The time has now come for the Nepali voters to accept the inevitability of the coalition culture. The Swedes were mono party voters but later adjusted to the demands of the coalition. Though the Nepali people have been voting for a single party over the years, they should now shed the allergy towards voting for the coalition partners
The local election, which is being held in a month and a half from now, appears to have cast a spell on the political parties of Nepal.
Consequently, the main opposition in the Nepali Parliament, the United Marxist Leninists (UML), has announced it would go all alone, barring a few adjustments if necessary in the local level, while the other main parties of the coalition government are debating how to proceed forward. They are also analysing their strengths and weaknesses before making a decision in this regard.
Some of the members of the Nepali Congress (NC) feel that it can secure a landslide victory in view of the failure of the communist party to honour the five-year mandate given by the people due to their internal squabbling. Moreover, it has projected an image of honesty and firmness by supporting the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) right from the beginning and ultimately getting it approved from the Parliament. However, its performance, while heading the coalition in the last one year, has not been impressive enough to attract the voters for a decisive win, thus necessitating the need for a coalition. It is also afraid of the left coalition in view of Prachanda's indication to knock on the Balkot door if necessary, citing politics as the game of possibility.
The main opposition, the UML, has been alleging that the present coalition government is a product of the ordinance of the Supreme Court, self-servingly describing itself as the people's verdict. It has been raising populist slogans like the deteriorating economy of the country along with rising inflation even if they are more due to COVID-19 and Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Its lead in the last local election has given it a psychological advantage for a victory. But its failure to govern for a full term combined with the launch of two unconstitutional moves of dissolving the Parliament one after another has certainly minimised its chance of an outright win.
The Maoist Centre is hopeful that the people will vote overwhelmingly for it in view of the present constitution being a baby of the rebellion headed by it.
However, the dramatic prosperity of its leaders against the backdrop of the continuing poverty of its followers has weighed heavily in its disfavour. This is the reason why so many of its leaders lost in the second Constituent Assembly election immediately after registering a landslide victory in the first one.
This unabated slump could be seen in the last election, and political observers have predicted that it is likely to continue in the forthcoming election as well.
The United Socialist (US) headed by Madhav Nepal finds itself tottering on a political precipice at the moment. This political party has just been formed, and a coalition is thus a necessity more than a luxury for this party. For the other coalition partner, Janata Samajbadi Party, headed by Upendra Yadav, perhaps, buoyed by the political base in Madhes, in particular, a coalition does not appear to be a matter of life and death as for the US.
The coalition in Nepal is a product of the naked aggression by the UML on the constitution as in India in the late seventies. The culture of coalition effectively began in 1977 in India after Indira Gandhi imposed an undemocratic emergency in the country and put opposition leaders behind bars. These parties, including the Marxist communists, supported a new political outfit, known as the Janata Party, and it was voted to power by an overwhelming majority in the following election. Although the Indian Congress returned as the largest party in the parliament, firstly due to the failure of the Janata Party to survive a full term and secondly by riding on the crest of the sympathy vote against the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the coalition again staged a comeback, which is continuing till date.
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is in favour of the coalition as are other leaders of the coalition partners Prachanda and Madhav Nepal. The faction headed by Shekhar Koirala within the NC, however, holds a different view. The NC has called a meeting of its central committee to decide on whether or not to go for a coalition in the forthcoming local election.
It had dispatched its members to place fingers on the pulse of the voters.
Five of the seven chiefs of the provinces have opined ploughing a lonely political furrow.
Though Deuba enjoys a majority in the party, he cannot go against the different view resonating within the party. He has the double responsibility of continuing the coalition as well as accommodating the opposing view prevailing in the party.
The constitution could become the whipping boy if the UML returns to power.
There is thus a need of the coalition for the days to come. In this context, a middle path could be followed by entering into coalition for about two-thirds of the seats and allowing individuals to contest in the remaining one-third where victory is certain.
That would ensure a majority for the coalition besides providing a testing ground for the parties' individual strength. This is enjoying the best of both the worlds. It is like eating the pie and having it, too.
The time has now come for the Nepali voters to accept the inevitability of the coalition culture. The Swedes were mono party voters but later adjusted to the demands of the coalition.
Though the Nepali people have been voting for a single party over the years, they should now shed the allergy towards voting for the coalition partners.
In India, in the post emergency national election, the non-communist parties and the Marxist Communist Party of India had supported each other.
In Nepal also, all the parties should learn to sail together despite sharing a differing ideology for the safety of the constitution, which is still at stake given the ever increasing acerbic rhetoric of former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 29, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
