Thaindian News

Kathmandu, April 20 (IANS) With just 37 days left for Nepal to unveil a new constitution, the country has begun hurtling towards chaos with the three major parties still at daggers drawn and the key players admitting it would be impossible to execute the task.
Concern and fear began to mount Tuesday after Nilambar Acharya, chairman of the constitutional committee that has the mandate of drafting the new statute, admitted on television Monday night that the new constitution was doomed with mistrust among the major parties deepening.

Former American president and Nobel laureate Jimmy Carter, who gave a clean chit to the election in 2008 that saw the former Maoist guerrillas come to power, sent his representative in Nepal, Peter Burleigh, to meet Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and ask about the floundering peace process.

Though the Prime Minister’s Office said Nepal had pledged to be “flexible to the utmost” to conclude the peace negotiations that began in 2006 when the Maoists ended their 10-year-long armed insurrection, the assurance rings hollow.

The PM’s own party, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), Tuesday agreed among itself that it would root for extending the term of the current parliament, which was elected in 2008 to write the new constitution.

The interim constitution has a provision to lengthen the life of the house by six months in case of an emergency, like a natural calamity or war.

However, legal experts are divided on this.

Sher Bahadur KC, a former official of the Nepal Bar Association, says if the new constitution is not promulgated on the pledged date of May 28, the validity of the present parliament and government would end, plunging the country into chaos.

He and some other lawyers are advocating that the interim constitution, drafted after a pro-democracy movement ended monarchy in Nepal in 2006, be swiftly revised and enforced to save the nation from disaster.

The ruling party’s proposal to extend the term of the house is also being bitterly opposed by the Maoists, who are now the biggest party.

The former rebels say they will fight it unless the prime minister steps down to make way for a new government under their leadership.

But even Tuesday, Nepal ruled out resigning.

The other major party, the Nepali Congress (NC), is advocating fresh elections to choose a new parliament if the May 28 deadline fails.

However, political commentators say given the irresponsibility shown by the parties, an extension or a new election will lead to the same impasse.

Watching from the sidelines the parties flounder, ethnic groups and royalist organisations are waiting to join the fray in May if the constitution fails its deadline.

There is also growing fear that the Maoists, who are reported to be training their cadre for a new revolt, could try to seize power by force.

The other equally feared scenario is the army, which helped King Gyanendra grab power in 2005, take over, with or without the deposed king.

All eyes are on May 1, when the Maoists have called a stage of might in the capital, when they are likely to unveil their new strategy.