Poreg View: After spending $ 1.303 billion, Nepal’s 600 plus lawmakers missed the statute deadline and opted for the sixth extension of the interim parliament effective from midnight Saturday, May 28. The three-month lease under the three-major party deal may not mean much in the end unless the Maoists honour their part of the bargain and make the Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal resign to pave the way for a national consensus government. This looks unlikely.
The Maoists, who are projecting Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai as their candidate, have their own plans. It became clear even before the ink dried on the package deal worked out by UML Madhav Kumar Nepal, Maoist chief Prachanda and Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala.
Both Maoists and Khanal insist that there would be no resignation till a new government is in place in order to avert the crisis the country faced for seven months after the fall Madhav Kumar Nepal ministry last year. This interpretation is not to the liking of the NC and also to the Madhesis, who have had reservations on accepting the ‘deal’ at the very outset.
Yet, the irony is difficult to miss. Khanal was pitch-forked by the Maoists into the Prime Minister’s chair in February. And for this dream job he had sacrificed the Nepali Congress, a long time ally of UML. Now the Maoists have ditched him. As expected!
By putting their act together, NC, UML and Madheshi parties could have scripted a different screen play. Their failure is advantage Maoists.
This is also clear from the fact that there is no clarity on rebel army’s integration with the Nepali army. It is said the Nepal Army will be given an ‘inclusive’ character by recruiting Terai plains people. While this proposition may satisfy the Madhesi fringe, it doesn’t address the core issue.
During discussions with NC, UML and Madhesi leaders, the Maoists had committed that they were ready to end the dual security arrangement for their party leaders immediately and lock the weapons used by the body guards in the containers, in a "symbolic" move to suggest that the arms were under the Special Committee. They had promised to give it in writing that the weapons storage containers kept at the seven main cantonment sites belonged to the Special Committee. The Maoists had also pledged to finalise the regrouping procedure within June 4, complete the regrouping process by July 5 and complete integration and rehabilitation by September.
Maoist Politburo member, Ram Karki, who is close to Baburam Bhattarai, avers that the handover of PLA arms to the government is just a ‘technical’ issue. To what extent the leadership can carry the hardliners is a moot point as of now in the face of reports that at least 85 Maoist lawmakers are behind Mohan Baidya ‘Kiran’, who is on record accusing his party chief of ‘sell-out’ on peace and constitution. Faced with internal dissensions, and with no mention made of the number of Maoist fighters eligible to join the army or the time frame for the merger, the Maoists will drag their feet, as they have been done so far.
Suffice to say the doctor and the patient are on the same page in Nepal. At the moment.
