The long delay in the announcement of a new date for CA polls, two weeks after the formation of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi government, suggests all is not well with the preparations. There is a growing belief that a new date has not been announced as the prospect for June polls is all but dead—if the Big Four were ever serious about it. After all, didn’t Regmi agree to lead the election government only after being assured he would safely be in office up until November? Many mid-ranking leaders from the Big Four, including their chief negotiators, have said in no uncertain terms that polls by June are impossible, and preparations should now be centered on November.
The other (and more obvious) reason a new date has not been announced is the refusal of a clutch of political parties, led by Mohan Baidya’s CPN-Maoist, to take part in the election under Khil Raj Regmi. The government, with the backing of the Big Four, seems to be taking its own sweet time to bring these disgruntled forces on board. On Sunday, a formal talks team was instituted under Home and Foreign Minister Madhav Ghimire for the same purpose, but as things stand, meaningful discussions seem a long way off.
Everyone agrees that the sooner the polls are held, the better. The technocratic government of Khil Raj Regmi which does not have any public mandate will find it increasingly hard to deflect questions over its credibility the longer it continues in office. If there are to be no polls by June, the debate over its legitimacy, already raucous, will get louder still. Time is running out. Each day spent debating polls date and bringing disgruntled forces on board further mitigates the already razor-thin possibility of free, fair and credible June polls. The disruptive activities of CPN-Maoist which has been disturbing voter registration and voter list preparation do not help. If indeed the prospects of credible June polls are nil, the government and political parties should clearly spell out why there can be no election by June and assure Nepali people on the November date.
One thing is for sure. Whether the polls are held in June or November, their credibility will be questioned if a large swath of the political forces is left out, deliberately or not. With it, prospects of electoral violence would rise and the task of writing the new constitution will be made all the more difficult. But the disgruntled forces should also understand that their major demand of dismissal of CJ-led government at the eleventh hour will create more problems than it will solve. It will take us back to the pre-March 14 scenario when the country seemed to be stuck, politically and constitutionally, under the Bhattarai government. The major concern should be free and fair polls. If this condition is met, the disgruntled political forces can take their grievances against the four party ‘syndicate’ to the people and ask for a final verdict, as befits democratic parties.
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