After two years of robust growth, revenue collection rate has taken a nosedive; there has been hardly any spending in vital infrastructures and social services; and the government would had been forced to defer salary payment to civil servants if the budget were to remain in a limbo. If you were a bit cynical, you could well argue that the leaders have agreed to bring the new budget because they needed to draw their paycheck.
The top leaders also agreed to postpone the prime minister´s election, which was scheduled for Nov 15, and have pledged to explore a common ground. Since the Supreme Court´s verdict on the ongoing prime minister´s election in the parliament, the leaders from various parties have scrambled to offer their interpretation of the verdict, hoping to sway the political discourse in their favor. As we see it, the apex court has not said anything concrete regarding how to end the seemingly unending rounds of elections at the parliament.
The court has simply echoed the public sentiment while passing the verdict – that the common people are riled by the futile rounds of elections and want the circus to be over. The court has basically asked the speaker to take initiative to put the election process to an end either by electing the lone candidate in the race as the new prime minister or by scrapping the election process altogether.
The problem, however, is that the speaker alone cannot decide to go either way unless there is a consensus among the major political parties on the issue. And even if the speaker takes the decision unilaterally, that is only going to exacerbate the current political deadlock. Political parties are trying to use the apex court verdict to further their party interest – the NC wants its prime ministerial candidate, Ram Chandra Poudel, to be declared a winner without election.
And UML and Maoists want to scrap the election citing the apex court´s verdict. That is only an excuse to run away from a complicated negotiation process, the outcome of which is uncertain. The parties must engage themselves in more comprehensive dialogues and go beyond the current provisional agreement to find a negotiated settlement. Trying to seek a solution from outside the negotiation will only invite a political disaster.
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