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Koirala survives dissident move to oust him

Josy Joseph in Kathmandu

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala survived on Thursday evening a no-confidence motion tabled by a strong dissident group within the Nepali Congress parliamentary party.

Though speculations of a split in the party were rife, Koirala struck a conciliatory note, asking all Members of Parliament of the party to unite. But striking a posture of defiance, the dissidents walked out of the meeting.

Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the dissidents, protested against the open ballot on the motion tabled by him, saying that would intimidate MPs who wanted to vote against Koirala.

Deuba and 43 other MPs then staged a walkout. Another former prime minister, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, president of the Nepali Congress, kept away from the meeting, but told rediff.com that it was time for Koirala to quit.

"The time has come for us, the seniormost leaders in the Congress, both in the government and the party, to hand over the legacy of the party to younger people," Bhattarai said. Koirala is aged about 76 and belongs to Bhattarai's generation, and "this is not an age for us to go on working", he said. To rule the country well, the prime minister has to work at least 16 hours a day, and at this age "he cannot do it".

In the day's political drama, the Nepali Congress parliamentary party, which has a membership of 113 lawmakers, began its meeting at 0830 IST. But the meeting was soon adjourned after the dissidents opposed the open ballot and a small committee of members of the House of Representatives was constituted to look into the matter. But that committee too failed to arrive at a consensus.

When the parliamentary party reconvened at 1430 without any consensus on the issue, the Deuba faction walked out. The dissidents could muster only 45 members, including Deuba and Bhattarai, 12 short of a majority. But that figure was still two more than the support Deuba had received when Koirala replaced him a few months back as prime minister.

After the party spokesman announced that Koirala had survived the motion, the prime minister called on all MPs and party men to unite. "These are difficult times and we need to work together," he said.

But Deuba was defiant, protesting against the alleged manipulations by the prime minister's camp. Informed sources said the possibility of a split in the party could not be ruled out.

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