The Constituent Assembly (CA) could not come up with a constitution even after the repeated extensions of its initial two-year term. Even so, it was a generally accepted view that another CA election was the only way out of the complex political situation. Both the political parties in the government and opposition were of the view that a consensus government had to be formed to conduct new CA election by replacing Bhattarai government. Several meetings of major parties were held, yet there could be no consensus on government formation. It was in this background that the major political parties, UCPN (Maoist), CPN-UML, Nepali Congress and United Madheshi Democratic Front unanimously decided to appoint the sitting Chief Justice (CJ) as the head of the executive with the responsibility of holding CA election.
The decision of the four parties to hand over the power to the CJ has been widely criticized. The decision has been opposed mainly on the following grounds: First, making CJ the executive head is against accepted principles of democratic system, such as separation of powers and independence of judiciary. Second, it threatens the very existence of multi-party system. The decision to make the CJ the new executive head is wrong. But our principled opposition to the Regmi government does not in any way mean that we should oppose election of the CA too. The only way out of the present complicated situation created by the dissolution of the CA and formation of a non-party government is election of new CA. So while opposing the government, we must still be mindful of the ultimate goal of new CA polls and all efforts should be directed towards that goal. [break]
Republica
There is no ground to believe that UML, NC or the majority of other parties are against CA election. But the same cannot be said about Prachanda and UCPN (Maoist). After all, he wanted to remove Bhattarai from power with the intention of installing himself as the prime minister. It is possible that he backed the proposal for formation of CJ-led government to achieve this goal. Now that his plan to remove Bhattarai from the post of prime minister has been fulfilled, he is undoubtedly looking to complete the second part of the plan, which he can only do by foiling the proposed CA polls.
After the split of UCPN (Maoist), formation of a parallel organization under Mohan Baidya Kiran and decline in its popularity, the mother party is far from sure that it will once again emerge the largest party in the forthcoming CA election, never mind get two-third majority as they have been claiming in the course of their election campaign. So there is the possibility that they would try to foil the election in one way or the other. This is the reason they often speak in favor of restoration of the dissolved CA. After the dissolution of the CA they had time and again advocated this course. As their organization was the largest in the dissolved CA, the hope was that Prachanda could reclaim government leadership following such restoration.
Considering these facts, there is ground to suspect UCPN (Maoist) is not honest about CA polls, for it believes that it has more to gain from the failure to hold new CA polls than from holding of new election. The Maoist leaders are now saying that they will again come to power if the Regmi government fails to hold CA polls by the scheduled November date. The new Maoist party is also helping the mother party to foil CA election as it has openly declared that election would not be allowed under Regmi government. Even before the formation of the present government CPN-Maoist had been speaking out against CA election and making of a democratic constitution. Soon after the dissolution of the CA, they had called for a roundtable conference among all political parties to find a solution to the complicated political situation. They believe that the constitution or republic of bourgeoisie characteristics cannot solve people’s problems. So their policy of opposing CA election under Regmi is part of a plan to roll back the achievements of the 2006 Jana Andolan. In place of bourgeoisie reforms, they are in favor of revolutionary changes such as people’s constitution and people’s republic. But such changes are possible only after a successful ‘New-Democratic Revolution’ which in turn can be achieved only through another protracted people’s war.
The Baidya-led Maoists have accepted that condition is not ripe for another people’s war. So the revolutionary slogans they are putting forth are strategic and long-term. These strategic slogans are being posed as tactical ones, and therein lies their shortcoming. This incorrect reading of Marxist-Leninist ideology has hurt them in the past and will continue to do so in the future. In practice, their political line is directed at rolling back the achievements of April movement, foiling CA election and making of democratic constitution and hampering the consolidation of the republic. It goes without saying that such a course of action will only be in the interest of regressive forces or royalists.
It is a generally accepted principle of Marxism-Leninism that a Marxist-Leninist Party, even while it might adopt uncompromising and firm stand on ideological or strategic questions, should always be prepared to adjust its tactics according to ground realities. Nepal is a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country and the existing system should be replaced by higher one, a New Democratic System. We should keep up our efforts to raise political consciousness to achieve those strategic objectives. Meanwhile, our tactical policy should be directed at defending and consolidating the existing multi-party system. If this attempt fails, make no mistake, there is every chance of the restoration of monarchy and the country being turned into a failed state. To avoid these negative consequences, the emphasis should be on election of the CA, making of democratic constitution and institutionalization of the republic. The strategic and tactical aspects are opposite of one another. But they are interlinked too. So a Marxist-Leninist Party should always be careful enough to strike a right balance between these two aspects. The correct tactical line for a Marxist-Leninist Party would be first, to oppose the Regmi government built on non-party basis and, second, to ensure the election of new CA.
The author is general secretary of CPN (Masal)
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