The UML Central Committee’s decision to approve the Maoist proposal to make Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi the head of a new government finally got a cautious the nod from the opposition UML on Saturday, removing the last obstacle to elections later this year.
UML leaders were sharply divided in two days of raging debates at Balkhu, with senior leaders pushing the proposal while second tier members were opposed to it, arguing that it would go against the democratic principle of separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary.
In its five-point statement on Saturday, the UML Central Committee blamed the Maoist-Madhesi coalition for dissolving the CA, said Baburam Bhattarai had to be replaced as prime minister because he was anti-democratic and against the rule of law, there was an urgency to have new elections for a CA to draft a new constitution, the need to have local elections before CA elections, and not accept any move that will blur the separation between the executive and the judiciary.
The five points appear to be a compromise formula that the UML leaders used to appease those against the proposal, and the Central Committee asked the Standing Committee to negotiate on this basis.
The other opposition party, the NC, was also similarly divided, but the leadership approved the CJ proposal earlier this week, saying it would be better that allowing Baburam Bhattarai to lead an election government. However, NC president Sushil Koirala now appears to be torn by late doubts and may refer the proposal back to the Central Committee. If that happens, the deadlock will linger for some more time.
However, parties are showing signs of urgency to strike a compromise deal with President Ram Baran Yadav laying down a strict deadline till Saturday. Yadav said he was getting impatient with the stalemate, and threatened unspecified moves on Sunday if the parties failed to reach a deal.
The UML and NC leaders opposed to Regmi being appointed the head of a new government said their main objection was that he was not going to resign as CJ before he took up the new post. However, the CJ is said to have steadfastly refused to step down from his post, and also demanded that no political figures should be in the cabinet that he heads. He prefers to run a an election government made up of ministerial secretaries.
Regmi’s designation has not been decided yet, but one title being floated is ‘Chairman of the Administrative Council’, this was a way to get around objections that the CJ should not also be prime minister.
Legal experts said that there are still a slew of legal and constitutional knots to untie before Regmi takes over as head of a new government. Clauses in the constitution to make way for his appointment have to be changed, as do other laws dealing with elections. Other issues are: how big will the CA be, and will it be on the basis of proportional representation or direct elections, will the new constituencies reflect the results of 2011 census?
The most glaring problem is the absence of an Election Commissioner. And the clock is ticking since the Election Commission has a deadline of 120 days if elections are to be held on 29 May.