Last week, the UCPN (Maoist) unilaterally decided to stop its five-month-long obstruction of the House proceedings. This rather unexpected kindness demonstrated by the Maoists has revived hopes of Nepal’s political transition taking a logical course. But the deep-rooted distrust among the major political players of the country still casts an ominous shadow on the prospects of spatial reengagement in the politics of consensus. The root of such distrust is largely the absence of good faith in taking crucial political decisions by the parties and essentially futile machinations to weed out the perceived fear of betrayal from “the other side”. Such a crisis of confidence has led to many immature, impractical and potentially fruitless decisions and, at times, outbursts by the government and the opposition alike.

A glaring example of the government’s immaturity and half-heartedness in decision making is evident in its recommendation to extend the term of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) by only four months. And in these four months, the government “expects” to accomplish the task of “integration” of some 19,000 ex-Maoists combatants that have been living in the camps for the last two years. In light of the apparent lack of progress even in initiating the integration process during the last two years of UNMIN’s presence here, expecting it to be completed within the next four months is absolutely impractical. It is no longer a secret now that the present coalition in power is not happy with UNMIN’s modus operandi. And also, UNMIN has no intention of winding up its operation in the next four months.

As such, if the government had not wanted to extend the presence of UNMIN, it should have had enough guts to ask them to ship out. If not, it should have understood that a reasonable time frame can only enable UNMIN to deliver results, mainly on the integration issue. The government is informally floating an argument amid political circles that it wants to be politically correct by not extending UNMIN’s term beyond May 28, 2010, the deadline set to promulgate the new constitution. But the fact of the matter is that no constitution can be promulgated or executed before the issue of the Maoist combatants is resolved. And with the present level of distrust and derision among the political parties, it will be impossible to complete the integration by then. Thus, for all practical purposes, the deadline for the new constitution is irrelevant.

As the most appalling aspect, the deepening distrust has created grounds for unhealthy alliances, leanings and barter of favours between forces within and without. The growing difference with the Maoists prompted the government to promote Toran Jung Bahadur Singh to lieutenant general. He holds a hard-line approach with regard to maintaining the “sanctity” of the Nepal Army, and he has been charged with playing a role in suppressing Jana Andolan II.

The Maoist chairman’s public declaration of “directly talking to New Delhi” to resolve Nepal’s political crisis forthrightly rejects the very existence of a legitimate government here. In fact, it was his plea for India’s favour and an expression of readiness to lean over if that would bring him back to power. Even for India, Dahal’s demagogy was a much-awaited pleasant surprise. The mandarins in New Delhi spared no second to assert that they were ready for a dialogue “on any issue”. India very often than not presents itself as the saviour and leader of the South Asian region and urges the international community to view their regional diplomacy through its lenses.  Dahal’s statement only reinforced its putative political role as a regional superpower. It obviously initiated the process of redefining India’s relations with the Maoists, which have remained at their lowest since the ouster of the Maoists from power. But, sadly again, it has augmented bitterness among the parties back home.

Likewise, UNMIN’s pro-Maoist bias and exchange of appreciation between the two are now commonplace pleasantries. The isolation of the Maoists and public criticism of UNMIN’s role by almost all the other political parties may also be contributing to cementing their bonds. Of course, they have a shared vested interest — if the peace process is to succeed, the Maoists have to sacrifice its army and UNMIN its existence, which they are not mentally ready for.

In view of the activities and movements toward undesirable directions, Nepal’s political players must be ready to take a step back and review their acts so far so as to put the peace process back on the right track. But it is not just a mere cliché. There must be a determination to view things as they stand. Let’s face them.

It is apparent that UNMIN has no intention of leaving Nepal anytime soon, and there will be no army integration as long as it remains here. The Maoists may not have liked pluralism over its cherished goal of proletarian authoritarianism, but it has no alternative to going through the numbers game of parliament to grab power as long as it is there. The government might have been irritated by the Maoists’ continued protest programmes, but it cannot write the constitution without their help. Any ritual orchestrated in the Constituent Assembly in the name of writing the new constitution will be futile unless the army integration issue is resolved. And with the all-pervasive indifference in political circles, it is not likely to be resolved soon, at least not before May 28.

Even if the army issue is resolved, finalising the federal structure by addressing all the concerns of caste, ethnicity, religion and region — those that have been suppressed for ages as well as newly emerged ones — is a Herculean task. Frankly, our political forces have thus far remained indifferent to the gravity and sensitivity of the problem and impending disaster if we fail to resolve them before it is too late. No single party can do it on its own, and there is no short cut to it.

It may sound harsh, but the political parties have no alternative but to understand that they must begin to work cohesively on broader national issues. Only accepting these realities and a willingness to change can serve as a basis for embarking on the path of the inevitable politics of consensus and mutual trust. The right platform for this trust building can be no other than the Constituent Assembly itself. For this, the Maoists deserve acclaim for coming back to the House business.

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