Monday, May 03, 2010

Prachanda's Second Big Mistake?


What was Prachanda thinking? That he will get 50,000 Maoist cadres to come over to Kathmandu from the districts, and the common people in Kathmandu will join forces and next thing you know there are half a million people in the streets like during April 2006? For him to ever have thought that goes on to show that this guy has no clue as to what happened during April 2006.

The Madhav Nepal led government will be toppled through parliamentary arithmetic, and that parliamentary arithmetic will never come to be if Prachanda does not make it clear he understands how coalition governments are run. Coalition governments are run through the consent of all coalition partners.

Prachanda seems to think the Maoists central committee gets to make all final decisions in the country. The Maoists central committee decides who will be in power, who will not be in power. The Maoist central committee decides who will be Prime Minister. The rest of the parties need to do what the Maoist central committee decides has to happen. That thinking drives the other parties away. That thinking is what brought down the Prachanda led government in the first place. For him to continue with that thinking and expect a new Prachanda led government take shape is daydreaming. It is politically immature.

Prachanda's last big mistake was to abandon his coalition partners and bypass the office of the president to try and sack the army chief who retired on his own a few months later. His latest big mistake we are seeing in action right now. You don't have a movement. You have 50,000 Maoist cadres having free food.

His showing zero flexibility on as to who might lead a possible national unity government makes extra sure that such a national unity government will not get formed in the first place.

But the real issue is not just about changing the government. The real issue is the ideological clash between the Maoists and the rest. That ideological clash is not being addressed by either camp. The solution is to turn Nepal into a multi-party democracy of state funded parties. That step has to be preceded by making sure all parties make their book keeping public. Why will not the Maoists go for that?

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