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http://www.nepalnews.com.np/archive/2004/sep/arc_sep04_25.htm#1 Why is G. P. Koirala angry? (News Analysis)
The way former Prime Minister and opposition Nepali Congress leader, Girija Prasad Koirala, reacted to Supreme Courtýs verdict on Wednesday baffled many.
In response to the apex courtýs verdict that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) was acting in accordance with law while summoning Koirala to inquire about his property details, the octogenarian leader said, ýThe Supreme Court had turned helpless and lost its conscience in front of the authoritarian royal regime.ý He even advised the apex court to be moved within the Narayanhiti royal palace.
ýI will rather go to jail but will not appear before the CIAA,ý Koirala declared.
Even his well wishers said the comments by a senior politician like Koiralaýwho has spent over six decades fighting for democracy and rule of law in the countryýdid not match his stature.
ýWe have to honour the courtýs verdict,ý said advocate Radheshyam Adhiakry, who pleaded on behalf of the former premier.
What may have turned Koirala so angry? He must be aware that he can face litigations on charge of contempt of court.
Those who have watched Koiralaýs on-going tirade against the October 4, 2002 move of King Gyanendra say the NC supremo seems being pushed to a situation where either he will have to `compromiseý with the King and will be rewarded duly or prepare to face the royal wrath.
Commenting upon reports that he had had meetings with some close royal advisors, Koirala said publicly that he had been offered the post of ýPrime Ministerý under Article 127 of the constitution. ýI will not hold the post of Prime Minister under this Article,ý declared Koirala, who is spearheading a four-party agitation demanding restoration of the dissolved parliament and formation of an all-party government.
After dismissing Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in October 2002, King Gyanendra has appointed three prime ministers (the last one being Deuba himself) under the same article.
A leader with popular mass-base, Koirala may have a long score to settle with the King, but time seems not to be in favour of the octogenarian leader. He blamed royal palace for engineering a split in his over five-decade old party. His disciple-turned-rival Deuba leads the breakaway NC (Democratic) party and has returned to Singha Durbarýas a royal-appointed prime minister.
Koirala meticulously brought together a coalition of five opposition parties under the banner of ýBroad Democratic Allianceý to counter the royal move. But after nearly two-year-long street agitation, CPN (UML) deserted Koirala alleging him to be barring the appointment of its general secretary, Madhav Nepal, as the new premier. UML is now a major coalition partner in the Deuba government.
Hundreds of Nepali Congress workers have been targeted and killed by Maoist rebels and thousands others have fled their villages over the last nine years looking for safety. While some of his close aides have made millions of rupees by virtue of being in the government, Koirala continues to lead a Spartan life style. He lives in the modest house of his nephew, Dr. Shashank Koirala, in Kathmandu and has access to a vehicle and security paraphernalia provided by the State.
But it is no secret that one must have money to run a political organization in a developing country like Nepal and your sources often get dried up if you are away from power for several years.
Allegations of corruption are nothing new for the Nepali Congress strongman. The then opposition, UML, had taken to streets for months demanding Koiralaýs resignation on the infamous Lauda Air scam. UML later joined the Koirala government to hold last parliamentary elections in 1999.
Supporters of Koirala, on their part, suspect the CIAA of being politically motivated and trying to discredit him ýwhich, they say, will ultimately weaken the anti-King movement. They also point towards CIAA giving clean chit to some Congress and UML leaders who allegedly developed close relations with the palace. We canýt give their names here due to legal reasons but reports say, one of them is a senior leader of the ruling NC (Democratic) while the other has just left UML and is known as an independent left leader.
In his much-talked about book, Akhtiyar ko Thuna: Mero Samjhana (Detention by CIAA: Some Memories), former Minister Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta has alleged the CIAA of working out of vested interests and trying to justify the royal rule. CIAA officials brush aside such allegations.
But they havenýt been able to answer some fundamental questions. The first being the Commission as an ýunaccountable body.ý According to experts, in a democratic polity it is the duty of the executive, or the prime minister --to be precise, to check and control corruption. CIAA, by its very nature, canýt be accountable to parliament or people, they say.
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