Similarly, there is hardly any seriousness in trying to finish the job of drafting the constitution in the stipulated time period. Clearly, the gap between rhetoric and reality is increasing. Following roughly the logic forwarded by Prof Amartya Sen a few years ago while discussing about India, there is in our country over activity in the political arena and under activity in trying to serve the needs of the poor and the downtrodden.
The Maoists know that they cannot go back to the jungle anymore and the non-Maoist side also has to accept the reality that framing a new constitution will be difficult without the Maoist party.
OVER ACTIVITY IN TRANSITION
It may be possible to argue that for a country in transition like Nepal, it is natural that political issues occupy the center stage. After all, we are in the process of defining a new contract between the state and the people. Naturally, the political values, processes and the structure of governance become the focal point for debate and discussion. This logic has a lot of merit and cannot be dismissed lightly.
However, what is happening in the country is not a civil discourse on the nature of the new contract but only a naked struggle for power among the leading political parties. Naturally, political energy of the nation has not found an outlet in the parliament or the constituent assembly (CA). It is being increasingly squandered in political agitation like strikes, bandas and other forms of challenges to the government. The parliament itself has been stalled for over a month and important legislations are awaiting discussion. Similarly, CA has had to revise its schedule six times for the simple reason that the political energy and resources of the larger political parties is being used not for constitution drafting but for maneuvering to dislodge the government at any cost. What seems remarkable is the fact that even the prime minister’s party, the UML, seems to be involved in this game indicating the possibility that personal ambition is running amok.
In this context, it is interesting to note that top leaders of large political parties, namely the Nepali Congress (NC), the UML and the Maoists, now increasingly known as the Q3 (the quarreling three) have seldom attended the CA to take part in discussions. However, they have been hyper active outside the parliament and the CA in hurling charges against each other of dishonesty, duplicity and not being serious in drafting the new constitution. It seems that in the politics of the country, as soon as a person becomes an “important leader” of a leading party, it is beneath his/her dignity to attend the CA and the parliament while shouting outside at the top of one’s voice about the importance of these very institutions for the future of the country!
REJECTING THE EQUILIBRIUM
At present, there is roughly equilibrium between the Maoist forces and the non-Maoist forces led by the UML and the NC. For a political evolution that is conducive to the drafting of a democratic constitution, this is a not an unfavorable situation. It will mean that political forces coming from different ideological orientation will have to work together to define a common political space that is acceptable to all in the new constitution. However, recent Maoists tantrums indicate that this is not an acceptable proposition. The Maoist leadership wants to break the present equilibrium from a constitution-drafting perspective so as to sideline other political forces in the process. To this end, they are demanding that irrespective of its majority in the parliament the Madhav Kumar Nepal government should resign to allow Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his group to come to power. For them, the current equilibrium with the Maoist party remaining in the opposition is simply not acceptable.
As regards to the constitutional provision to secure majority in the parliament to form the government, the Maoists make it very clear that it is not their concern. What we observe is the simple fact that the Maoists’ declared preference for supremacy of the people is entirely different from what economists label as their revealed preference, which in this case is the supremacy of the Maoist party. Naturally, the Maoist focus is on threat and intimidation. Maoist ideologues are already going around the country asking the government to resign or face the wrath of the “people”. The ordinary masses in the country, however, are getting sick and tired of hearing new slogans of political bullying and the projection of a coercive political culture that relies on the “commodification” of masses as if they are objects that can be manipulated at will for the benefit of the leadership of the Maoist party.
On the other hand, non-Maoist forces have also failed to show seriousness in engaging the Maoists. One such example was the lack of wisdom and sagacity on the part of the ruling political parties refusing to offer the chairmanship of the Constitutional Committee to the Maoists. It was a position that the Maoists desired intensely for their number three man in the party.
The need of the hour is dialogue and cooperation, not threat and confrontation. The Maoists know that they cannot go back to the jungle anymore and the non-Maoist side also has to accept the reality that framing a new constitution that the people so ardently desire will be difficult without some degree of trust and understanding with the Maoist party. Threat, intimidation and urban-focused agitation to disrupt the already fragile political and economic situation will only mean an erosion in the political capital of all the political parties in the nation. This is already happening.
In the meantime, our international friends and neighbors are watching us carefully. They also have their own interest in Nepal and our inability to break the deadlock while ignoring the day-to-day survival problem of the people will create a situation where the destiny of our nation will increasingly slip from our hands to the meeting rooms of foreign institutions or nations. And those who like to call themselves as leaders will then be increasingly busy running around foreign capitals in order to bolster their political position in the country. It is a rather tragic situation where all the political elite in Nepal face the possibility of being a puppet rather than responsible political leaders capable of charting the destiny of the nation.
(Writer is co-chairman, Rastriya Janasakti Party.)
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