E-Kantipur

It’s the season of thunderstorms. Against a backdrop of azure spring skies, the Himalayan foothills wait for the pre-monsoon showers. And thunderstorms periodically rock the skies, at times wreaking havoc of sorts. As Indo-Nepal thugs continue broad-daylight shootings — and politicos turn violent, issuing fresh warnings of revolt (read violence) — thunder and storms can be felt on the ground too. 

Despite widespread condemnation of the murders of media entrepreneurs Jamim Shah and Arun Singhaniya in separate shootouts recently, the government has failed to hunt down the criminals. So the state of insecurity remains. Longing for peace and security, Nepalis grapple to get over the ghosts of the decade-long Maoist insurgency. People want to move forward. Yet the leaders don’t help much.

‘Thunder’

Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has warned that his party would lead what he called “a decisive people’s revolt” if the nation does not get the new constitution on May 28. A few weeks ago, though, he was ready for another scenario. Then, he said, “The sky won’t fall even if we can’t ready the new constitution by May 28.” On Tuesday, he remarked, “It can still happen within the timeline.” Well, the ex-rebel supreme commander keeps changing his remarks.

But we have no choice but to take our constitution- and peace-building processes quite seriously. All the more so because the parties responsible for that process don’t seem to be doing their work sincerely. People from the Himalaya to the plains may be looking forward to a great constitution, but the parties seem focused elsewhere: on grabbing power.

Nobody seems to care about the statute. The Maoists, who want their kind of constitution, want to topple the Madhav Kumar Nepal government; but Nepal and his ministers want to hold on to it. So the trouble is this: With less than 80 days left to issue the constitution of the federal republic of Nepal, there are serious doubts that the Constituent Assembly (CA) would be able to actually finish its task by May 28, the big day. The constitution-making calendar was up for its 10th amendment Tuesday

Flirting with armies

The parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the then Seven-Party Alliance and the Maoists (SPAM), have not been able to settle their differences on key issues. Chief among them are the federal structure, sharing of power and mode of governance. Equally important, nothing has been done to integrate or rehabilitate the 19,000 plus Maoist ex-combatants.

Right now, the two sides remain divided on how many of the 19,000 ex-combatants are to be integrated into the national Army or the police force, and how many of them are to be rehabilitated into other state organs or society. Arguing that the rebels have a little over 3,400 weapons stored, government ministers say they are ready to integrate 3,000 into the security forces.

But the Maoists don’t seem ready for anything less than 15,000. As the heated debate continued this past week, the parties couldn’t even talk about how to go about it — thanks to the Maoist boycott. The much-hyped High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM), comprising top leaders from the three big parties, was expected to break the ice and take the peace process forward. But since the prime minister didn’t quite like the HLPM, it ran into controversy from day one. With veteran leader G.P. Koirala seriously ill and bed-ridden, the HLPM remains in limbo, too.

Perhaps trying to add some dynamism to the state of nothingness, Prachanda on Monday tried to woo the Nepal Army, his ex-enemy. Addressing a Women’s Day gathering, he argued, “If conspiracies are hatched to derail this process, the Nepal Army — which didn’t even support former king Gyanendra — would support the Maoist party and not the Nepali Congress or the CPN-UML.” Soon, ruling party leaders will react to that. There will be counter reactions from the Maoists. The oratory contest will continue.

‘Betrayal’

Having signed the 12-point understanding in New Delhi in November 2005, the leaders of SPAM bragged how easily and swiftly their roadmap had turned violence into peace in Nepal. As the Indians observed then, things moved at a fast-forward pace. Six months later, a joint mass movement forced the then king Gyanendra to bow before the people.

Four years later, the parties have nothing much to show the world except peace agreements “confined to paper”, the 601-member jumbo CA and ex-combatants enjoying perks. The word is that unless the ex-rebel army is integrated, law and order situation improved and the new constitution readied, the peace process will continue to remain in limbo. As that process remains on the brink today, a majority of Nepalis feel betrayed; they feel cheated.

Having won the support of millions of Nepalis during the 2006 April mass movement, isn’t it SPAM’s responsibility to deliver on their promises — of a new democratic constitution, of a new united national army and of a much stronger and prosperous “New Nepal”? If yes, what’s stopping them from working to that effect? Why can’t they rise above petty partisan interests and work towards consensus-building and nation-building?

People overwhelmingly poured out onto the streets during the April 2006 movement because they wanted peace. People threw their weight behind SPAM then because they wanted stability and a vibrant democracy. This spring, as the May 28 deadline draws nearer, the masses will surely look back and ask themselves: What have we achieved? Is this what we wanted? Is this what we voted for? The Nepali people deserve much, much better.

(The author is a BBC Nepali journalist)

nepal.surendra@gmail.com

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