Hours after being sworn in as PM for the second time, Pushpa Kamal Dahal made four decisions: to carry out ‘the government for the people’ program, provide the first instalment of the reconstruction grants to 533,000 earthquake-affected families within the next 45 days, mobilise doctors in all Primary Health Care Centres, and encourage registration of births by offering allowances to the Dalits.
Will PM Dahal’s first decisions be implemented? To find out the answer, let us review the first decisions made by his predecessors.
When he became PM for the first time in 2008, Dahal’s first decision was to get the new constitution promulgated by the first Constituent Assembly (CA) itself. But the first CA was dissolved four years later without a constitution in place.
Madhav Kumar Nepal, who became PM after Dahal stepped down, decided to build a memorial in Ratna Park to honour those killed during the struggle for republicanism. But the project was a non-starter.
Jhalnath Khanal became PM after Nepal, and his first decision was to build a tunnel road connecting the Thankot depot of Nepal Oil Corporation with the East West Highway at Jhyaple Khola of Dhading. But he had to resign in just seven months, and the successors did not follow up on his decision.
The first decision of Baburam Bhattarai, who succeeded Khanal, was to implement the United Nations Convention against Corruption. But no progress was made after his resignation.
Khila Raj Regmi — who headed an interim government to hold the second CA elections — decided to prepare guidelines to distribute financial assistance. His successors, however, did not adhere to them.
Sushil Koirala, who became PM after the CA elections, decided to upload receipts for bills amounting to more than Rs 5,000 each, on the websites of the ministries concerned. This is the only decision that is being implemented even now.
The first decision of KP Oli, who became PM after the promulgation of the new constitution, was to replace all the 171 twin-rope crossings across the country with suspension bridges. But only three were replaced during his nine-month tenure.