Om Astha Rai
Having wasted two weeks blaming and abusing each other, Nepal’s government and opposition leaders seem to think they have taken things too far, and have moderated their stance on the contentious issues of the constitution.
Hope has risen again that the ruling NC-UML coalition and the opposition UCPN (Maoist)-Madhesi alliance will finally be able to reach a consensus on the basis and number of federal provinces, form of governance, model of judiciary and electoral system in the new constitution.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala issued a press statement urging the opposition parties to cancel their protests and join talks with the NC-UML. Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai dismissed the statement as “abstract” but that was probably his compulsion.
The opposition alliance has been looking for a face-saving way to get back to the negotiating table, because they have run out of options. Speaking to journalists in Siraha on Sunday, Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal had said, "We still want talks, all that we want is an invitation letter or a press statement by the government." Now he has got it.
The latest thaw is the outcome of efforts by some NC-UML leaders, who were active in persuading the Maoists for talks over the last few days. The UML leaders close to Madhav Nepal and the NC leaders with Sher Bahadur Deuba had been trying to bridge the gap, as were some Kathmandu ambassadors.
The two sides have not been on speaking terms since CA Chair Subhas Nembang formed a Proposal Drafting Committee (PDC), the first step towards holding a vote on the disputed issues in the constitution which the ruling coalition would have won because they have a two-thirds majority.
Since then, the two sides have been slinging mud at each other rather than trying to restart talks. On 30 January, after garlanding statues of martyrs on the Martyrs' Day, Koirala gate-crashed Dahal's house in an effort to restart talks. Dahal put forth a precondition: dissolution of the voting process in the CA. Koirala refused.
In his statement, Koirala did not mentioned anything about the PDC in the Assembly. Instead, he asked the both sides to carry forward an understanding reached between them on 19 January and write the new constitution in which both sides were close to an agreement on the form of governance with a note of dissent.
After the opposition lawmakers resorted to vandalism in the CA on the night of 22 January, the NC-UML started strongly pushing for a vote on the contents of the constitution. Under pressure from the NC-UML, CA Chair Nembang formed the PDC, deepening the deadlock.
In the last two weeks since the PDC's formation, Koirala's statement is the first genuine step by either side towards negotiations and consensus.
Addressing his cadres in Nepalganj on Sunday, Bhattarai ruled out possibility of resumption of talks, saying that Koirala had not stopped the voting process in the House. But this may not be as big a barrier as the Maoists imagine. There will be a period for lawmakers to read and internalize the questionnaire, and this can be lengthened while efforts are underway to forge a consensus.
Koirala addressed the opposition as fellow-freedom fighters from the April Uprising of 2006 and this seems to have hit the right chord with the Maoist-Madhesi alliance.