After Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal administered oath of office to the ministers from the UCPN (M), the dispute within his own party (UML) intensified. The prime minister came under pressure from all quarters as the main opposition party the Nepali Congress obstructed the proceedings of the House, the disputes within his own party escalated, and there was no progress on the peace process. There were discussions regarding peace and constitution-drafting processes but without any progress.

Despite opposition from the majority of the members from the Standing Committee, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal administered oath of office to nine ministers from the UCPN (M) on August 1, 2011. The expansion of the council of ministers eased tensions within the UCPN (M) but was heavily criticised by his own party and opposition parties. While the Nepali Congress accused the prime minister of violating the 5-point agreement and ruining the atmosphere for consensus, within the UML, there were calls for action against the party chairperson.

In the Standing Committee meeting on August 6, 2011, Mahendra Pandey demanded that Khanal should not chair the meeting if there is going to be discussion on the chairperson. Senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Standing Committee member K. P. Sharma Oli raised demands against the prime minister for inducting ministers against the decisions of the party in the wake of the directives from the disciplinary commission of the party to the chairperson on his mistakes and not to repeat such actions in the future. Those from the Khanal camp defended the inductions as being tied to the peace and constitution-drafting process and within the rights of the prime minister.

In the meantime, the main opposition party kept obstructing the House proceedings demanding the resignation of the prime minister. In an interview after inducting the new ministers, the prime minister announced that he would resign on August 13 if there was no progress in the peace process, which displeased the UCPN (M) but gave the Nepali Congress more fuel to demand his resignation. The UCPN (M) was displeased because, according to them, the prime minister had announced the date of his resignation without consulting them, but the Nepali Congress pursued all the discussion on the basis of this announcement.
When it was almost certain that he would have to resign as there was no progress on the peace process and obstruction of the House, Prime Minister Khanal started discussion on the formation of the national consensus government, moving the peace process forward, and drafting of the constitution with other parties. He asked UCPN (M) chairperson Dahal to seek a breakthrough on the army integration issue. The prime minister had asked Dahal to take the lead in result-oriented peace process, thus postponing the prime minister’s resignation. However, the UCPN (M) took no action saying that it would seek the consensus of the three parties.

On August 10, 2011, the prime minister sent a letter to the parliament accepting that there has been no progress on the peace and constitution-drafting process and committing himself to resign on August 13, 2011. Only then did the parliament resume its normal work which had been obstructed since the third week of the July. After clarifying his stance regarding his resignation in the parliament, UCPN (M) and Nepali Congress claimed leadership for formation of the government. In the meeting between the UCPN(M) chairperson Dahal and Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala on August 11, 2011, Dahal informed Koirala that his party’s decision to re-classify the Maoist combatants, and also claimed, as the largest party in the parliament, the leadership in the next government. Congress president Koirala responded that since there has been no progress on the peace process and only Nepali Congress can complete process, so Nepali Congress should lead the next government.

Even after many rounds of discussions, there was no progress on the peace process. The UCPN (M) downplayed the issue of the prime minister’s resignation as within his rights. With the date of resignation of coming closer if there was no progress on the peace process, there rose dispute within the Nepali Congress regarding who should be the candidate for the post of the prime minister. As senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba presented himself as the prime ministerial candidate, party vice-president and parliamentary leader Ram Chandra Paudel also claimed that he should be the candidate for the post of prime minister. After it became apparent that he would not be the prime ministerial candidate through the decision of the central committee, Deuba started preparations for bringing a vote of no confidence against Paudel in the parliamentary party.

On the day of his announced resignation, Prime Minister Khanal consulted with the UCPN (M) and Nepali Congress regarding the peace process, extension of the Constituent Assembly, and formation of the national consensus government. Prime Minister Khanal was in favour of resigning only after a consensus had been reached among the three parties, but no consensus could be reached due to the Nepali Congress stance on the number, rank, and rehabilitation of the combatants among other issues. In the meeting, there was no progress on the peace process and the formation of a national consensus government, the announced resignation got postponed.

Meanwhile, though the peace process got prominence among the parties, there was no progress. Nepali Congress put forward its restructuring proposal with seven states for discussion but did not clarify the names and the regions. The focus of the parties was on the resignation of the prime minister, and there was not even any discussion on the issue of constitution drafting. Since there was no expected progress on the peace process, the prime minister could not put off his resignation for long. The prime minister was further under pressure to resign as the 5-point agreement monitoring special committee had long drawn attention to its implementation and there was no significant progress on the peace and constitution-drafting process.

Major Political Developments