End meaningless neutrality

Sunday’s prime ministerial election too, did not yield any result. Clearly, indecisiveness of some of the major parties once again prevented the country from getting a new prime minister even after six rounds of voting in the span of two months after Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned from the post on June 30. Under the elaborate façade of neutrality, CPN-UML, the third largest party in the Constituent Assembly, and some Madhes-based parties seem hell-bent on making a mockery of the parliamentary process. The drama which has been going on for the last two months has virtually paralyzed all vital sectors of the country. It is about time the leaders rid the country of uncertainty and focused on writing a democratic constitution and taking the peace process to its logical end. The sooner the neutral parties realize that they were voted by the people to make decisions, not remain neutral, the better it would be for the country and their own image.



We have said it many times that the ongoing political uncertainty is not something we can afford at this crucial juncture because it is seriously undermining people’s faith on democracy and political parties. Thus, political parties should, instead of wrangling over who gets to form the new government, focus on writing the constitution on time to institutionalize the newly- formed republic and safeguard the people’s democratic rights. For this to happen, the leaders of all major political parties have to come to a consensus, make decisions and stick to them. Holding the country hostage to satisfy some leaders’ ambitions not only reflects badly on them, but also weakens the democratic process. If the uncertainty is allowed to linger any longer, it will only help the extremist elements who do not want democracy to take roots in the country. The question that’s on everybody’s mind these days is not who will form the government, but what will happen if the political uncertainty does not end soon.



We once again urge all the concerned political parties to take a serious look at the costs the country is forced to bear due to their meaningless neutrality, and be decisive in the next round of election scheduled for Sept 7. It would do them good to remember that only the neutrality that safeguards the interests of the country, secures due respect in future.

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