Crack in the coalition

The Himalayan Times

3 February 2022

Crack in the coalition

Politically, Nepal is passing through a precarious situation following the Oli led government’s ouster and installation of the Deuba led coalition government through the Supreme Court verdict bypassing the constitution and undermining the supremacy of the Parliament. Since then, the House has been frequently disrupted by the UML lawmakers opposing the Speaker’s dubious role for being biased towards the coalition government by not promptly taking actions against the 14 UML lawmakers who were expelled, including Madhav Nepal. This daily house disruptions has almost paralysed the smooth functioning of the Parliament, failing to authenticate a number of ordinances presented by the Oli led government and the coalition government.

The coalition government of five-party alliance has not been able to meet the people’s expectation with its performance for the last six months. For any political party with a different political ideology and principles, forming a coalition government makes it politically vulnerable unless everyone works sincerely for the nation and the people rather than for their own political benefits. The Deuba led coalition government did not seem to have any clear vision and specific objective except throwing out the Oli led government for running the government with high-handedness and undermining the roles of oppositions.

Now, the coalition government seems to have developed a rupture in its formation because of Deuba’s personal interest of passing widely criticized Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) through the Parliament “PM 'keen to table MCC deal in House” (THT, February 1, Page 1). Deuba has been saying that the MCC deal is purely a grant assistance and it can enhance development if ratified by the Parliament. However, the key players of the government, Prachanda and Madhav Nepal, do not seem to let the MCC pass through without making necessary amendments. In fact, the Oli-led government had registered the MCC deal in the Parliament, hoping to get it ratified, instead his government was ousted. Time will tell, whether Prachand and Madhav are trying to fool the nation and the people or are loyal to them.

Rai Biren Bangdel

Maharajgunj