The leaders have already given a conflicting interpretation of the fifth-point of the deal that calls for prime minister’s resignation. The Nepali Congress (NC) leaders have said the spirit of the deal is that prime minister should resign “immediately” but Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal has asserted that the deal calls for his resignation only if there is an agreement among the parties to form a national consensus government. This is a perfect replay of the script that played out in Nepali politics following a similar deal to save the Constituent Assembly (CA) last year. The deal also ambiguously called for then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s resignation. Nepal resigned more than a month after the CA’s extension but stayed in Baluwatar for seven more months as a caretaker prime minister.
The ambiguity in the deal about the peace process is even more baffling given NC’s clear stance that the Maoists must hand over their weapons before May 28 for it to support the CA’s extension. But the first article in the 5-point deal reads: “Basic tasks of the peace process will be completed within three months.” What does “basic task” mean? Does it include the handover of the arms and integration/rehabilitation of the Maoists combatants?
According to an agreement between the seven parties and the Maoists signed on June 25, 2008, the integration process and management of weapons should have been completed in no more than six months after the accord. But the Maoists kept on clinging to their weapons on one or the other pretext and three years after that agreement, the parties have signed a deal to complete “basic tasks” of the peace process. What is the point?
Despite the flaws in the deal, the parties reached an agreement to save the CA and give it a three-month life. That is a positive thing. Given a choice between the flawed deal and an expiry of the CA term, the former is obviously a better choice and is in the interest of the country. But we still believe that a better deal was possible and the parties should have strived for nothing less. But the deal is done and it cannot be changed now, so the only option is to implement it in its letter and spirit so that we can conclude the peace process in the next three months and use another three months to promulgate a democratic constitution. People will not forgive any lack of progress in the peace process now.
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