Give Maoists room for safe landing

May 28, 2010, should have been one of the happiest days in the life of our country. Two years earlier, that is what the politicians had promised Nepalis living across the length and breadth of the country. However, as the day when the ‘people’s constitution’ should have been promulgated nears, instead of preparing for colorful celebrations, Nepalis are nervously biting their nails suspecting that it might mark the beginning of yet another protracted confrontation. Some quarters of the population have even started fearing that the country might once again go to war. Such an uncertainty is certainly not what the people of this country had hoped for or deserve.



However, in all likelihood, come May 28 and the worst fears of the people will prove to be unfounded. Despite the posturing by the Maoists, they will ultimately lend their support to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) for they stand to lose the most if the CA dies. The expiry of the CA means that the Maoists would suddenly be reduced from the largest party to one at par with Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML, their biggest nemeses.



So why are they going around shouting from the rooftops that they would not support the extension of CA until and unless Prime Minister (PM) Madhav Kumar Nepal resigns or that they would make public their own constitution on May 29? (For the time being, forget that Dr Baburam Bhattarai and his supporters have voiced their opinion in favor of CA term extension; they were not even for the indefinite general strikes but the party went ahead with the nonsensical idea proving the point that, as of now, it is Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s opinion that ultimately matters). These are just pressure tactics to instill fear among the ruling parties, which they are – unfortunately for the Maoists – simply brushing aside.

Are the ruling parties right in not budging an inch from their stand at a time when Maoist support is mandatory to extend the CA term? Considering how the Maoists have presented themselves in the past two years, I think the ruling coalition could not have conducted themselves better.



It is primarily because of the Maoists’ ‘my-way-or-highway attitude’ that the NC and CPN-UML are resolutely standing together. The Maoists have cheated them too often in the past making it difficult for them to believe anything that they say unless it is written, documented and shared with the public.



That the road ahead for the Maoists would not be easy following Girija Prasad Koirala’s demise, who tolerated a lot of their nonsense much to the chagrin of other top NC leaders, was well-known but the manner in which NC and UML have been able to stick together against Maoist dogmatism has surpassed even the most optimistic of readings.



Irrespective of what the Maoist sympathizers say, the ruling parties’ demand that the Maoists first agree on the number of Maoist combatants to be integrated into the national security forces, which is the major bone of contention between the Maoist and the non-Maoist camp, is not only valid but mandatory. The Maoists had agreed to resolve the matter within six months from the first sitting of the CA on May 28, 2008. That it did not happen for the past two years is passé. It must happen now. The country cannot have a political party with an army, however ragtag it may be, competing with other political parties without such a force. That is simply unfair.



And how on earth is PM Nepal an obstacle to forging a consensus? He has repeatedly maintained that if the Maoists and the ruling parties come to a consensus on issues that have been acting as impediments to writing the constitution, he would make way for a national unity government probably led by the Maoists. The fact that the Maoists are not willing to commit on anything before the dissolution of the government once again puts a question mark on their intention.



Despite doing everything right in recent times, considering the gravity of the situation, it is time for NC and UML to take one more step forward to garner Maoist support for term extension of the CA. This, I say, for two reasons. Despite having said earlier that the Maoist support for CA extension is a foregone conclusion, one cannot be completely sure when the party is headed by a person who is ruled by his heart rather than his head. Dahal has time and again proved that whenever he is cornered, emotions cloud his reasoning powers. Take for instance his fiery speech at Baneshwar when he said that he would hold talks directly with India or his speech at Khulla Manch recently when he came down heavily on the shukilas and mukhilas of Kathmandu. On both the instances, he tried to do some damage control the following day. However, in the event of an emotional decision on May 28, constitutional legalities may not provide him the space for correction a day later.



The second reason: Maoists desperately need something to show to their cadres and supporters. They have been constantly at the losing end since that fateful day in May last year when Dahal put down his papers as the PM after the president overruled his decision to unilaterally sack General Rookmangud Katawal. Since then, nothing has gone their way. The calls for ‘civilian supremacy’ simply faded away with time’; the president’s ‘unconstitutional move’ was never corrected; despite the Maoists wanting it, they could not head the Constitutional Committee; the campaign to restore ‘national sovereignty’, primarily directed against India, had to be called off following the verbal drubbing that they received reportedly from Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna; and neither have they been able to force PM Nepal to resign.



NC and UML can give the Maoists in writing that the Maoists will get to head a national unity government if they agree on the contentious issues, including the number of combatants to be integrated, and commit to multi-party democracy and pluralism, the basis on which the 12-point understanding and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement were signed. That way, the ruling parties will have taken the first step toward consensus while giving the Maoists something to flaunt about. The ball will then again be in the Maoists’ court. If pro-active steps are not taken now, instead of celebrating the conclusion of the peace process, we may again be debating the extension of the CA term a year later.

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