Maoist show of force in Capital as government fumbles

CPN (Maoist Centre) President Pushpa Kamal Dahal, addressing a mass meeting organized by the party in Kathmandu on Saturday, emphasized two points – that his party was in no hurry to topple the current government and that they had taken to the streets to expose bad governance of the government.

Dahal claimed that his party is now focused on introspection, reviewing the party’s activities and connecting with the people.

Addressing the gathering, which was also projected as a show of strength by the main opposition party, Dahal claimed that the top Maoist leadership had given up on a serious review of the party’s activities and would not engage in any maneuver to overthrow the current government.

“Our party made a mistake by making an alliance with reactionary forces in the past, but now we vow not to repeat that mistake,” Dahal said.

He should be honest with the people here.

“Keep calm and run the government, don’t worry too much if the Maoists come back to power.”

Observers, however, doubt Dahal’s claim as it has only been a little over 100 days since the Maoist party was ousted from government. They also say that the party, despite being in power for almost the last decade, has not achieved much.

Moreover, whatever Dahal says, there is no way to remove the government unless there is a fight between the two major coalition partners – Nepali Congress and CPN-UML.

Thus, observers see the Maoist Center’s protest as a result of Maoist leaders’ unease at being out of government for several months.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, which elects the prime minister, the largest coalition partner, the Congress, has 88 seats, while the prime minister’s UML party has 78 seats. Thus, the two largest coalition partners alone hold a comfortable majority. Other fringe parties joined the government.

Maoist Center general secretary Dev Gurung says Dahal took up the issue after a meeting of ruling parties on Friday concluded that efforts were being made to topple the government.

“Attempts to seek an alternative to the democratic system and governance cannot be acceptable,” the seven-point community said. statement of the ruling parties.

Gurung said they were just trying to clear up the misconception.

“Despite the fact that they have a majority in Parliament, the way they are panicking about a possible change of government is unusual,” he said.

Political experts said the only way to change the government at present is to prove a majority in the House.

“Maoists always get restless when they are not in the government and it is no different now,” Mumaram Khanal, a political analyst, told the Post. “Today’s agitation is nothing more than a means to show that the party’s relevance will remain intact until the next election.”

The Maoist Center is a party that has been in power for most of the nine years since the promulgation of the constitution in 2015.

But why did the party have to call for a protest as soon as it left the government?

Maoist Center General Secretary Gurung refused to answer the question.

But when the same question was put to Agni Sapkota, vice-president and spokesperson of the Maoist Centre, he accused the Oli government of failing on all fronts except its initiative to push for the completion of the peace process. “This is one of the reasons that compelled us to organize a meeting of this kind,” said Sapkota.

After the formation of the UML-Congress coalition in mid-July, the ruling parties, including the main opposition, amended the transitional justice law.

Similarly, party leaders who addressed the mass meeting on Saturday raised questions over the Prime Minister’s prolonged absence from the country even as Nepal was ravaged by floods and landslides.

Prime Minister Oli was in the United States at the time to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Some then accused the prime minister of insensitivity after he refused to cut short his trip to the US.

When the Post spoke to some participants in Saturday’s mass gathering, they struggled to come up with a justification for the protest schedule.

But several of them questioned the Oli government’s record of governance and the Prime Minister’s alleged protection of corrupt people in the government even as they cracked down on those in opposition parties.

They also questioned UML’s acceptance of an expensive property from a controversial businessman.

Min Bahadur Gurung, the owner of Bhatbhateni supermarket, donated a plot of land for the construction of the UML headquarters on October 11. Gurung is facing several cases of corruption and fraud in court.

“The Oli government has failed on several fronts and is working to protect corrupt people,” a participant told the Post. “The previous government (led by Dahal) was toppled after trying to prosecute corrupt politicians.”

During his speech, Dahal sought answers from the government on the status of the probe into the Bhutanese refugee scam as well as other alleged fraud cases such as the Bansbari land grab and the Giribandhu Tea Estate scam. Dahal accused the government of protecting corrupt officials and evading accountability measures. “This government appears to have been formed to protect – not expose – corruption,” he said.

The Maoist chief also questioned why UML and Congress leaders, who were also accused of misappropriating funds from various cooperatives, did not face any action. “Those named in the (parliamentary competition) report should be investigated and arrested if they are guilty,” he said, adding that the selective targeting of opposition members for investigation was unfair.

But political analyst Khanal doesn’t buy the argument. “Until today, what government has taken action against powerful people?” he asks.

“What Dahal is saying is propaganda,” Khanal told the Post.

While the Maoist Center accuses the government of not acting against some suspects in corruption scams, Khanal asked why the suspects were not brought under the law while Dahal was the prime minister.