Koirala renews his outbursts against the monarch

October 22, 2003
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Kathmandu: King’s silence is visibly killing the agitating political parties. Neither the political parties can press the King for a collective audience nor they can now afford to maintain the tempo of their agitation for long for fear of being criticised by their own cadres.

Cadres engaged in the agitation have reasons to become restive. They apparently now conclude that their leaders have so far failed to bring a momentum against the King and hence to expect that the King would yield to their leaders’ demands would simply be a fool-hardy job.

The leaders understand their cadres psyche but remain helpless and were not in a position to put tangible pressure on the King to force him to yield to their demands. The fact is that now it is not the King but the King’s Prime Minister who is answering to their calls and that too with strong rebuttals.

Frustrated by the political events happening in the nation, UML leader, we are told, has gone for a pilgrimage. His foreign country “meaningful” trip comes close on the heels of Ram Chandra Poudel’s freshly concluded Delhi trip.

To recall, Mr. Poudel upon his return from New Delhi made it clear in no uncertain terms that Madhav Nepal no more remained a “consensus” candidate for the post of the prime minister which expectedly must have jolted Mr. Nepal from within.

However, what prompted Mr. Poudel to announce immediately after his trip to India that Mr. Nepal was not a consensus candidate is yet unknown. However, sources in Kathmandu indicate that Mr. Poudel during his Delhi sojourn must have met some influential leaders there whom he could have convinced that elevating the ranks of a communist leader of the sort of Mr. Nepal might not be in the overall interest of India.

Practically disturbed by Mr. Poudel’s utterances, Mr. Nepal too apparently decided to neutralise Mr. Poudel’s not so tasty expressions.

Be that as it may, things as it stand today lead us all, including Madhav Nepal and Koirala, to conclude that for the time being the country would be ruled by Prime Minister Thapa , and hence the rush to Delhi.

Back home President Koirala too has concluded that his decision to bring down the tempo of the five party agitation to a low-key mode at the influence of certain foreign envoys was a Himalayan blunder.

In effect, the envoys of the US had assured Koirala, the UK and India that should the parties toned down their movement, they would convince the King to patch-up their political differences. However, Koirala’s patience too had its elastic limit. Neither the King yielded nor the envoys could bring the agitating political parties and the King together. The stalemate thus continues.

The envoys too have their limitations. They can convince both the parties but can’t press them to patch-up their political differences which have definitely increased in the recent days. And the fresh announcement by Koirala that the King by not complying to their demands have exposed himself in the eyes of the international community.