The European Union, by welcoming the 5-point agreement signed by the government and the CPN-Maoist, has taken a realistic stand which can only be expected to facilitate the transition to the constituent assembly (CA) elections and the establishment of a new democratic order. The statement sees in the common content of the letters sent to the UN requesting the world body’s assistance in the country’s peace process a “clear indication of willingness by both parties to engage in concrete actions for sustainable peace”. The current EU statement in fact endorses the provision of the 8-point pact, which provides for equal treatment to the government and rebel armies and arms until the CA polls. This marks a departure from the recent stance taken by the EU and some other countries in insisting on the prior separation of the arms from the Maoist combatants while leaving the state army untouched.

The UN mission, on its part, has submitted its assessment report to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, along with the letters sent in by both sides following the 5-point accord. The UN is likely to accept the Nepali request. In the meantime, the parties concerned, too, need to intensify their efforts to take further confidence-building measures, and in the process, their leaders should desist from making statements that conflict with the 12-point, 8-point, and 5-point agreements. The temptation to make facile statements also needs to be resisted, such as the one made by PM Girija Prasad Koirala at the NC parliamentary party meeting on Saturday ruling out the dissolution of the parliament until ‘there is a dependable alternative’. The 8-point accord is clear on the issue. Irresponsible utterances would only create confusion in the public and erode mutual trust among the disputants.

What they are supposed to be doing is to concentrate their attention on finalising the draft interim constitution, overcoming differences within the SPA, and between it and the Maoists. They would do well to learn from the time waste and confusion and uncertainty generated by the row they kicked up over the issue of arms management that actually had already been dealt with by the 12-point and 8-point accords. This has tended to put the SPA government under public suspicion that it has been too weak to withstand unwarranted foreign pressure in affairs that are purely internal, such as how weapons should be managed and when and under which conditions the interim government should be formed. The CA elections imply that every political party is free to go to the people seeking votes on the basis of its manifesto, including whether it advocates a republic or a ceremonial monarchy. Therefore, senior leaders of the parties owe it to the people that they decide on the election planks of their parties as soon as possible instead of keeping the public guessing and making conflicting, and sometimes outrageous, statements that countervail the mandate of the Jana Andolan II.