By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, Nov 5 (IANS) Nepal’s marathon special parliament session that lasted for almost 600 hours stretched over 25 days and finally ended in a face-saver for the warring sides but a stinging loss for the nation.
“If the parties had agreed to our proposal to modify their demands, we would have held the constituent assembly election by this time and Nepal would have been declared a republic,” communist MP and former minister Rajendra Pandey told the house Sunday night after the Maoists agreed to withdraw their demands and support the alternative suggested by Pandey’s Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML).
The UML proposal, tabled by its MP Raghuji Pant, suggests that the house should direct the government to start the process for declaring Nepal a republic and announce a fresh date for the twice-stalled election.
The war started in September when the Maoists marched out of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s coalition government and warned they would oppose the election scheduled for Nov 22 if their demands were not met.
Their major demands were that King Gyanendra be dethroned immediately and the government adopt a fully proportional system for the election.
With Koirala and his Nepali Congress party rejecting both demands, the stage was set for a vote in parliament.
Despite their threat to start a new revolt if they lost the vote, the Maoists realised they would not be able to pull off the two-third majority required to push their demands through.
So, after holding the nation hostage for nearly a month and forcing the crucial election to be indefinitely postponed, the rebels finally entered into a marriage of convenience with the UML, the traditional rival of the Nepali Congress.
“The positive thing is that the open fights between the parties ended and the special session, which was becoming interminable, finally ended,” said Narhari Acharya, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress.
“However, it has not resolved any of the political problems, which would grow more complex in the days to come.”
He said the UML proposal was “vague” and only says the process should start. The culmination will depend on the election and so far, the challenges to the election remain.
Though the house saw a new alliance between communist forces, Acharya feels it was only to end the rambling session and doesn’t indicate a genuine political alliance.
When the normal session of the house begins on Nov 19, Acharya predicts further difficulties for Koirala.
“His leadership will come under question,” he says.
Since a simple majority of MPs asked the government to begin the republic process, if Koirala fails to implement it, the parties will take him to task.
On the other hand, if he tries to implement the order, he will face questions from his own party, that has been opposing any move to abolish monarchy before the critical election.
Leading lawyer and one of the framers of the constitution, Shambhu Thapa, points out that the constitution says a constituent assembly will decide the king’s fate.
If the parties want to change that, they have to amend the constitution, which will require the consent of two-third of the MPs.
With Koirala’s party, the biggest in the house, opposing the move, the amendment will not get approved and the impasse will continue.