Following is from the Kathmandu Post editorial of 6 July 04. I find it quite interesting so I am sharing it with you. Sorry if you had already read it yesterday. ================================================= Same old Deuba Time is generous to only a few people. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is among them. He got a chance to become PM for the third time though he had squandered his first two terms. And there are people who never learn from their past mistakes. We are afraid PM Deuba is one of them. In his third innings as the PM, Deuba seems to be the same weak leader trying to please everyone even at the cost of his own credibility and principles.It took Deuba more than a month to expand his three-member cabinet. And, finally, when he did, the cabinet line-up wasnýt much inspiring. It is once again a sort of jumbo-cabinet. There was a sort of general consensus that the cabinet size should not be more than ten percent of the total strength of the House of Representatives. That means the cabinet size should have been 21 at the maximum. You canýt blame Deuba alone for this cabinet size. After all, it was the CPN-UML who first announced a 10-member team to join the cabinet, prompting other coalition partners to bargain for more ministerial berths. It also raised expectations of the aspirant ministers within Deubaýs party. But isnýt it the responsibility of the PM to be bold and assertive? By giving in to the pressures of his coalition partners, and his own party colleagues, he betrayed not only the country but also himself. If people recall his past, they are reminded of his 48-member jumbo-cabinet that he put together during his first tenure as the PM. However, it is not just an issue of the size, but the composition of the cabinet, too. If Deuba deserves any commendation for his cabinet expansion, it is for keeping the "renowned corrupt" within his party out of the cabinet. But again, proxy represents some of them in the government. Following his appointment, PM Deuba has been claiming that "regression" has been rectified. And when he amended the controversial Work Procedure Regulations, he presented it as concrete proof that his government had executive power. The composition of the cabinet has exposed the hollowness of that argument. PM Deuba has inducted three representatives of the royal palace - two cabinet-rank ministers and an assistant minister. Not a single elected government in the post-1990 period had royal representatives in it. The induction of the three ministers in the government, as we see it, also does not serve any purpose of the royal palace. Their induction, instead, will give an excuse to those who still argue that the King hasnýt backed off from active politics. And it will continue to drag the King into controversy. We have always earnestly wished and wanted the King to stay away from politics, especially dirty politics. There is still time for Deuba to correct himself and work boldly to tackle the mammoth problems facing the country. If he keeps dilly-dallying and fails to rise to the occasion, time will eventually punish him harshly.