Editorial»
Polls, much- talked about
NOV 07 - The press conference of Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa held on Tuesday has added new waves among the party politicians, who are already in big turmoil. Amid guessworks of Thapa’s announcement of the dates for elections, the mainstream political parties took the press meet as a threat to the normal political procedures. Despite Thapa’s various announcements at Singhadurbar, there was an indicative signal of an ensured longevity of the Thapa government in the first place.
Girija Prasad Koirala, as a result, has begun another country tour, to energise the Nepali Congress (NC) activists and continue the diatribe against the ‘retrograde’ Thapa and the King in combine. But the call of Koirala against any delivery of military hardware support from the friendly countries, while the Thapa team was in power is not understandable at this moment. On whose side is Koirala these days? We know that he is opposed to any Prime Ministerial, be he Krishna Prasad Bhattarai or Sher Bahadur Deuba. Wasn’t he also dead opposed to the Maoists a few years back? Yes, he was. He had, time and again, experimented state elimination of the Maoists, while he was the leader of the parliament. He never practically tried for a dialogue with the rebels. It wasn’t him who initiated the peace process with the ultras.
But nobody seems to be wanting elections at a time. The parties ‘fear’ Thapa’s tricks might be at work again. NC has declared to take part in the process of elections, if and when such elections were held. The UML’s stance is not clear. They fear a massive poll rigging, which may make the elections futile. NC had boycotted the Panchayati elections held immediately after the 1980 referendum. UML may be planning to do the same this time.
Then, do the Maoists want elections? No, not yet, and perhaps never. They are dead against the present constitution and its fundamentals. They have a declared mission of toppling the existing democratic, political and constitutional institutions. To come to a negotiated settlement of the eight-year -old Maoist insurgency, they wanted a constituent assembly, which the state could not agree on. The peace talks between the rebels and the state have failed twice in the past. The known reasons being the lack of consensus over the constituent assembly. Maoist ideologue Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has come forward with a fresh idea lately. Sensing, perhaps, the major parties’ disapproval of Thapa’s plans, Bhattarai has called for a working unity between the rebels and the democratic parties. Whatever the appeal of the Maoist bigshot, the parties do not appear to be taking the Maoist therapy as a cure for granted. Killings and abduction of NC and UML cadres have not stopped. And, the long-term vision of the armed rebels and the unarmed pro-parliamentary parties remain juxtaposed.
But finally, it will be the pro-constitution parties that will have to agree ultimately to take part in the elections, whenever held. If the King is ready to invite a party other than NC and CPN-UML, the new Prime Minister will also be more than happy to declare elections. It is Thapa whom the parties do not wish to see at Singhadurbar.
Why is the Thapa government frequently talking about elections? It is primarily because of the international pressure. Many donors have repeatedly asked the government to fill the vacant posts of local bodies in order to put development works on track. A few European countries have categorically linked any further financial aid or support with the functioning of the local bodies. Posted on: 2003-11-06 08:40
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