Political Season On

By and large this country of festivals can safely say that the festival season is over and the political season has begun. That it has begun with prime minister Prachanda clearing his party office of his former rebels who had taken over the premises agitating for their claimed share of the spoils of the Maoist rebellions will be an understatement. Much anticipation of the Nepali Congress political standpoints after chairman Deuba’s much highlighted visit to India is also expected to play in this political season. After Chairperson Gharti”s public statement that this week is unlikely to see any tabling of the much talked of amendment proposals to the constitution and the possibility of drawing public attention to the feud with the Ombudsman chief, immediate politics will perhaps center over the anti-corruption chief Karki’s impeachment. \Why Deuba is of immediate concern is that it is his party among the major three that has yet to come public on standpoints for or against Karki. This is despite the fact that his party has four parliamentarians included in what is essentially a kangaroo court in the legislature designed to impeach the ombudsman chief. Where politics will be heated is in the decision by Karki to not to resign but face the charges. In other words, what will pop out of the anti-corruption Pandorra’s box will fuel the focus on the politics of corruption that has already taken to the streets. In many ways therefore the legislature and the judiciary that seems to have initiated ghe focus on corruption will be very much within the ambit of the street politics that is expected to heat up these political seasons. Corruption, as by now we should note, is political at first but is essentially a legal matter. The mix of the two this time threatens to drag in both these institutions into political focus. Since the executive is caught in between, How the Maoist Centre functions becomes key. Since Pushpa Kamal ‘Prachanda’ is the prime minister, it is not for nothing that he admits publicly that he is treading a sword’s edge. He has, however, succeeded in dragging in the opposition UML with him on the impeachment issue and since he heads a government witrh the Nepali Congress, Deuba cannot stand aloof from the expected imbroglio for long. This, however, cannot much divert public attention from the much publicized question of constitutional amendments. It would seem especially so after Deuba’s trip to India where our outsourced and micro-managed politics will have left their impressions felt. With parliament not able to shove these issues to the background any longer and with the Supreme Court having roped itself in the political ambit, what remain for politics to heat up is the streets. It is this that will determine the course of politics this political season.