As parties are busy finalizing candidate names for November 19 election, UCPN (Maoist) leader and former Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha has been pushing for Khil Raj Regmi’s resignation from Chief Justice and deferral of the November vote to bring Mohan Baidya-led alliance into the election process. [break]
Mahabir Paudyal and Kosh Raj Koirala sat down with the former Maoist vice-chairman and currently a key interlocutor with the Baiyda Maoists for an update in the dialogue process and the probability of CPN-Maoist joining election fray.
How willing is CPN-Maoist to join the election process?
Mohan Baidya-led alliance is in favor of election. It’s true that CPN-Maoist had endorsed the line of election boycott a few months ago, but following many rounds of dialogue and considering the ground realities, they have changed their stance. Now their only demand is Khil Raj Regmi’s resignation as Chief Justice.
Bijay Rai
They are ready to accept him as the head of election government. Postponing election is their other concern because they say they need time for preparation. Given that they have not registered with the Election Commission yet, this poses a practical difficulty too. If their demand for Regmi’s resignation is addressed, they are sure to contest the election. So now the question is not whether CPN-Maoist will come to the election process, it is whether the government and High Level Political Committee want it to.
Are you hinting that elements in HLPC and the government want to leave Baidya out?
That’s how it looks. They do not seem to be at all serious (about getting Baidya to contest election).
Nepali Congress and CPN-UML were also at one time pushing for Regmi’s resignation from CJ. How have they responded to your latest offer?
Regmi would do well to give up CJ duties on his own. His main responsibility is to hold the election. If he can do so, it would also bolster his image. But he does not seem ready for this historic opportunity. In any case, he is unlikely to go back to the Supreme Court after November election. Sadly neither Regmi nor HLPC is serious about CPN-Maoist demand. This will have far-reaching consequences. It will be a great historical blunder.
How seriously has HLPC raised the issue in its sittings?
The issue is regularly discussed, but they take it lightly. NC and UML are of the view that Regmi’s resignation from CJ is now a remote possibility. Our leadership has said Regmi himself is unwilling and chose not to press with the issue. This was a great mistake. HLPC should have convinced Regmi to give up his CJ duties. But serious discussion regarding this issue was never undertaken. Regmi himself should have shown the willingness to resign to send a message that he was not going leave the agitating parties out thereby posing a question mark over the election’s legitimacy.
But won’t it push November election into uncertainty if Regmi renounced his CJ duties at this moment?
Not necessarily. Election will be even more likely with a greater consensus. As regards constitutional difficulty, it can be removed through an ordinance. After all, we have already endorsed three ordinances to clear constitutional hurdles after the formation of Regmi government. Why cannot we do so one more time?
Who do you think are mainly opposed to bringing CPN-Maoist on board?
Except some top leaders of political parties, all agree that it would be better to bring Baidya faction on board. Perhaps it would have been justifiable to leave Baidya faction behind if it was still pushing for a boycott. But the situation is completely different now. CPN-Maoist has corrected its line and shown utmost flexibility for polls. They have backed down from the five-point demand they had made earlier. They only want Regmi’s resignation from CJ. It would be utterly irresponsible to ignore this demand and leave them out.
It is believed that CPN-Maoist itself is not willing to join the election process.
In the all-party meeting at the President’s Office, Mohan Baidya was pleading with the President and the parties not to end the dialogue process. He was pushing for continuation of dialogue until the last moment. Even now he has been requesting that his alliance not be sidelined. The 33-party alliance has issued a statement stating its willingness to resume the dialogue and has reiterated its commitment to election to the international community. It is clear that that the government and HLPC did not want to accommodate them.
Why so?
There are two sides to this problem. One, the tendency of our leaders to look to foreign power centers for virtually everything. This problem is born out of our inability to decide on our behalf. Second, the tendency of party leaders to put personal and party interests before broader national interests. These two tendencies are pushing the country into the dark.
Prachanda himself has been accused of scheming to leave Baidya out.
Our party is clear about two things. First, there is no alternative to CA-II election to bail the country out of current crisis. And second, we must bring all parties into the election process, not least the Baidya Maoist party. But there are some differences over what should be done now to address the concerns of the agitating parties. Yes the Chairman has not been raising the issue as vocally as I have been. His concern is that if we push for postponement and Regmi’s resignation, NC and UML will oppose our stand, pushing election into further uncertainty. I believe we should take a bold decision for the broader interest of the people.
Are foreign forces opposed to the idea of bringing Mohan Baidya into election process?
Like I said, our tendency to look to foreign powers is a major problem. Political parties have lost the power to safeguard national interests. We should have been strong enough to combat external interference, or not to entertain it at the least. I hold our political leadership responsible for increased foreign meddling. But that does not mean external elements have not interfered in internal politics.
Some foreign actors are still in favor of accommodating Baidya faction. Some others seem opposed to it. Let me make things clear. While we were deliberating bringing in Baidya by rescheduling election date, Indian Foreign Secretary made a sudden visit and reiterated that election must take place on November 19 itself. Similarly, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly pressed Regmi to hold the election on November 19. This is unexpected at a time when we are trying hard to accommodate Baidya faction.
What are the prospects of November 19 election under these circumstances?
Personally I am in favor of bringing Baidya into election process, even by making Regmi resign from CJ and by deferring election up to next March. If this initiative fails, November election is bound to take place but it could give rise to another round of violence and unrest.
But there is no guarantee that Baidya will come around even after election is postponed.
Look, postponement is not their demand. They are raising this issue because it is practically impossible for them to come to November election due to lack of preparation. CPN-Maoist’s major demand is Regmi’s resignation from CJ. Perhaps they would agree to postpone election by a few days. But it will be pretty difficult to hold election in the winter because of adverse weather conditions in the high hills. So it automatically goes to March. If their major demand is addressed, there is no reason why they should not participate.
Is it correct to say that you believe HLPC and government is determined to leave Baidya faction out from the November vote?
Recent developments indicate the same. But the majority of central committee members of big parties, their cadres and general pubic are against this. It is only top leaders and the government that seems indifferent to accommodating Baidya.
Why are top leaders of your party not contesting election from Kathmandu Valley? Is it because they are not confident?
That’s not true. Chairman Dahal is contesting from Kathmandu itself.
But most of the prominent leaders have chosen Tarai constituencies.
That’s not because we fear losing in Kathmandu. We are giving more importance to Tarai and Madhesh. This is in line with the party’s policy to focus on Tarai and Madhesh. This does not mean we will fare any worse in Kathmandu. I am confident that UCPN (Maoist) will get sweeping victory, including in Kathmandu valley.
There is a speculation that party split will seriously impact electoral outcome.
What I fear is leaving CPN-Maoist out will cause serious harm to the country. Our electoral prospect is secondary issue. As regards the split, it won’t affect our electoral prospect. Our party has consolidated organization base and people are joining our party by droves. The party split won’t fundamentally affect electoral outcome.
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