The schedule of aggressive protests announced by the UCPN (Maoist)-led opposition alliance is fast approaching. CA Chairman Subas Nembang earlier this week urged top leaders of the major political forces to settle the issues in a week. That is when the opposition parties are to intensify their protests.
After a gap of 47 days, the top leaders from the four major political forces - Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) - on March 7 sat for talks at the prime minister’s official residence at Baluwatar.
However, the meeting far from making any headway only witnessed heated debate among leaders from the CPN-UML and some Madhes-based parties.
Following that, it was only on Thursday that the leaders from the four sides met for a dialogue, as convened by the CA chairman.
At the meeting, Nembang urged the top leaders to take a decision on what to do about the CA proceedings that have remained stalled for over one month without fixing any date for its next sitting in plenary.
He requested the leaders to find a solution before March 25 so that the stalled CA could resume its proceedings and the constitution-making process would get back on track.
But the meeting held at the CA chairman’s chamber at Singha Durbar saw a similar exchange of arguments and counter-arguments from each side and ended without reaching any conclusion. The leaders only hardened their positions.
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Since Thursday, the leaders haven’t resumed their dialogue, let alone make any effort to settle the contentious issues and agree on a resumption of the stalled CA process.
Standing committee member of the UCPN (Maoist) Shakti Basnet admits he can’t say what will happen over the next weeks.
“We, the opposition parties, have planned strong protests while also remaining open for talks. Similarly, on each side there are elements working to solve the issues through dialogue and there are those that are actively against seeking a solution through negotiations,” Basnet told Republica. “So, we see only uncertainty because anything can happen.”
Leaders from the ruling camp aren’t very optimistic either.
CPN-UML lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari finds both sides reluctant to take serious initiatives and settle the knotty issues of constitution making.
He was, however, quick to hold the Maoist-led opposition camp more responsible for deepening the political crisis.
“It is very unnatural on the part of the Maoist-led opposition parties to prepare for aggressive protests while at the same time keeping the door open for talks just for public consumption,” said Adhikari.
NC Spokesperson Dilendra Badu, however, expressed hope that the stalemate could be ended through dialogue. “I am optimistic because the opposition parties have so far not ruled out negotiations,” he quipped.
Until some weeks ago, both Basnet and Adhikari, among some other second-rung leaders from various political parties, had worked actively to bring the top leaders together and settle the contentious issues.
These days even they have given up hope as their efforts didn’t yield any result other than holding formal meetings of top leaders.
A couple of leaders from the ruling parties also informed that the top leaders’ attention has been diverted toward forming a new government instead of concentrating on issue-based discussions.
“The new government can be formed if that helps produce a new constitution. But I don’t think the opposition will be ready even for that,” said Adhikari. “However, the stalled CA proceedings should be resumed if the opposition doesn’t show itself ready for any of the options for ending the deadlock.”
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