Nepal's law related to remuneration to members of the federal parliament has stated that at least 10 per cent lawmakers are needed to become an opposition
The second meeting of the recently constituted House of Representatives (HoR), held on January 10, delivered a unique scene. Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal, whose party holds 32 seats in the 275-member HoR, had sought the vote of confidence. Except for two lawmakers and the interim chairperson of the HoR, the whole House voted for the confidence motion. Four lawmakers were absent. In this way, the government received the largest parliamentary support in the history of Nepal, almost unanimous.
However, that day's political drama has unfolded discussion on the future course of parliamentary practice in Nepal, the main questions being – why no one, except for the two lawmakers, voted against the confidence motion? Is PM Dahal's team so popular that almost the entire House consented for them? Unfortunately, that was not to be. The reality is rather multi-dimensional.
In Nepal, the self-centric politics seems to be dictating all the parliamentary proceedings at the moment. In fact, there has never been any agenda-centric politics. Even the society utterly acknowledges power, irrespective of how it has been gained. The parliament itself is representation of the society and hence, the lawmakers also seek power. It is known that the addiction to power leads to a narcissistic personality disorder, and the individual craves for more power.
This is exactly what happened recently. A section of the Nepali Congress (NC) members, especially the coterie of outgoing PM Sher Bahadur Deuba, had not imagined that PM Dahal would change the prepoll camp with such ease. However, considering PM Dahal's previous credential, it was obvious that he would be easily lured by the prime ministerial offer. This is where the UML, especially former PM KP Oli, smartly played his cards. There were unverified reports in the media that Oli was simultaneously in talks also with Deuba. A complicated shrewd political game was going on.
After the deal was done and dusted overnight, the NC lost its claim on a score of constitutional posts, including the President and Speaker of the HoR. Before the NC could assess the exact situation and recuperate from the obvious political knockout, Dahal was sworn in as the PM, his third stint as the executive head of the state.
That should have been the end of the game - the nation had got a prime minister through the constitutional procedure. Whatever happened was an acceptable political change of guards as the government had secured the support of more than the required majority of the lawmakers. However, the HoR meeting on January 10 unveiled another twist.
The NC also voted for the confidence motion of the PM. This left the HoR and the subsequent upper house without the main opposition. As the parliament is made up of the HoR and the upper house, there is no main opposition party in the parliament at the moment. Once the NC voted for the confidence motion of PM Dahal, the party is automatically a part of the ruling coalition.
The cardinal concept of parliamentary democracy is, the government is accountable to the parliament and the parliament voices the people's concern. In this way, the sovereignty remains with the people. The opposition's right and duty are to oppose the government's unjustified policies and actions by every legitimate parliamentary means. In so doing, the opposition parties try to convince the electorate that they should change places with the government.
Generally, the parliament is considered as the forum of the opposition, and the main opposition is taken as the government-in-waiting. In many countries, the main opposition forms a shadow government to maintain the continuous check and balance of the government.
The parliament without an opposition can be imagined only in an autocratic regime.
Nepal's law related to remuneration and allowances to members of the federal parliament has categorically conveyed that at least 10 percent of the lawmakers are required in the HoR for a party to be defined as an opposition. After the NC consented to the confidence motion, this parliamentary concept has been overturned.
The two parties with one lawmaker each, which voted against the confidence motion, cannot be considered the main opposition parties. Despite all the drama, the NC is still immorally claiming itself as the main opposition, and its lawmakers are sitting in the opposition's row in the HoR. This leaves the HoR in constitutional jeopardy.
The members of the NC have argued that they had supported the present government in order to establish political stability. They are trying to justify their move by comparing it with their confidence vote to the minority government of Manmohan Adhikari in 1994. However, that was a totally different scenario.
The government would not have been formed that time without the NC's support, as Adhikari did not command a majority in the HoR. This time, the government had already secured a majority, and the support of the NC was not needed. It is obvious that the NC is trying to create a rift between PM Dahal and Oli and is brazenly eying the constitutional posts.
After Dahal changed camp, it was an excellent opportunity for the NC to revive its fading reputation by opposing the unjustified policies and actions of the government from the opposition bench for the next five years. In this way, it would have won the support of the people, and had it done the job to the perfection, there was a chance of it performing better in the next elections. Unfortunately, the leadership of the NC did not act smartly to assess the long-term perspectives. Rather, they are mingling with momentary petty issues. In this course, the rule of law has been gravely dithered. Alas, this happens only in Nepal.
Dr Joshi is a senior scientist and neurobiologist at Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; pushpa. joshi@gmail.com
A version of this article appears in the print on January 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
