Kathmandu Post

Editorial»

New deal

NOV 02 -
There have been so many negotiations over peace process matters over the past five years that a general loss of interest has arisen towards it and some disillusionment has set in. With so many agreements in the past five years, it is thus easy to lose sight of the importance of the agreement on integration and rehabilitation that was signed last night. This agreement, however, is qualitatively different from all of the other ones that have been signed. The other agreements of course were important. But almost all of them were ad hoc ones that did not really resolve important matters, but were signed simply to manage political contradictions in difficult situations. This is true, for example, of the agreement signed between the NC-led government and the Maoists in late 2007 that paved the way for the Constituent Assembly elections; of the various agreements that were signed to extend the tenure of the CA; and the 4-point agreement recently signed between the Maoists and the Madhesi parties. Yesterday’s agreement on integration and rehabilitation, in contrast, is the first agreement since 2006 that marks the culmination of a central and difficult issue.

The implementation of the agreement may yet be tricky But there are signs that it will lead to a smoothening of the political process in the future. First, with this agreement, the Congress and the Maoists have hopefully embarked on a path of better relations. They even appear to have reached an informal agreement on power sharing in the future, according to which the Maoists will continue to lead government until the constitution is drafted and then hand over power to a Congress-led one. Because of this, the struggle to bring down governments, which has been a central fact of Nepali politics in recent years, will in all likelihood not occupy too much of the opposition’s time and attention. This, it is possible, will help improve governance and service-delivery to the people. Moreover, there is even a change that an amicable deal on a consensus government can be reached.

With the peace process negotiations out of the way, serious negotiations on constitutional issues can now resume. For once, the parties can negotiate on issues such as state restructuring and forms of governance in a free manner, without seeking to impose conditions or demand compromises in other areas. One of the problems in the past was that the Maoists sought to link the integration debate with the constitutional one, sought to influence the latter process through negotiations on the former. It is clear that they will no longer be able to do anything of this kind. As a result, it will be easier to discuss outstanding issues on their own merits and their effects on the nation as a whole. The parties should maintain their spirit of cooperation and complete the constitution drafting process at the earliest.

Posted on: 2011-11-03 09:08

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