The UML and UCPN(Maoist) secretly signed the controversial seven-point deal to guide their alliance for the long haul. The alliance, however, seems to have run into trouble very soon, and very abruptly-- the Maoists have already decided to stay out of the Khanal government, if only temporarily, and are threatening to pull their support altogether if UML fails to honor the deal.
Ever since the Maoists abandoned the path of war and came into mainstream politics after Janaandolan II in April, 2006, it was the mainstream parties that were complaining about the Maoists not honoring their deals. For a change, the roles are now reversed. We are not trying to suggest that UML is right to dishonor the latest deal-- we never will, for we think that political parties like individuals must keep their word and their promises. After all, democracy is all about trust and faith in one another, it´s about playing by the rules of the game. We just hope the Maoists will undergo self-reflection and seek to understand the pain they caused to other parties by repeatedly dishonoring agreements they signed with the latter in public.
UML deserves criticism for not honoring the seven-point deal but UML and the Maoists both deserve even greater criticism for signing the deal secretly in the first place and keeping the whole country in the dark. That´s not how parties operate in a democratic, open society.
There is now no point fighting over a deal that didn´t even deserve to be shared with the public, let alone be worthy of or feasible for implementation. UML and the Maoists are not the only stakeholders in the peace process and constitution-writing nor can they alone conclude these daunting tasks. The least the two parties could do is give this country a new government after a seven-month power vacuum under a caretaker prime minister. We urge them to immediately settle this trivial matter and form a full cabinet.
Don´t forget that the Khanal government has only a little over three months of life ahead of it unless all the major parties settle the issues concerning the peace process and constitution-writing and agree to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly. Unless UML and the Maoists sort out their differences and form a full cabinet, negotiations on the peace process and constitution cannot even begin. And that is what genuinely worries us, not the meaningless wrangling between the two parties.
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