Ever since the Maoists started their People´s War in 1996, the average life of the government has been merely one year or so. No elections have taken place at the village, municipality or district levels since 1997. And there has been very little effort made to improve the life of the common mass of the Nepali population.
It is a well known fact that more than 16,000 people were killed during the conflict between 1996 and 2006. However, due to the initiative taken by the Government of India, the 12-point Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed between the Government of Nepal and Maoists in 2006 ending the decade long civil war. Following this historic event, the long-delayed Constituent Assembly elections were held in 2008, which ended the 250 years old monarchy and introduced Nepal as republic to the world and declared the country federal.
However, the UCPN-Maoist led coalition government formed after the Constituent Assembly elections collapsed within nine months for its own reasons. Following this event, another coalition government was formed under the leadership of Madhav Kumar Nepal of CPN-UML. But it was due to the internal conflict within this party that Nepal had to resign.
Now that Jhalanath Khanal has become prime minister, he too appears to be heavily jolted. Unfortunately, in the process of fulfilling his over-ambitious zeal to become the head of the government, he gave in to the UCPN (Maoists), the largest party in the CA, by entering into secret agreement with it. The fact that he did not even consult his own party members about it reflects how humiliating the agreement was.
In the secret agreement, Khanal conceded to the demand for rotational prime ministership with the UCPN (Maoists), which means that he would give up prime ministership to UCPN (Maoists) after certain period of time. He agreed to integrate the entire erstwhile People´s Liberation Army (PLA) with the Nepali army or to create altogether a separate force for them. As if all this was not enough, he even conceded to give the Home Ministry to the Maoists.
They need to collaborate with forces that help them maintain peace and political stability in the country. Only a pluralist and democratic structure can ensure peace and stability within the country.
But once the secret agreement was leaked, Prime Minister Khanal was exposed. He was not only attacked by larger sections of his own party members, but also by other democratic parties like Nepali Congress and Madhes-based parties, including Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Democratic), Terai Madhes Democratic Party and Nepal Sadbhavana Party.
Many people believe that the majority of the Constituent Assembly members elected Khanal as the prime minister, but this did not mean that he had any right to appoint other as prime minister under the provision of rotational prime ministership. Besides, there is a feeling that the Maoist combatants are politically indoctrinated and as such they cannot be integrated into the Nepali army in bulk. Also, it is untenable to create a separate force for them. In fact, the issues related to integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants need to be settled by the Special Committee and not by the prime minister.
Because of the intra-party opposition, the so-called secret agreement was reviewed by the polite bureau members of the ruling party, CPN-UML. But such an exercise was futile as it did not bring about any change in the clauses of the agreement. However, the Maoists on tactical grounds have been blowing hot and cold and thereby, exerting pressure on the prime minister to give it the Home portfolio.
The Nepali Congress and other democratic parties, including certain Madhes-based parties, have made it clear that they will not join the government because of the secret agreement. They maintain that the UCPN (Maoist) have not yet been mainstreamed. This is so because the hard core group of this party, popularly known as Young Communist League (YCL), is not dismantled. Plus, they have not yet returned the property of those they confiscated during the conflict. More importantly, they give recurrent call for further revolt. All these developments have genuinely been source of concern and suspicion among the democratic forces.
Due to the polarization of politics, the democratic forces both within CPN-UML and other political parties are opposed to the government. Now it has agreed to complete the uphill task of drafting the constitution within the extended time limit of 28th May 2011, which is not likely to be fulfilled, as the political parties are least interested in this issue. But there is a common feeling that the country will plunge into uncertainty, if the constitution is not promulgated on time.
Major hurdle in constitution making process is the lack of accord among the political actors on certain core issues related to delimitation of the state and the sharing of power between the centre and states under the federal structure. The issue of reintegration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants is still unresolved, despite the fact that the Special Committee has taken over the charge of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). More than this, the proliferation of 109 armed groups mostly in the Terai and Eastern hill regions of Nepal has made the matter worse. Many of these groups have restricted the movement of people in those regions due to their indulgence in activities such as killings, abductions and extortions.
It is, therefore, unlikely that Prime Minister Khanal will be able to perform. In the existing situation, what is that the democratic forces need to do in these hours of turmoil? They need to collaborate with forces that help them maintain peace and political stability in the country. Only a pluralist and democratic structure can ensure peace and stability within the country and in the neighborhood.
Writer is a Professor of Economics and Executive Director of Centre for Economic and Technical Studies in Nepal
dr.hbjha@gmail.com
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