Ruling alliance aims at joint move

By TNW correspondent

Prime Minister Deuba along with his ruling partners- Prachanda, the Maoist Centre Chief and Nepal, the head of CPN Unified – is on the move to jointly organize schemes in various fronts including impeachment of Chief Justice (now on suspension), parliamentary-normalization and poll-understanding.

Although a number of small communist parties – in parliament and outside it – protested against the parliamentary ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Nepal Compact, the ruling alliance was kept intact. One partner unsatisfied with the ratification walked off the alliance but it did not make any difference to the strength of the ruling alliance.

Both Prachanda and Nepal appear determined to face the opposition to the ratification in their own parties in a political manner through the tool of interpretative declaration they signed prior to ratification. The impeachment process of the Chief Justice, another big move by the ruling alliance, is therefore, on the move in the parliament.

Even the opposition party CPN UML, which is creating obstruction in the parliament in the context of its protest against Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, agreed to participate in the impeachment recommendation committee that Speaker Sapkota initiated through parliamentary approval.

Keeping in view the forthcoming local polls on May 13 and limited time for the end of the tenure of the current House of Representatives – just nine months-, the impeachment process is uncertain and unpredictable. Yet leaders have started to show their interest in impeachment.

PM Deuba is currently focused on getting the parliamentary session conducted normally through political talks with the opposition party. This, he believes, is important for getting the budget of the fiscal 2022-2023 passed through the parliament. If obstruction in parliament continues he might face some difficulty in having the budget endorsed properly.

Prior to going to parliamentary polls in nine months Deuba is interested in displaying his efficiency in performance and political handling of problems facing the nation. He wants to get his Nepali Congress Party and ruling alliance partners do so well in the polls that they could guarantee parliamentary continuity, political stability and consistency in government in 2023 onwards.