Election to the Constituent Assembly is the only democratic way out of the current political impasse. At the least, it offers a semblance of hope for a democratic end of the protracted crisis. I am qualifying my optimism because the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly last year proved that the assembly can be impotent in the face of complex issues over which people are sharply divided. However, there is no alternative to new Constituent Assembly election at a time when the country is being run under an Interim Constitution, which has been modified with abandon under the influence of the so-called Big Four and therefore has served as a tool of these parties to serve their vested interest.
All political parties are now theoretically in favor of new election to the CA, although some of them initially preferred the reinstatement of the dissolved CA. Even the CPN-Maoist led by Mohan Baidhya has been reiterating that they are not against the election. However, if theoretical acceptance is not followed by practical acceptance, it will be impossible to create conducive environment for election. That is to say, if all political parties which deserve equal treatment in a democratic system do not accept the election both theoretically and practically, the exercise is impossible. Almost all the political parties except the Big Four have announced that they will not participate in the election conducted by the Interim Election Council led by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. [break]
The Interim Election Council has not announced a date for the CA election yet because the government and its political backers have not been able to create a congenial environment for election. There are signs that the political situation is likely to get worse. Among them are obstructions to voter list preparation by CPN-Maoist cadres, the ongoing agitation of the 33 small political parties including the CPN-Maoist against the March 13 agreement for a government under the sitting CJ, the seizure of the land of the chairman of the Interim Election Council, etc. These are the factors that lie outside the control of the Interim Election Council.
Republica
Now let me discuss a largely neglected factor. The chairman of the IEC does not seem to have advised the Election Commission to be careful about sensitive provisions to be included or updated in the electoral laws pertaining to the percentage threshold for the PR quota. The cut-off for the proportional seat proposed by the Election Commission was far greater than the one adopted in determining proportional seats in the last CA election. This proposal was met with sharp criticism from small parties. Though this proposal may seem to be unimportant at the moment, it is potentially very dangerous because the marginalized groups are likely to raise this issue very strongly in the days to come. This factor seems to lie within the ambit of the Interim Election Council, but it could be that the four political parties that played a key role in the formation of the election government have either collectively or individually influenced the Election Commission to increase percentage for PR seats.
The agitating fringe parties call into question the very foundation of the current election government. Their unwillingness to discuss their demand with the current government, and the failure of the major parties to pacify them indicates holding CA election is not going to be easy. If these four parties have any common sense, they should realize that excluding fringe parties from crucial negotiations was not a good idea. If this culture of neglect continues, the current political crisis will only deepen.
The author is Assistant Secretary General, Nepal Citizen Party
Related story
SC justices continue to refuse to hear cases scheduled by chief...
