Editorial
Early dividends
Putting together an inclusive Cabinet early will help expedite governance issuesNow that the CPN-Maoist Centre’s Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been elected prime minister, the major ruling parties are busy nominating their members to ministerial positions. As always, this has been a slow process.
So far, the Maoists have appointed three and the NC two ministers. It is heartening to see that the parties have decided to make the new Cabinet inclusive. Two of the new Maoist ministers come from historically marginalised groups. Minister for Youth and Sports Daljit BK Shripaili comes from the Dalit community, and the Minister for Agriculture Gauri Shankar Chaudhary is a Tharu. The NC has selected Bimalendra Nidhi, a Madhesi, to be the home minister, who the ruling parties expect will be instrumental in improving relations with the Madhesi population.
This is important since many Madhesis remain furious over the local administration’s behaviour during the Tarai protests last year that saw around 50 deaths, including of police officials. We hope the parties continue to follow the principle of inclusion as they select the remaining ministers. In particular, it will be necessary to appoint women to ministerial positions.
If history is any guide, there will be numerous disagreements within the parties over whom to appoint as ministers. This has often led to major delays in government formation, which has severely damaged governance. The parties should make all efforts to fill vacant ministries as soon as possible. NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba has committed to filling appointments to the ministers reserved for the NC when the convention of the party’s student wing, NSU, concludes this week. Prime Minister Dahal and the smaller parties in government should also commit to filling vacant positions as soon as possible.
There is a slight problem with regard to Madhesi parties. Both the Maoists and NC are keen to include the agitating Madhesi parties in the government. These parties appear to have decided to join government once the ruling parties register a proposal to amend the constitution. There are other Madhesi leaders, however, who insist that the Madhesi parties should join government only after the amendment is endorsed by Parliament. For they feel that the Madhesi parties could betray their constituents and compromise on many of their demands in their desire to access power soon.
Such suspicions have arisen as Madhesi parties have often been seen to be excessively power-hungry in the past, and have forgotten about their community once coming to power. This time around the Madhesi parties would do well to demonstrate that they are truly committed to what they have promised to their constituents. Even if they join the government, they will have to avoid nepotistic behaviour, such as appointing their spouses or other close relations to ministerial positions.