As the CPN (Maoist Center) supported Nepali Congress over CPN-UML in the presidential poll, UML left the government and Congress joined the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led cabinet. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to UML leader Pradeep Gyawali about the evolving political situation after the poll.
How do you see the current coalition led by Dahal? Will it sustain for five years?
This coalition is unnatural to the core. The coalition partners are together only for petty interests. If they were sensitive toward national interest, why would they drift apart after the presidential poll? And there is no chance of this coalition lasting five years. It will break apart soon and the erstwhile partners will start fighting for their own interests.
Why do you think Dahal betrayed UML?
Consider these three factors. The first one is the fact that Dahal is well-known for his opportunist and volatile behavior. He has done this to every political party and no one knows this better than UML. Yet, we gave him the benefit of the doubt. The second thing is his fear psychosis. He thought his interest couldn’t be served while being with UML as we had a mechanism where the government had to come clean on its wrong moves at coalition partner meetings.
We talked about service delivery, good governance and national interest, which Dahal didn’t want to follow. The involvement of international powers is the third factor. We saw the officials of foreign nations manipulating the government to serve their national interests. If we were in the government, we would not have let such things happen. As for Dahal, he wanted to serve international interests.
How will UML play the role of the main opposition?
As the main opposition, we will have two major roles to play. For us, this is the right time to reorganize the party. For a long time, we were in the government and unable to build the party properly. We will utilize this time to rebuild the party from the grassroots. We have already started campaigns to make the UML a strong national force. We will raise people’s voices from the parliament and from the streets, if necessary. We will not let the public suffer. We will do everything to make the government accountable.
Is there any possibility of an NC-UML coalition?
After the Nov 20 poll results came out, the Congress and the UML should have collaborated to form a government in the national interest because the people had given us—not the small parties—the mandate. We formally proposed the Congress for a coalition, but they ignored us. Amid public frustration, such a government had become necessary for democracy and stability of the political system. But then the Congress had other plans. The scenario has changed and there’s no chance of an NC-UML coalition, for now. But if the Congress wants to form a coalition with us in the national interest, we are open for discussion.
As a former foreign minister, what do you have to say on this government’s foreign policy?
I don’t have much expectations from this government. I hope that they don’t make things worse. None of the neighbors trusts us. We have lost international credibility. We were not invited to the Raisina Dialogue. We were invited to the Boao Forum, but the prime minister shunned it. We are in a difficult situation. Even with the US, the Maoist party, as a partner in the then coalition government, made the MCC Compact controversial by signing on it, then protesting against it and finally playing a role in its endorsement through the parliament. Why would the international community believe us?
And recently, the way Dahal canceled the visit of the incumbent foreign minister to the Human Rights Council’s conference and sent an unauthorized person to the event has made our foreign policy and presence immature. That conference was very important for us as we could have shared so many things with the international community regarding our progress and achievements on the human rights front.
