E D I T O R I A L

Nepal Moving Forward

LAST month Nepalese people achieved what they have been dreaming for decades and their huge sacrifices and hard struggle was apparently not wasted. A revived parliament made some momentous pronouncements.   These include clipping the powers of the king, establishing control over the armed forces and declaring Nepal a secular state besides granting women better positions in the governance of the country. This revived Parliament has also unanimously voted to strip King Gyanendra of his right to veto laws, ensuring a purely ceremonial role for a powerful monarch who till mid May was calling the shots. He is no longer the supreme commander of the armed forces, the only source if his sustenance.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall now certify the passage of any Bill in Parliament. The King will no longer be able to reject Bills and laws passed by Parliament, and the lawmakers will not need to seek his approval while signing Bills into law. Press freedom has been guaranteed and detained journalists have been honourably released from the prisons.

Prime minister Girja Prasad Koriala has successfully completed his five daylong state visit to India where all his wishes have been granted and offered some sane advice. The Rs.1000 crore-aid package is significant as is the military supplies and the offer of other economic benefits to the people of Nepal including the resumption of work on the ongoing projects, cut on duty on imports from Nepal and other economic aid. These offers clearly signal strong support for the political transformation that is taking place fast. Implicit in India's `no-strings' offer is the promise that it will not try to influence the process of change. UPA government, it is hoped, would also do well to oppose all external intervention in Nepal's internal affairs.

Yet political uncertainties still dog the country. The relations between the Seven Party Alliance [SAP] and the armed Maoists are far from normal. Koriala during his state visit to India had been sending mixed signals, if not confused. He realises the political and the gun power of the Maoists who have over the last past ten years not only defied the King and the Royal Nepal Army, but also are virtually controlling large parts of rural Nepal. It is clear that power tussle has already begun despite formal talks to lay down code of conduct for the Nepalese Army and the People’s Militia to make the present. Yet he would like the reigns of power with the SAP.

Maoists are insisting that the parliament should immediately announce the election schedule for a constituent assembly to draw the political roadmap and set the future political course for Nepal. It should be a sovereign body elected under the aegis of the United Nations with powers to draft a constitution for a multiparty democracy and a parliament. It should decide the future of the kingship; what kind of monarchy Nepal was prepared   to accept. Clearly given the way the present parliament has dealt with the king Gyanendra, the Maoists want an interim government consisting of all shades of political opinion.  They are yet to agree to lay down arms. This could happen once an interim government was formed and election schedule decided under UN supervision. They want their armed ranks to be part of the Nepal army and the security forces. The two sides are currently considering a `code of conduct' that will control the behaviour of Nepal's regular forces as well as the People's Liberation Army.

Maoists are not only making these demands, they are demonstrating their strength too. They brought over two lakh people to Kathmandu for a major rally to assert their mass base. All the seven parties put together cannot hope to rival this.  Realising this the new government have nearly released all Maoists and their sympathizers from jails and talks have begin in right earnest on other demands.

Indeed the road to peace, and an equitable economic development where people of Nepal no longer have to be domestic hands in India, is long and arduous, but there is now a definite light at the end of the tunnel. There is a challenging political transformation at hand. It would have an impact on India too, as the country is currently facing armed Maoists or Naxalites in large parts south and east.

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