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Nepal : Deuba takes over as PM : Maoists respond with truce |
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Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba, who once led a shaky coalition government has been chosen by the ruling Nepali Congress to be the new Prime Minister in place of Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala, who was forced to resign last week. Mr. Deuba and his 13-member cabinet were sworn in by King Gyanendra in Kathmandu on July 26. Deuba has kept nine portfolios for himself and retained four members of the outgoing cabinet.
In the contest held for the leadership of the party, Mr. Deuba defeated his opponent, Mr. Sushil Koirala, nephew of Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala, who resigned as Prime Minister after leading Nepal for most of the last 11 years since the country’s absolute Monarchy ended in a popular revolt. This is Mr. Deuba’s second term as Prime Minister after leading a shaky coalition government for 18 months between 1995 and 1997 before being ousted in a vote of no-confidence in parliament when two of his own lawmakers failed to show up during voting over differences with him.
The post fell vacant after Koirala senior was forced to resign by his own party MPs. Mr. Koirala had to go because of his inability to contain corruption in the Himalayan kingdom. The Maoists showed their anger against his style of governance by indulging in a series of wanton killings. He was himself said to be involved in the scam concerning the leasing of an aircraft for the Royal Nepal Airlines from Austria’s Lauda Air. His handling of the royal massacre too had made him unpopular among the opposition as well as his own party. The controversial deal with Lauda Air was terminated following public uproar. But Mr. Deuba may have to perform the unpleasant task of instituting an enquiry for exposing the names of those involved in the scam. Hefty amounts as commission were reportedly put in the offshore accounts of powerful politicians and corrupt bureaucrats by global aircraft leasing firms for making the national carrier dependent on outside help.
With the Nepali Congress a divided house, there was little prospect of a consensus candidate to succeed Mr. Koirala of the two candidates who contested for the party leadership, Sher Bahadur Deuba’s victory came as something of a relief since he does not belong to the Koirala camp. His opponent, Sushil Koirala, General Secretary of the party and the nephew of Girija Prasad Koirala, was considered close to the former Prime Minister. The Opposition particularly the Maoists, had made it clear that the new incumbent should be someone with vision. Soon after Koirala’s resignation they freed some of the policemen they were holding hostage and for whose release the Koirala government had sought the army’s help. It is surprising that they should go about killing even when Deuba was being formally installed as new Prime Minister. Much is expected of Deuba and he must clear Nepal of the mess created by Maoists since February 1996. The eighth Prime Minister since 1990, Deuba is a second generation leader who earlier headed a three-party coalition for about 18 months but was a mere puppet in the hands of Koirala who criticised his functioning, particularly after he gave a communist member a ministerial berth for a favour received. Deuba also headed a high power committee appointed by former Prime Minister K.P. Bhattarai to prepare to meet the Maoist challenge by which received no support from the Koirala administration and was wound up.
Deuba’s comeback was marred by news of the killing of four police personnel by the Communist insurgents in Tehrathun in eastern Nepal. Within minutes of being elected, Deuba announced that he will give top priority to the settlement of Maoist problem. The Maoist insurgency has left more than 1600 people, including rebels, security personnel and civilians dead since 1996 when the guerrillas mounted a campaign to install a Communist government. Last year Deuba persuaded the Maoist rebels to agree for the first time to peace talks with the government but he accused the government of failing to respond. Koirala was blamed for embarrassing setbacks suffered by security forces at the hands of Maoist insurgents and for failing to provide adequate protection for Nepal’s royal family.
The Maoists who were determined not to open peace talks with the government so long as Mr. Koirala was the Prime Minister. Agreed on a cruise with the government as soon as Deuba was sworn-in. Both Prime Minister Deuba and the Maoist leader, Parchanda, declared a back-to-back ceasefire on July 23 and ordered their respective forces to refrain from taking any steps against each other. Both said their actions were aimed at creating conducive atmosphere for dialogue.
The ceasefire itself came after the rebels butchered 17 out of 53 policemen at a police post on the night of July 22 in Bajura district in western Nepal, the region from where Deuba hails. The Maoists lost 20 to 25 members of their cadets in the clash that lasted over three hours. While Deuba urged the security forces and the Maoists to stop all activities, Parchanda, President of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) asked his guerrillas to postpone all their offensive action while remaining alert. The Maoist leader said he was responding to Prime Minister’s ceasefire offer.
Soon after Mr. Deuba succeeded Mr. Koirala as the Prime Minister, the Maoist rebels freed 22 of the more than 70 policemen they have captured in recent attacks on security posts. However, Ministry officials said, 12 policemen were released in Rolpa district in west Nepal and another 12 in Ramechchap district in eastern Nepal.
Parchanda, who is demanding release of detained Maoist insurgents and a republic rather than monarchy in the country, acknowledged that the new Prime Minister Deuba sounded sincere in finding a solution to the problem and he would extend all cooperation. He has however, not fixed any deadline for the government to comply with his demand. A former Nepali Congress activist, Durga Subedi has been in touch with the top Maoist leaders, Parchanda and Baburam Bhattarai and he will soon convey to the authorities concerned their conditions for finding a long term solution to the problem. Although Parchanda’s statement announcing the ceasefire did not reveal any conditions Mr. Subedi, after his talks with the two Maoist leaders, is expected to convey his demands to the government which are likely to include an all party interim government with Maoist participation and evolution of a new and much broader constitution through an elected Constituent Assembly.
The prospects of peace has been raised by the unexpected ceasefire announced by the two sides. It is for the first time that there is a ray of hope that the insurgency could be settled through dialogue, said Sudip Pathak, Chairman of Human Rights Organization of Nepal.
The momentum towards talks built up over the month of July as the rebels began exploiting the confusion still surrounding the royal massacre on June 1 when the late king Birendra and the family were slained. In several raids in early to mid-July, the rebels won victory after victor over the beleaguered police post in the country side. More than 70 policemen were killed and hundred abducted in July alone prompting the government to send better quipped and trained army. However, the political heat generated by the rebel actions forced change in the government leadership as well. Beset from all sides, from the Opposition and from within his ruling Nepali Congress, Koirala finally stepped down last week to enable the political leadership to search for a solution to the Maoist problem. The rebels had vowed never to conduct negotiations with Koirala whom they accuse of being a hardline fascist that paved the way of Deuba’s eventual election to lead the party and the government.
Nepal’s rebels have been fighting to bring down what they see as feudal system, headed by the constitutional monarchy since 1996. They have intensified their attacks since the massacre of almost the entire royal family early last month by crown prince Dipendra who shot himself after having killed his parents. The rebels had also insisted that Mr. Koirala step down before agreeing to any new peace talks. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the rebels began their campaign to create a Communist republic in Nepal.
It is believed that the Maoists have a stronghold in a majority of the villages in more than 30 out of 75 districts in the country. In fact, political observers and common people believe that the Maoists, who started the armed movement in 1996, are becoming the biggest threat to the government.
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