With the four-day general strike and demonstrations announced by the seven-party alliance starting today and the government, in line with its vow of foiling the protests and banning public gatherings from Wednesday, within Ring Road in the Kathmandu Valley, the divergence between the palace and the political parties is clearly widening. On the eve of the bandh, a number of political leaders, activists and pro-democracy professionals have been arrested. The aggressive mood of the government was also reflected in its reaction to the Maoists’ unilateral ceasefire in the Kathmandu Valley. Students and riot police clashed in front of several campuses in the Valley on Wednesday. In a bid to ensure that vehicles ply on the streets, the government has impounded dozens of vehicles in the Valley, apart from stopping bus services between Kathmandu and nearby districts to prevent people coming in to take part in the protests.

Unless democracy is restored, protests will continue to take place, perhaps increase in size and intensity, in days to come. How long can the country go on like this? It is high time for the political actors, therefore, to look for convergence. Both the government, at least on the face of it, and the political parties stress the need to have a parliament, and the general election is the agenda of both sides. In the interim period, the restoration of Parliament can be a viable option; however, if that is not possible for some reasons, is it not possible then for the two sides to work together and decide on a mechanism for credible elections. Multiparty democracy implies a parliament which, in turn, presupposes elections, free and fair and with wide public participation.

This kind of rapprochement will have to include a road map for the full restoration of democracy, including the task of bringing the Maoists into the democratic mainstream. In a democracy worth the name, there is no place for any agenda of an individual or group, as the ‘election’ of the present government, to be rammed down the throats of the people, by sidelining the mainstream parties who are the bedrock of multiparty parliamentary democracy. A democratic agenda of necessity implies a return to the status quo ante October 4, 2002, letting the political parties play the role the Constitution has carved out for them. Without any move from the palace in that direction, there cannot be any possibility of peace in the country. For the Nepalis, peace is no lon-ger a choice; it is a necessity. It must not be held host-age to the petty interests of one or more individuals.