Prime Minister and CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli likes to project an image of a decisive leader. This much-valued leadership trait often works to his advantage. Yet when he makes decisions on the fly, it can backfire just as often. This past Friday, the UML held a mass gathering in the national capital in order to “raise awareness against anarchy”. Many found it curious that the party leading the national government would call for such a gathering: Shouldn’t the prime minister be focusing on delivery and leave all the protests and rallies to opposition forces? The real reason behind the rally, as party insiders put it, was the UML’s desire to “project strength” at a time of widespread public disenchantment. The rally and the eventual gathering at Durbar Marg, it was hoped, would send an unmistakable signal to other political forces that the party is still a potent force capable of mobilising big masses at short notice. Such a show of strength had apparently become vital after much smaller forces like the Rastriya Swatantra Party and even some troublemakers associated with Durga Prasai were seen hitting the streets in order to “sow anarchy”.

The Friday event turned out to be dud. The party had expected at least 100,000 to turn up; the actual crowd was much smaller. In any case, Oli and other top UML leaders who addressed the Durbar Marg gathering had little of substance to say. For instance, the prime minister spent considerable time denouncing the RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane and his supposedly dubious character. This was rum as Lamichhane is currently in police custody and facing a series of criminal charges. Moreover, the RSP protests against Lamichhane’s arrest have already fizzled out. So, instead of promising no government intervention on investigations against Lamichhane and others arrested on charges of cooperatives fraud, why continue to hound a jailed and much-diminished political opponent? Whatever Oli’s intent, it betrayed a deep sense of insecurity vis-a-vis Lamichhane and even the smallest forces that have criticised his government leadership. This wasn’t a display of strength, either from Oli or the UML. It was rather an inadvertent show of weakness which the party’s political opponents will greatly relish.

Any way you look at it, the gathering, organised on a weekday and at great inconvenience for commuters, was unnecessary, nay, a nuisance. Again, it is hard to read Oli, and perhaps whatever purpose he had in mind has been served. But most folks are left scratching their heads. The head of government, instead of governing and trying to silence his critics through delivery, is seen spewing venom against his political opponents at a rally that seemingly no one except him wanted. There is also a sense of unease among the people. Our prime minister and his party seem incapable of taking criticism and if someone raises a question, they will try to shout down the questioner. Ironically, the protest against anarchy itself turned out to be rather anarchic: Lacking a purpose, horribly organised and disturbing people’s daily lives.