Oped»
Saran’s brief
AUG 04 -
India’s Special Envoy and former Foreign Secretary Shayam Saran is currently visiting Nepal with a mandate to find consensus on the formation of a government that can conclude the peace process and draft a new constitution before the next year’s new deadline.
Nepal’s successive elections to choose the new prime minister have been reduced to a farce. Yet both Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, “Prachanda,” and Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel are unwilling to give up, despite knowing that neither can command the full support of the Madhesis, indispensable to forming the government. It seems highly unlikely that a solution can be found in the next few days.
While addressing the current impasse, India must assess its past policies. It must also realise that propping up the last unrepresentative government only delayed and undermined the fragile peace process. Cobbling together yet another anti-Maoist coalition will only fail for the same reasons as it did earlier.
The Maoists are indispensable for the peace process. But like it or not, the reality is they are also indispensable to governing. Yet, the Maoist claim on the leadership of government appears increasingly shaky. The Maoists are the largest political party in parliament but they simply do not have the numbers on the floor of the House and they have repeatedly failed in their attempt to form the government. The Maoists should therefore now seek a power-sharing agreement.
Past experience demonstrates that the exclusion of any one of the major three parties from power makes governing Nepal impossible. The Nepali Congress, the Maoists and now the CPN-UML have had their turn at majority government. All were unable to govern or make progress in the peace process.
The real issue facing Saran is not about the formation of a government but rather about saving the peace process. Given the mandate he has, Saran must press for a new agreement to underwrite the Comprehensive Peace Agreement rather than cobbling together yet another lame-duck government.
There is no alternative to a National Unity Government (NUG) with the following possible elements:
• The purpose of the new NUG should be to draft the new constitution of Nepal and its term should expire by the May 28, 2011, when the current term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) expires;
• The NUG should include all the political parties in accordance with their representation in the Constituent Assembly;
• The Prime Ministership of the NUG should be rotational for a specific period of time amongst the three main political parties i.e. the CPN-UML, the Nepali Congress and the UCPN (Maoist), and that the prime minister may be assisted by three deputy prime ministers drawn from other two main political parties and Mahdesi parties;
• The number of seats in the ministries should be based on the strength in the parliament with representation of the Madhesis and Janajatis;
• The recommendations of the Council of Ministers, (not the prime minister alone) shall be binding on the president;
• The NUG may create mechanisms to implement the CPA including the integration of the PLA/democratisation of the Nepal Army and creation of the states/provinces of federal Nepal.
• The NUG should form a high-level political mechanism, and, given the now obvious failings of the process, a wide ranging review of the implementation of the CPA so far. The review needs a short, focused mandate led by eminent personalities whose findings will carry weight with both parties.
Saran’s visit to Nepal once again underlines India’s centrality to Nepal. His visit must break the impasse. Otherwise, India will be rightly construed as the major obstacle to peace in Nepal. Chaos in Nepal will have terrible consequences for both countries. India must take corrective measures to ensure that the past is not repeated.
(Chakma is Director of New Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights)
Posted on: 2010-08-05 09:12
Headlines
Advertisements
