A glimmer of hope for Nepal

Dhruba Adhikary 

In times when Nepal has been literally swept by the godless Maoists it is strange that all three candidates for the Presidency of the new Republic bore the name of Lord Ram. The President Ram Baran Yadav too lost no time in paying obeisance at the Hindu temple of Pashupatinath to the annoyance of Maoists. This apart the challenges ahead are many and complex for the nascent republic. 

All three candidates initially vying to be the first president of the newly-declared republic in Nepal were pleasantly surprised to find that each one had Rama as his given name. Those familiar with the great Hindu epic Ramayana quickly recognize its hero Rama, who used to be the king of Ayodhyaa. The story takes the readers to a township called Janakpur, where Rama was married to Sita.

Now the same Janakpur has suddenly hit the headlines because the person elected to the presidency, Ram Baran Yadav, 61, hails from that area. Born to a farmer's family, Yadav was lucky to be educated and eventually qualify as a medical doctor. His subsequent interest in politics and gradual involvement in the Nepali Congress, the party with democratic credentials, pushed him up the ladder, from where he was made a presidential nominee to contest with two other Rams - Maoist-sponsored Ramraja Prasad Singh and Ramprit Paswan, who was fielded by a moderate communist party, UML.

The first ballot remained inconclusive, the run-off on Monday made Yadav victorious over Singh: he secured 308 votes from the Constituent Assembly comprising 601 members. To some of his supporters, Yadav's victory is the result of divine intervention.

The swearing-in of the president and his deputy, who also hails from the southern flatland called Terai, on Wednesday filled the vacuum created since former king Gyanendra left the palace on June 11, heralding the end of the monarchy. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who headed the interim government, has now gained the authority to submit his resignation so that a new administration can be set up on the basis of elections held in April.

Meanwhile, Yadav's assumption of the high office addresses some of the grievances of people living in the Terai region. That post-monarchy Nepal's first head of state comes from a region considered neglected is a telling message in itself. Analysts also believe Yadav's sober and serious personality will have a matching effect on those who last year spearheaded a "Madhesi" movement in Terai, often inserting separatist slogans. Extremists among some of these groups, however, are not happy with Yadav as he has consistently argued that poverty and injustice are widespread across the country, and not confined to Terai.

Yadav, with firsthand knowledge of the woes of the people living in the highlands and the foothills of snowy mountains, can develop plans for a balanced development of all regions. This is where Nepalis see a glimmer of hope amid chaos, anarchy and uncertainty.

Another message of reassurances came from Yadav's decision, immediately after the election result was made public, to visit the Hindu temple of Pashupatinath. The Interim constitution has depicted Nepal as a secular state, but the majority of the people are Hindu, and the religion has been a unifying force between the highlanders and dwellers of the plains.

Still, newspapers supporting Maoist and other brands of communists criticized the president for visiting a Hindu shrine and thereby issuing the wrong message. The deputy president, Paramanand Jha, has been singled out for criticism for his somewhat blemished image as a supreme court judge. His Indian-looking attire and use of the Hindi language at the oath-taking ceremony added further controversy.

The interim statute makes the president largely a ceremonial head of state, but because of the transitional phase the country is in Yadav's assumption of the position carries additional significance. His substantive work, for example, had to start with accepting the incumbent prime minister's resignation and extending an invitation to Maoist leader Prachanda to constitute a government with the support of other political parties.

It is also his responsibility to make alternative arrangements should efforts aimed at forming durable coalitions fail. The highest order of priority, however, has to be given to drawing up a new constitution to replace the interim one, with adequate provisions and safeguards for a democratic and federal system that ensures the voices of ethnic and regional identities. Official surveys have found 101 ethnic groups in Nepal, with scores of languages and dialects. To address these and other associated issues is a formidable challenge.

Sooner rather than later the president must oversee the writing of the constitution, which has to be done by the Constituent Assembly - a body of 600 members. The time given for this purpose is two years, which can be extended by six months if the country is placed under a state of emergency.

The president has a duty to observe and protect the existing interim constitution, which has important provisions for human rights, including freedom of expression and publication. In addition, he has to play the role of supreme commander of the Nepal army. This is a significant role in the context of the existence of another army - the Maoists' numbers 20,000 combatants who are currently sheltered in cantonments monitored by a United Nations mission.

Their ultimate integration with the security forces continues to be a thorny issue. Presently, the election of Yadav, a democrat, has provided much-needed relief to the Nepal army leadership. Had it been Prachanda, who is the head of People's Liberation Army, or one of his men, it would have created a dangerous situation.

But what happens if Prachanda agrees to be prime minister - as the leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the Constituent Assembly - and decides to retain the Defense portfolio for himself?

"Obviously, his coalition partners will have to persuade Prachanda to take charge of a ministry or ministries other than Defense," said Chandra Prakash Mainali. Mainali, who heads a smaller left-leaning front, was involved in an aggressive campaign to get Yadav elected.

The immediate issue confronting Yadav is related to the formation of the government. After the presidential candidate they fielded lost the election, the Maoist leadership said they would sit in the opposition. "We have been morally forced to sit in the opposition, and we accept it," Prachanda said on Tuesday. They think there is an ongoing conspiracy, both internally and externally, to isolate the Maoists, even if they got a clear electoral mandate to head a new government.

From their standpoint, the pre-presidential election alliance formed by Congress, UML and the party of Madhesis was an "unholy and unnatural one".

Congress and UML leaders, however, deny any wrongdoing, and insist that the understanding they made together with Madhesis would not go beyond the time of the election of a speaker for the House, scheduled for Thursday. They consider a change in the stand of the Maoists as a knee-jerk reaction, and that the Maoist leadership is aware that the mandate is for working jointly until the country drafts a new constitution.

Animosity between the Maoists and UML, the communist party with moderate credentials, developed when the Maoists flatly declined, at the 11th hour, to support the UML candidate, Madhav Kumar Nepal, for the presidency. The UML leadership saw it as dishonest and immediately parted company with the Maoists. Prachanda's deputy, Baburam Bhattarai, is being blamed for the abrupt change in Maoist policy.

One pro-UML newspaper, Budhabar, accused Bhattarai of conspiracy, saying that he was allegedly seen escorting an intelligence agent from Nepal's southern neighbor India to the bedroom of Prachanda minutes before the crucial negotiations between the two parties. It was after that covert meeting, media reports say, that the Maoists changed their mind, and fielded another candidate - Ramraja Prasad Singh.

An alliance of the UML and Maoists would have looked, to some, as both holy and natural. Together they are in a position to command over 330 votes in the House of 601. And, as communists, they could jointly push through what could be described as a "progressive agenda". That would have given them an edge over their main rival, the Nepali Congress.

And such an alliance could influence the way the new constitution would be drawn up, even if the constitutional provisions had to be adopted with the support of a two-thirds majority. But the prospects for creating a strong left-front look bleak, and the blame is often apportioned to external elements, which are inimical to the ascendancy of progressive political forces.

But ideology or long-term commitments are hardly a matter of immediate concern. What is at stake is power and how to reach it. And all 25 parties represented in the assembly want their share of the cake.

As this rush for power continues, and negotiations for a new setup reach a protracted phase, Koirala has no plausible reason to hurriedly give up his caretaker status. And Yadav, his erstwhile protege, can ill-afford to be insistent.