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Democratic Republic of Nepal - ifs and buts ahead |
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Harjit Singh
As was to be expected, Maoist chief Prachanda had his way when the newly-elected Constituent Assembly at its very first sitting on May 28 declared the country a sovereign democratic republic, abolished the monarchy and rendered King Gyanendra a commoner. It may be an occasion for rejoicing but the problems that remain with little sign of being resolved mean that the government formation may not be smooth sailing.
Even before the clapping ended when the resolution to declare the country a Republic was adopted by an overwhelming majority with only four nays on May 28, differences over power sharing have cropped up. The Maoist chief is bent on grabbing all the top posts for his party, - the posts of the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker. This the Nepali Congress and the CPN[UML] agreeing to drop their demand that the Prime Minister could be removed by a two thirds majority. Since the departure of the King would necessitate the creation of the post of President, there was a tacit understanding that the post of a ceremonial President would go to the Nepali Congress, with the octogenarian Girija Prasad Koirala moving to that post vacating the Prime Minister’s post for Prachanda. But, at a public meeting to celebrate the Maoist victory, Prachanda said, there is no question of the President and the Prime Minister coming from two different parties. This would create parallel power centres, so goes his argument. He claims that the people have rejected the Nepali Congress and the UML and so, they have no right to claim the top posts, little realizing that his own party too did not get a clear majority. And then, many of the seats won by the Maoists were the result of fear and terror spread by them. Voters were coerced to vote for the Maoist candidates, with threats of dire consequences if their nominees were defeated. Some votes were swung by the Maoists’ muscle power, the Young Communist League [YCL] cadre. Others voted to avert the revival of agitations and anarchy threatened by the Maoists in the situation of losing elections. Other factors for their victory were traced to the discredited leadership of the mainstream parties which for years failed to deliver. They lost touch with the people and compromised their principles and promises for mundane gains.
The Maoist leadership needs to sort out differences on power sharing with the Nepali Congress and the UML because people are waiting for the party to deliver on its promises. The challenges are formidable as the mandate is backed by exploding aspirations. They have not only to write an inclusive, democratic and progressive Constitution, but also to imbibe powerful institutions like the bureaucracy, the Army, the judiciary and the executive with a social purpose. Their journey down this road is not going to be easy. Resistance will come first of all from their own cadre, including the YCL, and the ideological mindset which is still not used to the patience and perseverance of democratic processes; of change through persuasion, not force. Resistance will also come from their political competitors, who have been humiliated by the popular verdict. Also, the country badly needs agricultural reforms and Nepal’s problem of poverty in the grossly iniquitous distribution of assets. But, all the powerful feudal stakeholders and forces of regression, who will be disturbed and uprooted in the process of restructuring, will exploit even the slightest of the Maoists’ slips to discredit them and sabotage the process.
Diplomacy and political sagacity therefore demand that the Maoists accept the mandate of the people which did not give them an overwhelming majority. They cannot claim the whole political loaf and should share with the other parties of long standing in the country’s polity. The Constituent Assembly is to work in consensus for drawing up a new constitution for the democratic republic. So, the CPN[Maoist] would have to work with other parties even as the largest single party in the Assembly. The electoral marginalisation of the two mainstream and erstwhile ruling political parties – the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal [UML] – holds special significance as the new Assembly will be writing the nation’s new Constitution.
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