30 days later

A month after the extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA) for the second time on May 28, the peace progress has made very little progress if any. Looking at how things stand at this juncture, “completion of the major issues of peace process” and “preparation of the first draft of the constitution” by August 28 (the day when the three-month extended timeframe of the CA expires) as agreed in the Five-Point Agreement signed by the top leaders of UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML is increasingly looking like a remote possibility. This is a critical time in the history of the country. If the political framework under which we have been operating since 2006 breaks down, the country will be pushed into a dangerous path of uncertainty and chaos.



Make no mistake, the blame for the stalemate has to be squarely borne by the UCPN (Maoist). Though the Maoists started off well in the immediate aftermath of the CA extension by deciding to do away with the dual security arrangement for their leaders, things have come to a screeching halt since then. The hardliner and soft-liner factions of the party are deeply divided on how to proceed forward with the peace process. As a result, some important decisions vis-à-vis Maoist weapons and combatants are yet to be taken. The Special Committee meetings have been put off time and again because of the absence of Maoist members. The division in the faction-ridden party is so deep that a Central Committee meeting scheduled to be held soon is unlikely to solve the differences.



On the other side, if the UCPN (Maoist) does not live by the letter and spirit of the latest deal this time around, the NC and UML may not support the extension of the CA. While signing the Five-Point Agreement, they had made it explicitly clear that they would agree to a final three-month extension of the CA (which is in tune with the latest verdict of the Supreme Court against extending the CA term by more than six months from May 28) only if the Maoists walk the talk.



But this is what is exactly not happening. The time has come for UCPN (Maoist) chairman to rise above party politics and take some bold decisions. In the process, he may antagonize a faction of his party but will do a larger good by preventing the country from slipping into an abyss. As the chairman of the largest party, it is his duty to prevent the peace process from breaking asunder.

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