By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

At a time when many political observers and pundits are speculating about the longevity of the current Communist-led coalition under the don-ship [not in the academic, but Mafia sense] of Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the ‘Great Manipulator’ himself is quite nonchalant about his chances of survival.

In order to quell the disturbances in Parliament fomented by the leading opposition party Nepali Congress which has an axe to grind vis-à-vis Rabi Lamichhane and his Rashtriya Swatantra Party RSP), Dahal-Prachanda has now indicated his willingness to form a parliamentary committee to investigate the embezzlement of depositors’ savings by the operators of several cooperatives around the country.

According to a police probe, dozens of cooperative entities have embezzled and misused billions of rupees from millions of depositors (TKP/The Kathmandu Post, May 5).

Dahal-Prachanda has now realized – belatedly – that ‘the misuse of cooperatives’ deposits has become a serious and complex issue.

Why is then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane, who allegedly was involved in embezzling millions of rupees from two cooperatives based in Butwal and Pokhara, against the parliamentary probe?

If Lamichhane is clean as a whistle, he should be willing and able to face the parliamentary committee. This is also what the Congress is harping on.

After all, even as a home minister [or like ex-US President Donald Trump] he is not above the law.

However, since Lamichhane and the RSP have threatened to quit the government if such a parliamentary committee is even constituted – where there’s smoke there’s fire — Dahal-Prachanda is in a quandary – literally between the devil and the deep blue sea!

With 21 seats in parliament, the RSP’s continuation in the governing coalition is crucial for Dahal-Prachanda’s survival. In the 275-member federal lower house, the ruling parties have 154 seats – 16 more than the magic number of 138, which guarantees a simple majority.

On the other hand, the latest split in the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal with only 12 seats – because of a longstanding intra-party feud – is no danger for the coalition’s survival.

It is a remarkable state of affairs for the country’s coalition politics that the CPN-Maoist Centre only has 32 seats, but rules the roost! It does seem that there is some honour among thieves!

However, the carpetbagger [or unscrupulous opportunist] that he is, Dahal-Prachanda has come upon a novel scheme to muddy the waters: the proposed committee will study the problems faced by all cooperatives and will also explore ways to return the money of depositors. [both objectives are a pipe dream!]

This is, of course, just an attempt to placate or even silence his critics – above all, the Nepali Congress. If the NC falls for his duplicitous, diversionary tactics, he can pass the budget and keep the RSP on board!

The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.co

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.

Source : https://www.peoplesreview.com.np/2024/05/07/dahal-prachanda-the-supreme-crisis-manager/