A House for Nepal

As the results started pouring in last week,UCPN-M chief Prachanda alleged that the ballot was rigged and threatened to boycott the new CA tasked with drafting Nepals constitution,which the first CA failed to deliver. Given Nepals decade-long insurgency,which ended as recently as 2006,the UCPN-Ms rejection of the results and refusal to join the constitution-making process could resurrect spectres of that violent period. The softening of the Maoists stance since is thus welcome. Their apparent willingness to compromise to end the political deadlock shows they might be beginning to grasp the elementary lessons of democratic politics.

Having been defeated electorally,however,the Maoists cannot demand that they be included in government. The international community and India have hailed the successful conduct of the election. Credited with bringing the Maoists into the mainstream,India now has a responsibility to nudge them to behave responsibly and cooperate with Nepals incoming government.