PM Dahal and Parliament’s Trust

The House of Representatives (HoR) has shown overwhelming trust in Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal who, despite being the leader of a distant third party in parliament, has succeeded in becoming the PM for a third time. As many as 268 of the 270 HoR members present in the parliament meeting last Tuesday backed Dahal’s bid for a vote of confidence. Only two members of parliament opposed Dahal’s bid. Even the Nepali Congress (NC) expressed confidence in Prime Minister Dahal! This is, no doubt, a historic support from the 275-member House that has created a very positive environment for Prime Minister Dahal to deliver on his promises and steer the country toward development and prosperity. This ‘third innings’ as the country’s chief executive came Dahal’s way also because of the traditional rivalry between the Nepali Congress, the biggest party in parliament, and the CPN-UML, the second biggest. However, the backing by almost the whole of parliament has ultimately justified the dramatic events that happened in a couple of days before Dahal was appointed the prime minister. Once again, Dahal has proved that he is a ruthless political player who is ‘apt’ also in the political games of parliamentary politics. After all, he fought the elections with the help of an alliance led by the NC but became the PM with the help of another alliance led by the UML!

It’s clear that NC President Deuba doesn’t want Maoist Chairman Dahal to be on the UML’s side forever. That was a major reason why Deuba became ready to ‘pamper and please’ Dahal, and the NC gave the vote of confidence to him in parliament. It is an open secret that both NC and UML (read Deuba and Oli) want Dahal to ally with them. For the time being both the first and second party in parliament are forced to seek an alliance with the third, though they will definitely come up with a different strategy in future if and when they are no more comfortable with Dahal. However, the premiership for the third time is not going to be a cakewalk for Prime Minister Dahal. The political equations in the current ruling alliance have already forced Dahal to wear daura suruwal while taking the oath of office and secrecy (it’s perhaps the first time in his life that Dahal wore the national dress!) and announce a public holiday on the birth anniversary of the late King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal, against his will. Also, Dahal has been compelled to assure the little-known Nagarik Unmukti Party that he would do all he can to free its leader Resham Chaudhary, who is currently serving a life term in jail for masterminding the Tikapur Massacre in 2015 in which seven policemen and a toddler were brutally murdered.

There are those who say that the NC has weakened the role of the opposition in parliament by supporting PM Dahal in the vote of confidence motion. Also, NC’s support to the current government means that PM Dahal can ignore any ‘undue’ pressure tactics of the UML, if any, in the future. The fact that NC has given the vote of confidence to Dahal shows that Dahal may be able to continue as the PM for the whole of next five years if he maintains ‘flexibility’ and is ready to change camp once again! However, Prime Minister Dahal has an important lesson to learn from history. Nepal’s first ‘communist government’ formed in 1994 under the leadership of Manmohan Adhikari had received 202 of the 205 votes in the House of Representatives when PM Adhikari sought a vote of confidence. But that government lasted only for nine months! In those nine months, PM Adhikari’s government had done well but he had to resign after losing the trust of parliament – the same parliament which had almost entirely backed him only nine months ago. Let’s hope PM Dahal doesn’t meet the same fate!

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