The idea of a national government is ill founded at the moment

 The idea of a national government is ill founded at the moment. This coalition government formed by the majority in parliament is able to fight any emergency on war footing. If the earthquakes that hit us last month and ongoing aftershocks are the issue, the government is already doing what any national government would do in dealing with the crisis situation. A national government, if at all viable, is not a valuable addition in this regard.

The move towards a national government will, however, unnecessarily start a prolonged and destabilizing negotiation on power-sharing and divert the focus of the nation from its current responsibility to cater to the affected people. This will further discredit democracy at a time when the executive power of the government must be strengthened, and accountability must be sought for the exercise of such power. There is no apparent case for national government.

Besides, let it be clearly stated that the formation of a national government is not an obligatory constitutional requirement.

The coalition government of the day – i. e. the government led by Sushil Koirala commands clear confidence of the house. What the earthquake-affected people would expect is the cooperation of all political forces in arriving at a common understanding in the nature of the national emergency, and how the government should respond to it now, and long into the future. If the victims’ opinions count, nobody from this lot has ever demanded national government. So it is clear that the move is not demand based, at least on the part of the common people.

Politically, let it also be noted that Nepal does not have a culture of national government. All efforts in the past in this regard have failed. It has failed even in giving a new constitution to the country. Certain people and parties were always left out, while others have disproportionately capitalized on the formation of the national government. It has served as a means to silence Nepal’s vital national interests and marginalize the wellbeing of common folks.

The government of the day should be allowed to function unhindered according to constitutional parameters. If there is a split in the current coalition, or the confidence of the parliament is believed to have been shattered, any party in the parliament should be able to initiate effort to form a new government according to the constitutional process. In that case, a new government could be instituted to replace the existing one. However, there should always be a strong opposition in the house so that there is no monopolization of power. Let there be no effort to slash out this opposition from the parliament on any pretext.

I do not therefore recommend a national government, whatever the compulsions or circumstances in the country.