Opportunity squandered

The parties have once again squandered an opportunity to form a consensus government that would have facilitated successful conclusion of the peace process and constitution writing. Though the deadline given by the president for a consensus-based government ends on Wednesday the parties are nowhere close to an agreement. The bilateral meetings held among the Maoists, the NC and UML on Tuesday to explore grounds for consensus failed as each of them staked claim for the leadership of the next government. Only a miracle can now bring consensus among the major parties on the last day of the president’s extended deadline.



This is really sad, especially because the imperative for consensus is so high and, the chances for it were equally strong. After all, the parties lately had, or at least so we thought, left behind the worst of their suspicions against each other and made good progress. Despite the rhetoric of revolt and urban uprising, the Maoist party was walking a pragmatic line.



Though it tried initially to play hardball over UNMIN´s term extension, it eventually cooperated with the government to say goodbye to the world body’s mission and to lay out an alternative mechanism for the monitoring of its arms and army. The handover of the Maoist combatants to the Special Committee was another positive step and a good confidence-building measure on the part of the Maoists. But that positive momentum is now almost lost.



We were still hopeful of a deal because the major parties no longer seemed to have any appetite for continuing along the confrontational path as it has become abundantly clear that no party can undermine the other. When the parties don´t have the stomach for a fight but also don´t have sagacity for a compromise politics generally slip into limbo, a sort of stalemate that we have seen since Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned some six months ago.



But we want to remind the leaders that the country cannot afford to continue with the caretaker government any longer. The parties should, therefore, expedite the prime minister´s election process, cast their votes and give the country its new prime minister. Agreed that a consensus government would have been in a better position to facilitate the constitution writing and take the peace process to a logical end; but a majority-based government is not necessarily an obstacle to that.



If the parties are sincere, they can still cooperate with each other, conclude the peace process and promulgate the constitution by May 28, 2011. It is after all the Constituent Assembly, not the government, which writes the constitution, and likewise, it´s the parties that drive the peace process.

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