FEBRUARY 28
The NC may also ditch Dahal after a few months and form its own govt as the largest party
Within two months of joining the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led coalition government, the CPN- UML, the largest ally, quit the government on Monday after PM Dahal joined hands with the Nepali Congress (NC) in the run up to the presidential election slated for March 9.
Another ally - Rastriya Prajatantra Party - left the coalition and withdrew its support to the government on Saturday. Although the UML had earlier said that it would remain in the government until the presidential election, a secretariat meeting held on Monday decided to quit the cabinet and withdraw support to the government after Dahal prepared either to sack eight UML ministers or strip them of their portfolios.
PM Dahal's move to prevent Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal from visiting Geneva to take part in the UN Human Rights Council Conference on Sunday prompted the UML to quit the government at the earliest.
The UML has said the move to prevent Paudyal was an utter disrespect to her and the party itself. New political situation emerged after Dahal's CPN-Maoist Centre decided to support NC leader Ramchandra Paudel for the post of president, reviving the pre-poll partnership with the NC.
The UML has accused Dahal of breaching the gentleman's agreement in which the CPN-MC would support the UML's candidate in the presidential election when both the parties decided to form a coalition government on December 25.
It is unclear whether the PM has to seek a fresh vote of confidence in the House of Representatives (HoR) as he still has the support of the NC and other fringe parties. But Dahal is short of the majority he had, when he submitted a list of lawmakers to the President while laying claim on forming the government under Article 76 (2) of the constitution. Dahal will not reshuffle his cabinet until the election of the president. If it is mandatory to take a fresh vote of confidence to remain in office, PM Dahal would do so only after the presidential election. Till then, the PM will retain all the vacant ministerial portfolios with him and share them with the NC and others after taking the fresh vote of confidence.
This is perhaps the first time in the country's political history that a coalition government has crumbled even without completing the honeymoon period, largely because of mutual suspicion and distrust between Dahal and UML chair K P Oil, who wanted to control the rein of the government from the very beginning. As an opportunistic leader, given his poor strength in the House, he had already sensed that the new-found coalition with Oli would not last for a long time. So, he had already started hobnobbing with the NC even before taking the vote of confidence on January 10. What is clear is that PM Dahal's decision to revive the old alliance with the NC and others will remain intact only until the NC gets its presidential candidate elected. The NC, the largest political force in the HoR, may also ditch Dahal after a few months and resort to forming its own government under Article 76 (3) of the constitution as the largest party. Given his advanced age, NC boss Sher Bahadur Deuba will have no patience to wait for twoand-a-half years to stage a comeback to power for a record sixth time. Dahal may have been ecstatic by ditching the UML this time. But his days ahead are not as rosy as he might think they are.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
