Top Leaders of Major Parties Ensnared in the Web of Their Own Laws: The Crisis of Being Unable to Contest the Next Election

# Muna Chand

A fascinating irony is currently the talk of Nepali politics. Laws crafted yesterday to sideline rivals from politics are now closing in on the very architects of those laws and the top leaders of their own parties. These legal provisions, tailored to target individuals, have become such a thorn that many of the so-called top leaders of major parties may find themselves unable even to file their candidacy in the next election.

The story began within the internal politics of the Congress itself. At the 13th General Convention, an understanding was reached that Sher Bahadur Deuba would become President and Khum Bahadur Khadka would become Vice President. However, to prevent Khum Bahadur from ever becoming President, the law itself was amended, a process led by the then Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi. He crafted a law interpreting corruption as a criminal offence amounting to moral turpitude, under which any individual could be straightaway branded as corrupt if they could not disclose the source of even the wealth earned by their forefathers. In essence, it meant that if the state so wished, anyone could be declared corrupt.

For instance, if Pashupati Shamsher Rana were to be dragged into a corruption case, he would have to disclose the source of even the wealth amassed by his father Bijaya Shamsher and his grandfather Mohan Shamsher; otherwise, he would be branded corrupt. By levelling a similar charge, Khum Bahadur was declared corrupt and barred from entering politics for life. By then, both his kidneys had already failed, and he was nearing his death. To achieve this, the law relating to political parties was amended.

But in the new context, that story may now repeat itself. KP Sharma Oli has already been criminally charged in connection with the events of Bhadau 23. Madhav Kumar Nepal has been drawn into the Patanjali case. The corruption case in Prachanda’s People’s Liberation Army is still very much alive. If the state truly pursues these matters, none of these leaders shall be able to contest the next election.

It is not only the Congress members who sidelined their colleagues such as Khum Bahadur Khadka, Chiranjibi Kumar Wagle, and Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta through such machinations designed to block rivals within the party; a sword now hangs over almost all the top-tier leaders of what were yesterday considered the mainstream. The legal provision is such that the mere registration of a corruption case against anyone results in their suspension from office. The punishment upon conviction is a separate matter, but the penalty begins to be suffered the moment the case is filed.

In all this, it appears that a game is afoot to grant a clean chit to Rabi Lamichhane, who was suspended from office yesterday, from all cases, while summoning the turn of the leaders of the old parties. Indeed, it was precisely the fear of this very law that compelled Rabi Lamichhane to embrace Balen Shah and bring him into the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Time has changed so much that the outgoing Speaker Devraj Ghimire, who lost from Jhapa-2, had told the people of Chitwan even during an election rally, “What will you gain by voting for Rabi Lamichhane? After all, he is not going to enter Parliament. He is not even in a position to take the oath.” But they never realised that time had changed and the faces of the characters had already altered. At a single word from Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, Rabi Lamichhane went on to take the oath.

This election not only defeated the so-called big leaders; the Nepali people also tore apart the honour of the very elders to whom they had always accorded high regard and respect. When Bimalendra Nidhi lost in Madhesh, it created a situation where the contributions of Mahendra Narayan Nidhi stood devalued. Similarly, when Prakash Man Singh lost in Kathmandu, the honour of Ganesh Man Singh diminished. The shameful defeat of the Koiralas is an assault on BP’s contributions. Dozens of such examples have been delivered by the current election results. One UML leader says, “If a rally were to be taken out of only those cadres victimised by KP Oli, around forty thousand of them could be seen on the streets of Kathmandu.”

The greatest lesson of this irony is that when laws are made in politics targeting any one individual or group, those laws ultimately consume the very people who make them. The weapons forged yesterday to finish off rivals are today aimed at one’s own chest. The top leaders of the old parties are steadily falling into the very pit they themselves dug. The big question now is, will these leaders find a way to escape the web of their own creation, or will they be reduced to ashes in the furnace of the laws they themselves made? The days to come shall provide the answer.