NEPAL: PRACHANDA ELECTED
No’pal, Nepal is really changing!
Prachanda's election as the Prime Minister may alter the course of Nepal's politico-cultural ships...

It was not the first time that Nepal has sworn a 'promising' Prime Minister. Yet, people who saw the swearing-in ceremony of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who goes by the nom de guerre Prachanda, reckon that politics in Nepal will change forever. Few eyebrows were raised when Prachanda decided to do away with the tradition by wearing a double-breasted suit instead of Nepal’s national dress for the ceremony; that too, in a nation where only weeks ago the Vice President had to publicly apologise for taking an oath in Hindi and not Nepali. When Prachanda decided to take the oath in the name of “people” and not “in the name of truth or God” (as was the tradition) and started preparing for an official visit to China and not India (traditional again), bureaucrats from MEA were easily seen shifting uncomfortably in their South Block chambers. Surely, breaking age long traditions seem to be the new in-thing in Nepal.

The leader of the decade-long Maoist rebellion in Nepal was finally elected PM after four months of political wrestling. The contest saw him winning 464 of the 577 ballots cast in the 601-strong Constituent Assembly. Three parties — Nepal Mazdoor Kisan Party, Rashtriya Jana Shakti and Rastriya Janamorcha — abstained from the voting. He was also backed by two other parties — the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) — and other smaller parties. But then they say, winning is only the start, Prachanda can surely hope to laugh his way to the parliament. C. K. Lal, a noted political analyst from Nepal while talking to B&E notes, “The situation is still fluid. Whatever is happening is very uncertain as there is no political consensus, whatsoever, amongst the political parties.”

The Maoists have already achieved their main goal, the end of 239 years of Hindu monarchy and declared it a federal republic. But there are other issues in focus. The most contentious among them is the control over the defense ministry and the future of 19,000 former Maoist guerrillas. Also, the Maoists would like to bring-in some sweeping economic changes which will be opposed by centrist parties. “The integration of the People''s Liberation Army into the Nepal Army will see lots of arguments and counter-arguments. Expect some fireworks on the economic front too,” says Amit Dhakal, a noted Nepalese politics expert to B&E.

It is India which will feel the maximum heat. While India has nurtured some ties with the former rebels, there is a growing concern over Maoists'' links with China. Prachanda, has already started talking about a more “balanced” approach in Nepal''s dealings with neighbours, and he doesn''t seem to be lowering decibels anytime soon!

Saurabh Kumar Shahi