By Our Reporter
Political instability has been the biggest misfortune for the Nepalese people. It is evident from the number of prime ministers we have in 10 years from the political change of 2006.
After the political change of 2006, Girija Prasad Koirala became prime minister till the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections. He was replaced by Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the leader of the largest party of the Constituent Assembly. But Dahal could remain in power only for nine months. He stepped down over a row relating to the Chief of the Army Staff.
After the fall of the Dahal government, the country got Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN-UML as new prime minister. Nepal became the prime minister in the support of Nepali Congress. However, he faced strong opposition from the Maoists. As a result, no progress was made in the direction of constitution drafting.
Later Nepal was replaced by Jhalanath Khanal of the CPN-UML. Interestingly, Khanal became prime minister in the support of the CPN-Maoist. Later Khanal was replaced by Dr Baburam Bhattarai of the CPN-Maoist.
When the political parties failed to find a common candidate for the prime minister to hold the second CA elections, Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi became the new prime minister, probably in the initiative of EU and other international players active in Kathmandu. Regmi succeeded to accomplish his duty and Sushil Koirala became new prime minister in the capacity of the leader of the largest party. The country got the constitution during Koirala’s tenure as the earthquake of 2015 brought the three parties close.
The new government formed after Koirala’s resignation should have allowed to work till the holding of the general election in 2018. But the government of K P Oli survived only for nine months and was pulled down by the Maoist, the coalition partner. It is said that Oli’s government was pulled down in the Indian design.
Now Pushpa Kamal Dahal has become the ninth PM of 10 years and he is almost sure to remain in power only for nine months. If all goes as planned by NC and Maoist centre, Sher Bahadur Deuba will become Nepal’s new PM in April next year.
Frequent change in the government has affected not only the administration but also the development works. As the parties resort to any ethical or unethical measures to pull down the government, a sort of anarchy has always been there. The government becomes so weak that it cannot implement and enforce its decision. For example, the government has failed to control black marketing off essentials and syndicate system in transportation sector despite repeated commitment by each PM to control them.
Leaders of most parties tend to please New Delhi to reach and remain in power. Prime Minister Dahal is believed to have become the prime minister at the grace of New Delhi and once Delhi is displeased, he is sure to be overthrown.
Indeed, the political parties should reach a consensus on the issue of establishing political stability. If a government is allowed to remain in power for five years, political stability can be managed. But no government formed after 2008 had succeeded to remain in power for more than 18 months.
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