Those choices will be determined by the either-or's arrayed ahead of us. The Supreme Court, the Election Commission, a "partyless" government that sits in Singha Darbar, a monarch who is trying to balance his obligations with his constitutional role, and Nepali revolutionaries who want to overthrow everything and start from year zero-all are in the process of making these choices. Every decision taken in the next few weeks will influence and alter the final outcome.
Q: Which Nepali Congress faction will inherit the party name, banner and election symbol? The Election Commission is scratching its head trying to figure that one out. Only Deuba, Koirala and their cronies want a split, the party cadre don't. But they will be forced to chose, and they will most will likely go to whichever faction gets the flag. A decision on this is expected on this as we go to press.
Q: Will parliament be reinstated? The Supreme Court is deliberating on an appeal by orphaned Nepali Congress MPs. Members from other parties from the dissolved house have psyched themselves up for elections, and are preparing for the upcoming campaign. The Supreme Court decision is expected in two weeks, and we don\'t envy the Chief Justice\'s .
Q: Can elections be held? Under present conditions, free, fair and full polls are not possible. As a party worker in Khandbari told us (see p 1) "We couldn't even hold SLC exams outside the district headquarters, how can we hold elections?" Respondents to the weekly Nepali Times/nepalnews.com Internet poll this week were more or less evenly split on the question of whether elections could be held.
Q: If elections can't be held, then what?
By itself, it is not so worrying that the Nepali Congress has cut itself in half. Parties split all the time in a democracy. And we have the world's largest democracy next door where a dynastic party with a similar name split in two and carried an I-for-Indira suffix for two decades. Factionalism and horse-trading are not unusual either: this is what parliamentary parties everywhere are hardwired to do.
The present political paralysis is also natural, considering that caretaker governments here have virtually no political decision-making power. Besides, the ruling team doesn't even have a party and represents a parliament that doesn't exist.
No, what is unconscionable is that all this is happening at a time of make-or-break national crisis-when democracy is in mortal danger and the only forces who benefit from this ugly quarrel are the enemies of democracy on the left and the right. It speaks of extreme short-sightedness and ineptitude.
As things stand, the day of reckoning is 13 November-if the elections are held, and more so if they aren't. Watch this space.
