http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/08/16/editors-pick/news-analysis-rhetoric-for-consensus-but-initiatives-are-majoritarian/339171.html
News analysis: Rhetoric for consensus, but initiatives are majoritarian
- *The Maoists could be holding out on the peace process to use it as a
bargaining chip for the leadership of the next govt*
KATHMANDU, AUG 16 -
Even though Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal resigned on Sunday evening
“to pave the way” for a national consensus government, the presence of
several contenders for the top job has stoked fears about another round of
polarisation—repeating the stalemate of the past three years.
On Monday, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav gave the parties until 5pm on
August 21 to form a consensus government according to Article 38 (1) of the
Interim Constitution. Though the parties could still request additional time
for forging consensus before the President opens the floor for a majority
vote, time is running out as the Constituent Assembly expires on August 31.
Last time, it took over seven months for the parties to elect a new prime
minister.
Speaker Subas Nembang believes that the five-point deal signed by the
parties on May 29 binds them to form a unity government. But others, though
supportive of the idea, aren’t sure if this is possible.
“Consensual politics and national unity government are two different
things,” said NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi, a leader close to Sher Bahadur
Deuba, one of the PM hopefuls in the NC. “We could still strive for
consensual politics even after forming a majoritarian government, if we
can’t do both.”
“There will be a national unity government under my leadership,” said Ram
Chandra Poudel, the NC Parliamentary Party leader.
Addressing the Parliament on Monday, a day after he put in his papers,
Khanal—apparently wiser after his nearly seven-and-a-half months in
office—implored parties not the repeat the mistakes of the last three years.
“As long as the Maoists fail to be flexible, or the Nepali Congress
continues to believe that nothing can happen without it leading the
government, the current stalemate will continue,” Khanal said, urging the
two largest parties to be amenable.
And though the general political rhetoric is still about a consensual
government, many leaders in the NC and the Madhesi parties are already
playing down the prospect of a unity government on account of Maoist
“insincerity.”
“If the Maoists declined to offer even a written commitment on the peace
progress to their ally Jhala Nath Khanal, what makes you think that they
will offer anything to us on the peace process in return for our support,”
said an NC leader. NC and Madhesi leaders believe that the Maoists are
playing hardball.
However, others think that the Maoists could be holding out on the peace
process now to use it as a bargaining chip for the leadership of the next
government when negotiations on power-sharing formally take place.
“The questions of peace, constitution and a consensus government are
interrelated,” said Baburam Bhattarai in an interview with the Post on
Saturday. “Peace and Constitution are goals, and in order to achieve them,
we need a national consensus government as a means.”
Having already endorsed Bhattarai as their prime ministerial candidate,
the Maoists believe they have an upper hand in inter-party negotiations on
consensus government, but their credibility problem with other parties could
seriously undermine their efforts to get everyone on board.
And if in the next few days, NC officially decides on its PM contender,
it could shake up the race—and along with it the prospect of a unity
government—making the search for consensus even more elusive.
--
Peace Is Doable
--
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