Regmi expedited the talks in a bid to acquire political consent over the proposed ordinance on some election-related provisions and poll date.[break]
Regmi himself came forward for negotiations as the three-member government talks team headed by Minister for Home and Foreign Affairs Madhav Ghimire failed to yield any result despite holding dialogues with the dissident groups.
This week, Regmi along with three key ministers, who are in the government´s negotiation team, held talks with leaders from various political parties.
On Monday, the Regmi-led team talked to Nepali Congress leaders at the prime minister´s official residence in Baluwatar and sought the party´s views on thorny poll-related provisions. The following day, Regmi talked to leaders from CPN-UML and Madhes-based parties, including Bijay Gachchhadar, Mahanta Thakur and Rajendra Mahato.
On Wednesday, Regmi held talks with top UCPN (Maoist) leaders and Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party. Similarly, on Thursday, he talked to leaders from Upendra Yadav-led alliance, leaders from Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Janashakti Party and a group of former lawmakers representing ethnic and indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, the government head also convened a meeting of leaders from over 40 political parties at his office to elicit their views on contentious provisions.
Now, the technocratic government led by Regmi faces the twin challenge of convincing the dissident political parties to join the election process and forging consensus on proposed provisions related to election laws.
Differences in HLPC
The government has failed to announce poll date mainly because it has failed to forward a crucial ordinance on amendment to some election laws. Even the constituent parties of the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) -- remain sharply divided over some crucial provisions in the proposed ordinance.
The ordinance drafted by the Election Commission proposes to downsize the previous 601-member Constituent Assembly to 491 seats, introduce a threshold criteria making it mandatory for a political party to secure at least one percent of the total valid votes cast in the election and allow a candidate convicted of criminal charges to file candidacy only six years after serving the jail term handed down by the court for the crime.
Parties are also divided over the ratio of seat allocation under the first-past-the-post electoral system and the proportional representative quota. Yet another provision makes it mandatory for a candidate to make his/her property details public prior to filing candidacy for polls.
As per the proposed provision, of the total 491 members, 240 will be elected directly from the electoral constituencies, while 240 will be nominated under the proportional quota. The remaining 11 members will be nominated by the government.
UCPN (Maoist), Madhes-based parties and some fringe parties have stood against the proposed provisions saying they would complicate the electoral process.
These parties have been lobbying for holding election in line with the system practiced during 2008 CA election.
But Congress, UML and some other fringe parties are for introducing new provisions arguing that the new criteria would help prevent election-related irregularities.
Bringing CPN-Maoist on board difficult
Among the dissidents, some parties including Upendra Yadav-led alliance and Ashok Rai-led party have lately softened their stance and seemed positive about joining the election process. They have also registered their parties at the Election Commission.
But the real challenge is to bring the CPN-Maoist on board the election process. The breakaway faction of UCPN (Maoist) has lately hardened its stance. While terming the present government “illegitimate”, Baidya, who also heads an alliance of over two dozen fringe parties, has refused to even sit for talks.
The government´s hectic parleys haven´t impressed the public either. Independent observers believe that the government´s initiatives are merely limited to formality.
Political commentators Bishnu Sapkota and Chandra Kishore Jha believe that dissident parties, including the CPN-Maoist can be brought on board the election process if the government genuinely makes efforts toward that end.
“Neither the government nor the leaders from the high-level political committee have taken serious, honest and genuine initiatives to engage Baidya´s party in talks,” Sapkota told Republica. “This is because the UCPN (Maoist) does not want Baidya´s party to join the election process while Nepali Congress and UML leaders are so engrossed in disputes within their own parties that they have no more energy or time for this issue.”
Jha echoed Sapkota. He finds the government´s initiatives merely formal and mechanical. “Real negotiations take place in the background by engaging the dissident groups through various informal channels. But the present government has done nothing as such,” said Jha. He believes that even Baidya´s party would join the election if the government and other major parties create a favorable environment for them to participate in the polls. “The establishment side should have the courage to strike a fair deal with the dissidents but the present government does not seem to have that courage,” Jha explained.
The government has already failed to conduct polls in summer as committed in the 11-point political agreement that paved the way for the formation of the present government. Holding election in coming winter was only the second option. Sapkota said he fears that both the government and the high level political committee would waste another couple of months and “seek some more time even after November for conducting polls”.
The government can assuage such fears and instill public confidence in a true sense only after it settles inter-party differences over contentious election-related provisions and, more importantly, brings the dissident CPN-Maoist on board the election process.
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