January 14, 2025
kathmandu – KP Sharma The first six months of the Oli government have been disappointing. In fact, looking back, it's hard to think of a single successful measure from this administration. Even the much-lauded “breakthrough” in the transitional justice process proved futile due to the failure to elect officials for the two transitional justice bodies, in part due to interference by the ruling party's top leaders. The powerful alliance of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML came to power promising political stability, good governance, speedy service delivery, economic revival and constitutional amendments, but failed to deliver on all these fronts. The government may have a nearly two-thirds parliamentary majority, but it has been the subject of endless speculation about its tenure from day one. On the governance front, the Prime Minister himself made a mockery of his lofty position when he accepted a donation from a controversial businessman to build an office for his party, the United Marxist-Leninist (UML). Capital spending has been poor, inflation is rising and people don't have money. When it comes to constitutional changes, less is more: one day the prime minister rules out amending the constitution in the next five years; the next day senior parliamentary leaders accuse him of making such “irresponsible” remarks.
Oli's six-month tenure was therefore quite chaotic. Fearing a poor outcome, the Prime Minister recently summoned senior civil servants and rebuked them. He then pushed through five decrees at a midnight cabinet meeting. Maybe he's really bothered by the government's sluggish behavior. But his recent actions also smack of desperation. Half a year has passed and the prime minister wants to be seen taking action and making a difference, hence the scoldings and edicts. However, had he committed to action, some progress would have been made on some fronts, but that has not been the case. That's why more and more people think that whatever Prime Minister Oli does is just for show. This time, he can't even blame his alliance partners as he has great chemistry with Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and there is no question of Congress ministers rebelling against the Prime Minister reports. So where did Ollie go wrong?
Interestingly, none of his ministers excelled in service delivery. This is rare. Typically, in every government, there are ministers who perform well even as other members of the government perform poorly. But not this time. This suggests that current ministers are selected more on the basis of their loyalty to the party's top leader than on their ability. In any case, in a parliamentary system, the responsibility rests with the Prime Minister. One problem appears to be the Prime Minister's failure to establish the moral authority to lead. His image has yet to be restored by his decision to accept the land as a party office – even within the UML. Party leaders who criticized the decision were quickly suspended or removed, suggesting Oli is more of a dictator than a democrat. This is true within the party, and it is also true in the political system. If the Prime Minister wants to understand where he went wrong, he must look in the mirror.
