Opinion In a bigger mess

Nembang has often been accused of bias,of taking action against smaller parties for creating hurdles in the parliament while condoning the wrongdoings of the bigger parties. Last year,he was a silent spectator when the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M),which was then in the opposition,snatched budget papers from the finance minister. Nepal’s interim constitution gives enough powers to the speaker to enforce order and decorum in the House,but Nembang’s attempts to please the big players,some suspect,hint at his bigger political ambitions — probably prime ministerial.

Nembang has not succeeded in bringing the big political parties around and getting them to draft the constitution on time. Worse,he has failed to enforce executive accountability towards the parliament.

While the parliament stands weak and discredited,the rift in the UCPN-M,the biggest party in the House,has created a new set of worries about the constitution-drafting process. A trio of Maoist leaders — Mohan Baidhya Kiran,Baburam Bhattarai and Ram Bahadur Thapa — are trying to oust Prachanda. He,however,insists the party’s failure is a collective responsibility; not his alone. Prachanda has been saying that the completion of the peace process,the timely delivery of the constitution and the settlement of Maoist combatants are top priority. But he belongs to a minority in his party. His rivals,who have a majority both in the 148-member central committee and the 236-member parliamentary party,are keen that major decisions are taken only after Prachanda is ousted from the leadership of the parliamentary party. In such a scenario,the UCPN-M might discard both the peace process and the drafting of the constitution for a more militant course.

That would be a setback for Nepal. The international community,including India,had supported the tortuous course of drafting a new constitution because it was considered essential for a peaceful,prosperous future.

Now there is despair rather than hope — the old political order has collapsed,and a new one is nowhere in sight. The major political parties have yet to agree on the basics of the new constitution — even on the model of federalism and governance. The Maoists are calling for the creation of provinces based on caste and ethnicity,but many others believe that this could prove detrimental to the country’s integrity.

Sushil Koirala,chairman of the Nepali Congress,visited Delhi recently and held meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,BJP leader L.K. Advani and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon,among others. Koirala wriggled out of taking responsibility for the mess in Nepal by blaming the Maoists. He could not convince the Indian leaders that his party,which has a history of leading democratic movements,would be able to repeat the act this time. With the end of monarchy,the Nepali Congress is the only other traditional ally that India is left with in Nepal. With so much at stake,India’s concern and worries are understandable. But India also needs to realise that the trust it bestowed on the Maoists five years ago at the cost of its traditional allies was perhaps misplaced.

Now,like many organisations,the Nepali Congress is in disarray. And none of the big parties is able to point a new direction for Nepal.

yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com