Kathmandu, May 4
With the UCPN-Maoist withdrawing its support, it has become clear that the KP Sharma Oli government will not last long. In this context, it will be quite insightful to look into factors that led Oli to this pass.
Even before promulgation of the constitution through the Constiuent Assembly, Maoist Chair Prachanda and CPN-UML President Oli had cordial relations. This cordiality was instrumental in promulgation of the constitution and elevation of Oli as prime minister. In difficult times like the Indian Blockade, Prachanda remained firmly behind PM Oli.
These days, the friendly ties have become a thing of the past. But this did not happen all of a sudden.
A month ago, Prachanda wrote to Oli addressing him as Comrade Chairman and calling for a formal meeting between the top brass of the two parties. But Oli chose to ignore the letter instead of going for high-level talks with the Maoist leadership.
Apparently, the Maoist leadership was not happy with this cold-shouldering on the part of Oli. This week, the UCPN-Maoist convened a meeting of its standing committee, which decided to raise the topic with the UML strongly. Only after this posturing did PM Oli invite the Maoist leadership for a meeting at Baluwatar on Tuesday. Even this meeting was not a UML initiative; it was rather the result of Maoist prodding.
A Maoist leader told Onlinekhabar: Prime Minister Oli did not respond to a written request coming from a coalition partner for formal talks even after a month’s wait. In view of this posturing, the Maoist party decided that it can no longer continue its support to the Oli government. In his letter, Prachanda had sought discussions on a host of issues, including UML-Maoist relations, activities of the government, implementation of the constitution, the peace process and post-quake reconstruction work.
The Maoist leader said: We waited for a month, but PM did not respond to the letter. Therefore, claims that we are becoming aggressive against Oli all of a sudden are bogus.
A month before writing to Oli, UML and UCPN-Maoist brass had decided to address conflict-era issues promptly and speed up post-quake reconstruction work. Prachanda had written to Oli to remind him of the commitment, a source said.
In a pretty late response, PM Oli told Prachanda at the Baluwatar meeting that he was ready to do whatever it takes to move ahead together. But it was like a date-expired medicine for a serious illness.
The Maoist party may not have parted ways with PM Oli if he had said what he said on Tuesday early on.
Oli chose to procrastinate and the result is there for all to see.
