Public pulse matters a lot in politics. Those ignoring it will bite the dust, sooner or later.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who is not much better than a military dictator, had started getting too big for his boots. So much so that he began accumulating all executive powers in his hands, smothering the opposition and even threatening the media critical of his greed for power and the methods he used. In the meantime, the majority of the people were getting fed up with his arrogance and undemocratic actions. Chavez either ignored public anger and dissatisfaction or was ignorant of it. Either way, it is the death knell for a politician. He tried to become president-for-life through a referendum; now he is not sure whether he will get another term of office in 2011.  

Look what happened to the strongman in Bihar in neighboring India where Laloo Prasad Yadav - with his wife as chief minister - had turned the entire state machinery into an extended arm of his family and party. He became smug and arrogant to the extent of disregarding public opinion only to get a rude shock in the state assembly election.

For us, the best example would be King Gyanendra. There's nothing new to write about his misadventure.

Now Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is trying to better even this best example. By formally turning his party the Nepali Congress and (coalition) government into his personal fiefdom. By appointing his daughter Sujata Koirala as minister. By disregarding public pulse.

The seven-party coalition government should not last more than three months from now, that is, if the election to the constituent assembly is held as promised and announced. But Koirala has brought aboard his daughter even for this very brief period. But the prime minister has not given her any ministry to look after. She is minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister's Office.

At any other time, "without portfolio" would have been an embarrassment to the appointee. Not this time, as the person occupying this position is none other than the prime minister's daughter. Now, all of a sudden the without-portfolio portfolio has become a venerated one. She is first among equals, barring her own father. Had she been given another regular portfolio, the mighty Sujata would have ranked with her cabinet colleagues. But as "minister without portfolio", her seeming invincibility remains intact. For now. More importantly, she is in a position to project herself as the de facto deputy prime minister.

The question before us is why did Koirala choose to appoint her when her popularity, both inside and outside the Nepali Congress, is no secret at all. Those willing to work as public figures need to guard their image fiercely. It would be foolish to believe that the senior Koirala is not aware of the image his daughter has among the public. So what is Koirala's message?

With this move, the ailing octogenarian has taken the first decisive and visible step towards establishing his daughter as his successor, both in his party and the government. Had it been about choosing an heir to his personal empire or fiefdom or wealth, this should not have concerned those outside the Koirala family. But it is not. This is very much a public matter. A leader must be able to command respect from most of the people, if not all of them. Outside her own army of sycophants, Sujata would be hard pressed to muster support.

Ironically, after playing a leading role in uprooting a dynastic rule, Koirala is saddling his own party with another dynasty. He should have resisted the temptation.   

Do the Nepali Congress or the government, and more importantly, the people, deserve this? Does GP Koirala want to wreck the party to which he has given the prime of his youth and life? Is there no better person than Sujata to carry on his legacy? Also, does his successor have to be a Koirala? The party president cannot hide behind his notoriously infamous silence.

Koirala might like to ignore the public that believes his daughter has taken kickbacks in various deals in (Royal) Nepal Airlines Corporation and hydropower projects besides promotions in the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, since this is hush-hush and yet unproven. But he cannot ignore what is already known beyond doubt: Sujata's support for the monarchy. She had been speaking about protecting the Shah dynasty even before she was sworn in. After taking the oath of office under the Interim Constitution that has thrown out the monarchy for all practical purposes, she has spoken in favor of saving it and reviving the Constitution of 1990. Isn't this a breach of the Interim Constitution?

But even as I am writing this piece, I am reminded of the spineless NC leaders. They have remained very quiet in public. Privately, they are fuming; but they too have not helped their public image by remaining conspicuously silent. Those with aspirations to lead the party and nation must be courageous enough to call a spade a spade. What their party president has done is seriously wrong, and they must say so, and in public. They may choose to remain silent as they have been so far, but at their own peril.

But others won't. And when they speak, it won't be just GP Koirala or Sujata Koirala who will have to pay the price.

damakant@kantipur.com.np