, people will understand that King also wanted to have his say in the cabinet and hence the two of his nominees in the cabinet. If this is so then what could be concluded is that the King too considered himself as a political party and thus demanded his share in the cabinet and contributed to the formation of a “broad-based” government.
Rumors are that the King did so in order to have his own men at time of the negotiations with the Maoists. However, this is yet to be substantiated.