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CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal held separate meetings with Nepal Samajbadi Party Chairman Baburam Bhattarai and Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand to discuss power sharing and to chart out a future strategy. On the occasion, the leaders discussed power sharing and the role of coalition, a Khumaltar source said. Recently, Dahal has intensified meetings with leaders of various political parties to ask them to help him in the prime ministerial race. Earlier on December 5, a meeting of the ruling coalition had decided to form a new government from the incumbent alliance. But, the Maoist Center leaders have intensified meetings and behind-the-curtain negotiations at present to form the new government under their party's leadership. Also Read: Dahal’s power grab ploy Dahal has been urging the Nepali Congress leaders to help him become the prime minister in the first phase after the elections, saying that he made Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba the prime minister by his efforts following a dispute in the Nepal Communist Party. A way to form a new government has been opened after the Election Commission submitted the election results report to President Bidya Devi Bhandari today. There is a provision that the President has to a Parliament meeting after the government recommends the date to the President to convene a meeting of the House of Representatives.  

Janamat Party led by CK Raut became a national party after winning six seats in the federal parliament in the Nov 20 election. Raut, who forayed into politics as a radical outsider with his free-Madhes campaign, has tempered his hardline opinion over the years. Now his party has joined mainstream politics and is in the position where it could join the would-be coalition government. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talks to Raut regarding his political journey and his party.  

You boycotted the 2017 polls and now you are leading a national party in the federal parliament. How has the experience been so far?

We should accept natural changes. At some point, the Nepali Congress also boycotted the elections. The Maoists said that they do not accept the parliamentary system, and now they are in the parliament. This happens in politics.  It was exciting to participate in the election for the first time. I am excited about how this opportunity will be, and how much success we will achieve. But I have always kept in mind that if we fail, the people will not trust us anymore, and we have to accept that. We have no excuse to be like other ordinary parties.

You started off as a free-Madhes campaigner, only to join mainstream politics to the surprise of many. Can we expect other surprises from you and your party?

People may be surprised because they think traditionally. I make important and quick decisions. I can go against what is going on in society and prevail for the better. I don't have big agendas and ambitions at least. I don’t even want to promise anything big. The reason we established this party is to advocate for common people and provide them employment. This country can be made better by creating job opportunities and controlling corruption. For these, I have made all the decisions. These are not surprises, but the need of the hour.

Is this the right time for your party to get involved in government or strengthen the party organization?

We are now a national party and with six MPs in the federal parliament, we are a decent political force. It is necessary to involve and engage the government to meet our demands. We will work to build the internal system of the party, and I'm sure that involvement in the government won’t hamper our party system.

The past governments have failed to honor the agreements reached in favor of Madhes. The people of Madhes don’t seem to be in favor of Madhes-based parties joining the government either. Do you think the government will address the demands of Madhes the agreements this time? 

The governments so far have not been sincere in implementing the agreements. The agreements made by the previous governments with other parties have not been implemented. So, we have been in regular talks with all the parties. We will take the side of the party that is willing to take ownership of our agendas. And I don’t think Madhesi people don’t want us to be in the government. The downfall of other Madhes-based parties was caused due to the path they took for power and personal benefits. Janamat Party is different and it has a clean background. 

How does Janamat Party distinguish itself from other Madhes-based parties?

Janamat Party is not a party that broke off from another party to gain power or opportunity. We have built this party from scratch. Janamat Party is run by the people who do not wish to earn a position of power or money. They joined politics to improve the standard of living of the people. It is a party of people who come from a struggling background. 

The Election Commission (EC) has announced the final results of the November 20 elections. With this, the race for the new prime minister is expected to gather momentum. Preliminary talks among parties on possible power-sharing modalities have already begun. The top leaders of the current five-party coalition have come up with a public statement pledging to keep their collaboration intact. The core of the power-sharing deal obviously is the post of prime minister. Within the coalition, there are two contenders—Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal.  In his meetings with the Nepali Congress (NC) leaders, Dahal has been claiming his stake to the post of prime minister. But his bargaining power has certainly reduced, given the poor electoral performance of his party. Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center) has won just 32 seats out of 275-member House of Representatives (HoR). Before the elections, he had expected to emerge as a decisive power with at least 50 seats  that could make or break a government. But the election results show otherwise. Desperate, Dahal is now attempting to consolidate his strength in parliament by trying to convince the CPN (Unified Socialist), Janamat Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, and other fringe parties. He needs to corral support of other parties so that he could bargain for the premier’s post with the NC.  Speaking at a public function on December 12 in Kathmandu, Dahal said his party still holds the key. “I can get the support of 60 lawmakers in the House because parties such as Unified Socialist, Janata Samajbadi and other fringe parties would support our party,” he said.  On the face of it, Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Unified Socialist, Upendra Yadav’s Janata Samajbadi and leaders of some other fringe parties are likely to back Dahal’s premiership bid. Reports are that Dahal has agreed to fulfill the demands of these parties. There are even talks about possible merger of some of these parties with the Maoists. But even with the backing from the fringe parties, Dahal would still need the nod from either the NC or the CPN-UML to lead the next government. NC leader Deuba has maintained silence regarding Dahal’s prime ministerial ambition so far.  While Dahal expects Deuba to hand over the leadership reins of the next government as per their gentleman’s agreement reached before the elections, the latter wants to become the prime minister for the sixth time.  The NC leaders are of the view that the party should hand over the government leadership to Dahal after 2.5 years. NC Central Working Committee member Nain Singh Mahar says there could be an agreement with the Maoists on leading the government on a rotational basis. Meanwhile, Deuba also faces pressure within his own party to step down and make way for the new generation leaders. The external influence, mainly of India and the US, also equally matters in the government formation process. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava has already intensified talks with major political parties on the government formation process. During his visit to India in July this year, Dahal had reportedly told Indian leaders and officials that the five-party coalition would remain intact.  China has not spoken anything about the government formation process, though it is clear that it prefers Dahal to lead the new government.  If the current coalition fails to strike a deal on power sharing, there is a high chance Dahal may try to convince the UML. Although Dahal and UML leader KP Sharma Oli do not see eye to eye since the bitter break-up of the erstwhile Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), the leaders of the two parties are currently in talks about forming a left alliance.  On December 14, Maoist General Secretary Dev Gurung called on Oli at the latter's Balkot residence to discuss a power-sharing deal between the two parties. Similarly, UML politburo leader Mahesh Basnet, Oli’s confidant, had met Dahal last week.  A UML leader tells ApEx that second-rung leaders of the UML and the Maoist are trying to establish rapprochement between Oli and Dahal.  “The two leaders are ready to forget their enmity and work together,” says the leader. “We are trying to set up a meeting between them.” But due to Maoist Center’s reduced size in parliament, the UML may not agree to offer premiership to Dahal. The party could, however, agree on a rotational power sharing, just like the one proposed by the NC.

A writ has been filed at the Supreme Court against Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane. Supreme Court spokesperson Bimal Paudel said that the writ was filed demanding that Lamichhane’s lawmaker post be scrapped at the earliest. “A writ was filed against Rabi Lamichhane. Yuva Raj Safal has lodged the writ,” Paudel said. He said that Rastriya Swatantra Party, Election Commission, federal parliament and District Administration Office, Kathmandu have been made defendants. Safal has urged the concerned authority not to administer oath to Lamichhane as a lawmaker. Lamichhane was dragged into controversy after being embroiled in a dual citizenship case. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Chitwan-2.