Following is from the Kathmandu Post editorial of 6 July 04. I find it quite interesting so I am sharing it with you. Sorry if you had already read it yesterday.

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Same old Deuba


Time is generous to only a few people. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is among them. He got a chance to become PM for the third time though he had squandered his first two terms. And there are people who never learn from their past mistakes. We are afraid PM Deuba is one of them.

In his third innings as the PM, Deuba seems to be the same weak leader trying to please everyone even at the cost of his own credibility and principles.It took Deuba more than a month to expand his three-member cabinet. And, finally, when he did, the cabinet line-up wasnýt much inspiring.

It is once again a sort of jumbo-cabinet. There was a sort of general consensus that the cabinet size should not be more than ten percent of the total strength of the House of Representatives. That means the cabinet size should have been 21 at the maximum. You canýt blame Deuba alone for this cabinet size.

After all, it was the CPN-UML who first announced a 10-member team to join the cabinet, prompting other coalition partners to bargain for more ministerial berths. It also raised expectations of the aspirant ministers within Deubaýs party. But isnýt it the responsibility of the PM to be bold and assertive? By giving in to the pressures of his coalition partners, and his own party colleagues, he betrayed not only the country but also himself. If people recall his past, they are reminded of his 48-member jumbo-cabinet that he put together during his first tenure as the PM. However, it is not just an issue of the size, but the composition of the cabinet, too. If Deuba deserves any commendation for his cabinet expansion, it is for keeping the "renowned corrupt" within his party out of the cabinet. But again, proxy represents some of them in the government.

Following his appointment, PM Deuba has been claiming that "regression" has been rectified. And when he amended the controversial Work Procedure Regulations, he presented it as concrete proof that his government had executive power.

The composition of the cabinet has exposed the hollowness of that argument. PM Deuba has inducted three representatives of the royal palace - two cabinet-rank ministers and an assistant minister.

Not a single elected government in the post-1990 period had royal representatives in it. The induction of the three ministers in the government, as we see it, also does not serve any purpose of the royal palace. Their induction, instead, will give an excuse to those who still argue that the King hasnýt backed off from active politics. And it will continue to drag the King into controversy. We have always earnestly wished and wanted the King to stay away from politics, especially dirty politics. There is still time for Deuba to correct himself and work boldly to tackle the mammoth problems facing the country. If he keeps dilly-dallying and fails to rise to the occasion, time will eventually punish him harshly.

What a mockery of the system?

Deubaji is also (in)famous for:

a) Giving out pension to the parlimentarians (thank god somebody stopped it in time!)

b)Giving a Pajero to people's representatives (Pratinadhi Sabha) and to the King and leaders salespersons (98% useless members of the Rashtriya sabha)

c) Taking an unproductive foreign tour too frequently with his spouse who seemed to be more intelligent and presentable than than Deubaji

d)Refusing to have a dialogue with the Maoists without offering a sound reason when in power and repenting it when not in power

In his latest awatar of so called punarbahali (as if he were a khardar), he has made further mockery of the system:

e)Balaram Gharti Magar, who did nothing, absolutely nothing than praising the Panchayat system during his earlier awatar as Panche, and therefore, the Maoists growth was prompted in his areas due to his sheer negligence of the fire burining from inside, has not been made the Science and Technology Minister. What further bidambana could for the Nepali janata than his appointment in this portfolio. I think the aim is to go to the moon with our technology so that we all can be called lunatics.

f)Jogmehar dai? Let's not even talk about it. Bravo to Pashupati bausap for the revival of the Panchayat system. It is better to go back to simsime raja than to "asaksham" pradhan mantri.

g)Again, welcome to the PM's mother in law to the cabinet. I guess Deubaji now can start his meeting with a darshan to his M-I-L. Can somebody tell me what is the credibility of his mother in law? Can she stand in election from Kathmandu or defunct jamindari of Parsa? I doubt, but we are again going back to Lalhira and Simsime raja ko pala.

Bravo Deubaji. Congratulations on the jumbo cabinet. Keep it up. Greedy Madhav maadsap may have had his way this time but we will watch his fortune turned. Meantime, Girijababu and Kishunji can entertain with their theatricals to the bored and tired Nepali janata. With all the leaders busy in grabbing the ministerial berths, who will solve the country's problems?

I think we should have not just 3 representatives in the cabinet from the Royal Palace but but 31. What difference it makes. Every wants to look afer only their own interest. Who will care for the poor and neglected?

If this is the way things are going, the situation will go even worse. So sad to hear the daily killings by the Maoists!!! when is it all going to stop???

Khabardar!! the day is not very far when the people will storm Singadurbar and throw away the corrupt and selfish politicians and their gang leaders!