Extend CA tenure first

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and its leaders have proved themselves incapable of rising above petty blackmailing and bullying. Not only has the party come up with a new condition to resolving the political deadlock, some of its leaders, as is their wont have resorted to bullying. Maoist Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai has threatened to ‘go back to war’ rather than cooperate with other parties before Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigns and paves way for a government headed by his party. Another Vice Chairman Mohan Baidya has said all possibility of consensus was over and the party would go back to war. Perhaps issuing threats is an example of old habits dying hard but it only worsens the already vitiated atmosphere. We denounce this threat and ask the party to desist from such blackmailing.



Let us repeat what we have repeated umpteen times in this space: There is no alternative to consensus and that politics of confrontation will neither do good to the Maoists nor the non-Maoist parties. The issue that needs immediate attention is the life of the Constituent Assembly (CA). It is in the best interests of both the camps to resolve their differences – or keep them aside for the time being – and extend the tenure of CA. The elected body is the unmistakable link between the people and the parties. So long as the CA is functioning, the hope for consensus and discussions will always be there. The Maoists who also need the extension have said they would agree to it only after there is an amendment to the Interim Constitution replacing the majoritarian system with consensual one. The parties can still forge consensus even if majoritarian clause remains intact. Whereas there is no guarantee of consensus even if it is mentioned in the constitution as the Maoists want. The party has repeated its insistence on the PM’s resignation before the CA can be extended.



The extension of the CA should not be tied with any condition whatsoever. Hence, instead of making people sit continually under the Damocles’ sword, the parties should first of all agree to extend the CA’s term and then continue their discussions to resolve their differences. Both the camps must remember that if they continue to engage in political one-upmanship, and in the process cannot agree to extend the CA’s tenure, then we will enter a completely new space, which might not be in the interest of any party or the country as a whole. The parties thus have a humungous responsibility before them. We hope the Maoists, by virtue of being the largest party in the CA, in their next politburo meeting scheduled for May 21 will show largesse and travel the required distance to stop the country from falling into such an abyss. The other parties, meanwhile, cannot overlook the fact that they too have a huge responsibility and that they have to work in tandem with the Maoists.

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