Kathmandu, December 3

Recently the Rastriya Prajatantra Party merged with Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal. The two parties felt it necessary to unite after a decade of split.

The unified Rastriya Prajatantra Party has put on hold the issue of ceremonial monarchy, an agenda that the RPP-N previously led by Kamal Thapa had strongly been raising before the merger. There had not been any rifts and debates when the two parties merged.

The unification between two parties is very welcome as it shows the urgent need for consensus and agreement among political actors to resolve some political problems that have sharply divided parties, leaders and society.

Sharp division has surfaced over the registration of the constitution amendment proposal in the Parliament. Some political parties and groups in the government and opposition are supporting the move, while others are strongly objecting to it. The move has sparked protests in some districts and it seems that the protests may result in serious consequences.

On the other hand, some disgruntled Madhes-based political parties and some ethnic groups have also questioned the relevance of the proposal. They have claimed that the proposal does not address their demands.

When the constitution was promulgated over a year ago, Madhes-centric political parties protested it, claiming that the document failed to address their concerns. Subsequently, India expressed its concerns about the statute. This led to strained relations between the two countries.

When CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal became the prime minister, one of the promises he made with the agitating Madhesi-centric parties was to amend the constitution.

So one would wonder what prompted Dahal to register the proposal. He was under pressure to register the proposal despite protests against it from various quarters.

The matter is a serious one that must draw the attention of all our political actors. It is crucial to implement the constitution effectively by increasing its acceptability. Holding elections are key to implementing the constitution. But under the present circumstances, it will be difficult to do so. So it is the need of hour to adopt a give-and-take approach to prevent the country from plunging into further crisis.

The only means of sailing the country through this difficult situation safely is consensus among political parties. Those protesting the proposal must find a middle path to increase the acceptability of the constitution.

As for the Madhes-based political parties and some ethnic groups who have long been protesting to get their demands addressed, they earlier sat for talks with three different governments led by the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre respectively, since they launched protests. So now whom do they now expect to address all their demands, word by word? All demands raised may or may not be fulfilled. But it is also their responsibility to save the country from plunging into another crisis.