It took almost a fortnight for Prime Minister G.P. Koirala to realise that he would be no less than an absolute dictator once the interim constitution finalised by the seven parties belonging to the ruling coalition and the Maoists came into force. From a willing ‘dictator’ then, he has tried to appear as a reluctant ‘dictator’ now. “I am not too happy with the amount of power the PM will be exercising under the interim constitution”, he said recently.

There was no way Koirala could have ignored the criticism of the finalised draft. Hundreds of thousands of people descended on the streets during the 19 days that shook Nepal in April. And the international community had extended its prompt approval to the fall of the royal regime. The finalised draft has come as a setback to both. The Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) has accused the Koirala coterie of foul play — that the agreed draft was tampered with to make Koirala the people’s dictator.

Not only will he be acting both as head of state and head of government, but there will also be a committed legislature and committed judiciary under the provisions of the interim constitution. And the only circumstance that could remove the prime minister is either his resignation or death.

But will Koirala’s late realisation of the dangers of this situation be of any use?

The Communist party of Nepal-Maoists, which is almost dictating the current politics in Nepal, does not see anything wrong with the interim constitution. For Maoists, it’s clearly an ideological victory as they believe in executive supremacy, not separation of powers. Then, given Koirala’s age and state of health, Maoist supremo, Prachanda, will be a strong claimant for the post in the interim phase.

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