By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : With Nepal’s ruling parties and the Maoists failing to reach an understanding during the 10-day reprieve to their historic battle in parliament, a fresh feud is on the cards when the winter session resumes Thursday.
Though former American president Jimmy Carter had flown in to Kathmandu last month to propose a compromise and push the stalled peace process forward, the adversaries have refused to budge from their stands.
The Maoists, who walked out of the government in September demanding the immediate abolition of Nepal’s two-century-old institution of monarchy and a fully proportional election system, have stuck to their guns.
Besides the two original demands, the guerrillas are now also asking for a merger of their People’s Liberation Army with the Nepal Army, disclosure of the fate of the hundreds of people still missing after being arrested by security forces, and compensation for the families of those killed by the state during their 10-year armed insurrection.
The Maoists’ main adversary is Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and his Nepali Congress party, who say the rebels should honour the peace pact they signed last year and take part in the election, which would allow the people of Nepal to decide King Gyanendra’s fate.
The Nepali Congress, the biggest party in parliament whose support is necessary for any change to the constitution, is now expressing doubt about the Maoists’ intentions.
As Koirala began consultations with his party men, many of them have pointed out that the Maoists have continued to violate the peace accord with acts of violence, extortion and taking the law into their own hands.
Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narsingh K.C. said his party’s leaders are now alarmed that even if the monarchy is abolished and a full proportional election system is adopted, the rebels would come up with fresh demands in a bid to put off the election in which they are expected to do badly due to the growing allegations of violence against them.
Nepali Congress members have therefore urged Koirala not to announce a fresh date for the election — that had to be postponed twice — until he had a guarantee from the rebels that they would not oppose the polls.
The constituent assembly election, which will write a new pro-people constitution for Nepal, was indefinitely postponed from Nov 22 after the Maoists warned they would oppose the exercise.
Koirala, who has been discussing security measures with army chief General Rookmangud Katuwal, is reported to have asked about the possibility of going ahead with election plans despite the Maoists’ opposition but was told it would be impossible.
Since 1999, Nepal has been unable to hold any credible election due to the rebels’ opposition.
Carter’s peace formula has fallen on deaf ears in Nepal. The Nobel laureate has suggested that the monarchy be ended now but the actual implementation be done after the election, a suggestion that has been repudiated by the Nepali Congress.
His other proposal for a mixed election system in which 70 percent seats would be elected on a proportional system and the rest on a first past the post basis has been rejected by the Maoists and their new ally in parliament, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML).
The international community wants Koirala to come up with a fresh election date during the upcoming parliament session.
India especially has warned him that his government will lose its legitimacy if the election was delayed.
Though Koirala and the UML have reportedly agreed that the polls should be held by April, only time will tell if they are able to pull it off.
Nepalis have been demanding a constituent assembly election for over five decades now. But it was never held due to prevarication by a series of kings and governments.