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KATHMANDU: More that a year after they sowed the seed of discord by sacking the then army chief, Gen Rookmangud Katawal, against the advice of their allies, Nepal's Maoists reaped its poisoned fruit on Sunday when their rival Nepal Congress (NC) party refused to budge from the ring, resulting in the eighth round of prime ministerial election ending in a fiasco, yet again. Now a ninth round of voting will be held on Thursday amidst the certainty that it too will be a fiasco.
The former guerrillas, who moved away from the politics of consensus in 2009 and as a result were humbled by the fall of their government, have now been blocked by their rival from returning to power even though they forged an opportunistic alliance with the communists last week.
The election scene on Sunday was different from the earlier ones with Maoist deputy chief and former finance minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai asking for permission to withdraw the candidature of party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda. However, though Bhattarai spoke of people's "worries and pessimism" at the failure to get a new prime minister even after seven rounds of vote and the danger of public abhorrence of the parliamentary system, the NC remained unmoved by the call to withdraw from the race so that a new method could be arrived at.
NC chief whip Laxman Ghimire reminded the house that when the Maoists began the prime ministerial race in July, they had been asked if they would like to reconsider the decision and withdraw Prachanda's name. But they had not heeded the call.
Prachanda's exit however did not make things brighter for NC candidate Ram Chandra Poudel. Sunday's polling was marked by an abysmally poor turnout. Only 189 of the current 598 MPs were present. From them, yet another 71 abstained from voting, resulting in Poudel getting only 116 votes with two MPs voting against him.
Despite the poor show, Poudel and his party can still hold the Maoists at bay for as long as they want. As parliament chairman Subas Nembang remarked, Nepal has a unique system to choose a new premier. An aspirant has to win simple majority and just one candidate alone can keep the poll wheel going till he reaches that number or withdraws.
The NC is not ready to call it quits especially as the Maoists signed a deal with the communists last week with both agreeing not to take part in the current election process. The NC fears it could be an opportunistic alliance to form a new government. With the Maoists' 236 MPs and the communists' 108, they can easily get simple majority if a new election process starts, which will allow the communists to take part as well. Internal rivalries made the communists pull out of the race during the first round and since then, they have been itching to return to it but have been prevented by the poll procedure.
Though the NC supported the communists to form the new government after Prachanda's coalition fell in 2009, the latter is not ready to return the favour and support the NC. Instead, they have once more shown a suspicious readiness to support the Maoists, whom they abandoned last year.
Besides the back-stabbings and intrigues, the polls have also been tainted by the Maoists' bid to buy MPs. They allegedly split a minor communist party to shore up support and earlier this month, were involved in a scandal purportedly trying to buy Terai MPs with money from a Chinese "friend". The former guerrillas might find it difficult, if not impossible, to live all this brouhaha down.
With three months gone without a new prime minister, Nepal now has less than four months to empty the cantonments of the Maoist guerrilla army and less than eight months to promulgate a new constitution, a task that looks downright impossible, given the prevailing scenario.
(the times of India)
Read more: Nepal Maoists sow what they reaped - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Nepal-Maoists-sow-what-they-reaped/articleshow/6632799.cms#ixzz10jllkfIr
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