The political parties seem no closer to agreeing on a new date for fresh Constituent Assembly polls, two full months after the formation of the ‘election government’ under Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. Understandably, this inaction on the part of the government and its political backers in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has created a lot of frustration and confusion among the people. First, They were misled into believing that the new government would work on a war footing to hold polls by June-end, when the underlying agreement, it later emerged, was all along for November-December election. People should have been clearly told that they would have had to wait a little longer. The strategy of the HLPM and the government to keep them in the dark until the last possible moment created unnecessary suspicions, and revived the fear that the parties are not committed to a constitution through the CA mechanism. One thing that would help clear this air of suspicion that has been building up since is the announcement of a new poll date without any further ado.
To its credit, the Election Commission is completely engrossed in preparations for the yet-to-be-announced polls. Currently, it is on a nationwide campaign to update voter rolls and distribute new citizenship certificates in conjunction with Home Ministry. The whole process is expected to be completed in the next two-three months, well ahead of the November-December deadline. The rest of poll preparations is not expected to take more than a month or so. But this is the technical aspect. Such technical nitty-gritty is unlikely to satisfy the common people who have felt let down by their chosen representatives time and again, starting with the dissolution of CA last May. Again, the announcement of a fresh date would restore some of this fast-eroding faith. Fixing a date is of great psychological importance as it will give everyone—the political parties, the media, the civil society, and the people at large—something concrete to look forward to.
The latest hurdle in the announcement of a new poll date stems from the failure of the four parties to take smaller parties into confidence over the proposed electoral laws, and on their sincerity to free and fair polls. There are also disagreements over downsizing the CA, the one percent threshold for PR seats and the eligibility of those with criminal background to stand in polls. Mohan Baidya’s CPN-Maoist seems to be in no mood to settle for anything less than resignation of the current government and starting the whole political process anew. Although there are many unresolved issues at play here, ultimately, it is a question of deep deficit of trust, much of it stemming from the unseemly turn of events last May.
It is possible to settle most of these contentious issues through meaningful give and take at the negotiating table. Again, it is important that these issues be settled at the earliest and people be given an unmistakable sign that the country is well and truly headed for new CA polls. There might still be plenty of time at hand. But past experience shows that the longer it takes to arrive at meaningful compromises, the harder it is to arrive at just about any kind of agreement. The last thing the country needs at this critical juncture is a never-ending battle of attrition among its political stakeholders.
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