Great expectations All eyes are on the Mahasamiti meeting of the Nepali Congress, the party with glorious innings in the political history of the country. There have been shortcomings that saw its performance wane in the historic Constituent Assembly election. Nonetheless, it stands firm and tall amidst the galaxy of parties in the present turbulent times. The NC Mahasamiti meeting has coincidentally taken place on the same date that the UCPN (M) has initiated its protest campaign in support of its demands. The inauguration of the meet saw the stalwart octogenarian NC President Girija Prasad Koirala emphasise the urgent need for politics of consensus and coordination and unity as they impact on the health of nationality, democracy and socialism. These are words true to the spirit of NC that has carved its niche in the political map of Nepal, but as always the changing times demand reforms for which there are visible signs of intra-party democracy coming to the fore that sees the present meeting being held with the National Convention to come up in about four months time. The message must be made clear that the Mahasamiti with over 1200 members will be able to revive NC to its glory, maintaining the integrity to sincerely address the difficulties of the transitional phase that the country is presently passing through. This is reflected because the Mahasamiti decisions will be the steering force of the party as a whole. To focus on the objectives, it all has to do with the four agendas that come up for liberations in the three-day Mahasamiti meet. The foremost focus of the NC will be discussions revolving around its statute wherein some important changes seem to be in store going by the utterances of the respected party members. The camp for the moment may be divided between the presidential system and those supporting the collective leadership voice. The latter idea might be some form of disapproval of the present form of leadership. Yet, the pitfalls of the collective leadership variety is plainly depicted by the present experience of the CPN (UML). But, the greatest focus is on making NC once again a party to reckon with, for which it ought to make its statute in a manner that can help woo the Aadivasi and Janjati communities, the Madhesis, dalits and the like back to its fold to make up for the erosion in the party's popularity in the recent years. It is not only its statute that must spell this out but there should be more face-to-face interactions with the stakeholders, that is the people themselves. There are great expectations from the Mahasamiti, which is a powerful party organ, to come up with a new vision and compatibility with the times, not only in the interest of the party but for the people whose voice matters the most in the loktantric system of the republic of Nepal. However, caution must remain while mooting the amendments that have long-term implications. It can also be hoped that the meet will come up with a pragmatic move to convince the UCPN (M) to come to the consensual table. The results will be eagerly awaited by all who believe in the ideals and norms that NC is an icon of.

Stick to it Vehicles plying in the Thamel and Hanuman Dhoka area have for long been a nuisance to tourists walking there. Banning of vehicular movement for certain hours and providing respite for vehicles of the locals at certain hours should ease the movement of traffic in both places. Since Thamel and Hanuman Dhoka areas are the major tourist hubs in the capital, the banning of vehicles would ease the congestion as the place is pretty crowded. However, for the moment, the traffic police is finding it difficult to enforce its plan with the locals defying the government decision. Such defiance is likely to affect plans to extend vehicle free zones in other areas. While it is easier for the police to declare a no-vehicle zone, it is more difficult to create an alternative traffic route for the local people. The traffic police must work with the locals to create public understanding about vehicle-free zones. The police need to maintain constant vigil to see to it that everybody complies with the rule, and that there should be no exception. However, these are only short time strategies to plan the vehicular movement. As the number of vehicles on the roads is increasing at an alarming rate a policy should be made to cope with this.