KATHMANDU, May 29: The decision of the Unified Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) to obstruct parliamentary procedures if its resolution against the President´s move is revoked, seemingly portends political confrontation. The Maoist party has linked the resolution to its call for restoring ´people´s supremacy´ while a coalition of 22 political parties in the 24-party Constituent Assembly (CA) stands firmly against the resolution. [break]
“The current government is marching along the path of regression. We will never cooperate with this government until people´s supremacy is restored,” says Maoist Spokesperson Dinanath Sharma.
He, however, claims that the Maoists will stick strongly to their commitment to the peace process and will support the formulation of a new constitution.
The Maoist commitment to formulation of a new constitution is rather doubtful while they have already declared they will not support the current government until the President´s move is corrected.
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“We are firm in our stance that the government should be ready to sack the army chief if it wants our cooperation,” says Sharma.
The recent decision of the 22 political parties, which back the UML-led government, to urge the prime minister to revoke the earlier government´s decision appointing Lt. Gen. Kul Bahadur Khadka as acting Nepal Army chief, has embittered relations between the Maoist and other political parties.
“We are interested to see how the political process will move forward while excluding the largest party in the Constituent Assembly,” says Sharma.
UML leader Shankar Pokharel, however, doesn´t think that the country will head towards a bitter political confrontation.
“While the Maoists are under pressure from their cadres to make harsh remarks against the current government, I don´t think they will choose a path of confrontation,” argues Pokharel.
He believes the Maoists will participate in the constitution-making process. “They know that confrontation will not help them,” he says.
Pokharel, however, claims that the Maoists will not immediately respond to the prime minister´s call for consensus and collaboration in the peace process.
“Being a political party, the Maoists want to establish their political agenda. Therefore, they will raise the issue of people´s supremacy for the next one or two months to rally public support,” he says, adding, “They cannot escape from their responsibility to draft a new constitution.”
The Maoists charge that the other political parties, specially Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, never consulted them for a national consensus.
“We never said we are against national consensus. There is no alternative to national consensus to take the peace process to a logical end, including the drafting of a new constitution,” Maoist Spokesperson Sharma says, adding, “But we want to discuss the basis of the national consensus.”
Building national consensus among major political players--Maoist, Nepali Congress and the UML--is urgent to avoid future political confrontation. Forging of a national consensus cannot be ruled out with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and NC president Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal all having stressed the need for building such consensus.
