We, as a nation, truly stand at a crossroads: On the one hand, we have come this far in just three years after the Janaandolan II that forced the king to concede power to his "subjects". We wrote an interim constitution, clipping the wings of an abusive monarchy; conducted Constituent Assembly elections; declared the country a republic and transformed the erstwhile royal palace into a museum; cantoned the Maoist combatants and placed the Maoist party in power. That´s as sweeping a post-conflict progress as any country has achieved in recent history. But that´s also where our success story is seemingly ending, and what lies ahead is great uncertainty that can unravel all our past achievements. One of the greatest lessons of conflict resolution is: don´t try to rush the process but, at the same time, be careful not to let time slip away.
The Maoist party, which seems to be in no mood to reconcile unless it gets back the reins of power, must understand the consequences. They seem to calculate that since the constitution cannot be written without their support the other parties will eventually be compelled to relent if only they, the Maoists, continue to press forward. But that bargain is a double-edged sword -- the parties´ failure to write the constitution on time will not automatically lead to a transfer of power to the Maoists. The other alternative -- invoking of direct presidential rule -- would be the most likely outcome should the parties fail over constitution-writing and also to chart out a common political course ahead. But that means, to make a grand sweep of history, the political clock will be set back to pre-1996 when the Maoists launched their People´s War. That´s not a situation the ruling parties can handle either; hence the compelling case for compromise and a middle path.
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