--By Sagar Ghimire
Albeit late, the four major political parties—Unified CPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and United Democratic Madhesi Front—represented in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPC) have seemingly conceded to the demand for a Round Table Conference (RTC) by UCPN (Maoist), the breakaway faction CPN-Maoist.
After the leaders of all four parties hinted that they could sit for the Round Table Conference, the CPN (Maoist) party led by Mohan Baidya immediately reciprocated by announcing the formation of a five-member talk team under the leadership of Baidhya himself.
This could be considered as a positive gesture from the CPN-Maoist side, which had earlier threatened to foil the CA polls by mobilising its force at the election booths.
This latest development has also renewed a hope among the people for the November election of the Constituent Assembly.
However, the success of the RTC hinges upon the HLPC’s ability to bring poll-opposing parties, especially CPN-Maoist, on board with the election process.
Nevertheless, if held, the RTC could be an opportunity for dissident parties to put forth their issues on the table for discussion and deliberation.
The RTC mechanism is a negotiating platform for resolving a long political standoff where parties have not held even a single dialogue since Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi’s dispensation.
Political parties have tentatively agreed to hold the RTC, but they have not sat down together to work out a modality, date and the nature of such a mechanism.
Also, there are diverging views between the CPN (Maoist) and the parties in the HLPC regarding the interpretation of the RTC. The former argues that contentious issues of the constitution drafting process should be brought in the RTC for endorsement while parties in the HLPC see it merely as a mechanism to resolve the current political impasse.
Similarly, parties in the HLPC are seeking assurance from the CPN-Maoist and other protesting parties for taking part in the CA election slated for November before meeting the demands of the RTC. However, CPN-Maoist has refused to give such assurances. The party deigns agreeing on such conditions as tantamount to surrender. It has demanded that the election date be scrapped to give the RTC authority to take calls on the election.
Another question pertaining to the RTC is how the parties will come to a conclusion, let alone consensus, when they will have so many contentious issues on the table to resolve. There are many challenges in the prospect of the RTC for releasing the country from the current quagmire. The country cannot be held hostage to such a crisis for long.
Undeniably, in democracy, the solution to all problems could be found in election. Putting parties like the CPN-Maoist, the Madhesi Peoples’ Rights Forum led by Upendra Yadav, the Federal Socialist Party by Ashok Rai, and other fringe parties outside the election process, does not bode well for Nepal’s peaceful transition.
The slow-paced election preparations by the Election Commission, government and the HLPC give enough room to cast doubt whether the election will really be held at the scheduled date. Even the Constituency Delineation Commission (CDC), which was formed with the mandate to come up with a report on delimiting election constituency, is grappling with political and constitutional difficulties. The CDC is left with two options now - to either submit the report keeping the current 240 constituencies intact, or remove the constitutional difficulties which could affect the CA election date.
The HLPC should make some concessions even at the expense of postponing polls for the time being so as to convince the CPN-Maoist to step on board for the election process. But the CPN-Maoist should also sincerely agree to participate in the CA election thereby proving its democratic credential, which often comes under question.
