Agitation by the seven-party alliance for the restoration of the dissolved House of Representatives as the main agenda has been going on for a long time. But neither the government nor the Maoists have shown any inclination to accept it as a way out of the present constitutional crisis. Of late, the mass meetings organised by the alliance have been drawing more and more people, but not significant enough to put pressure on the government. Such slow response from the people is making the alliance impatient, and so they are depending more on international support and the Maoists’ backing for their cause.

The alliance must focus its attention on the cause of such a slow response from the people’s side and must plan strategies to mobilise the masses in great numbers. Any political arrangement in Nepal has to be engineered by the Nepali people. Any outcome with the support of the international community will fall short of popular aspirations.

The alliance has been raising the issue of restoration of the dissolved House of Representatives as a panacea for the present ills. However, they have not declared what issues would be addressed by the House in case it is restored.

There is no reason for getting elated because the attendance in the meetings is swelling. The reason for increased public participation is not the attraction of the proposed agenda by the alliance, but because the people have once more started looking to the parties, which have made peace an important agenda. The parties’ effort to persuade the Maoists to give up violence has given hope to the people, who have been disappointed by the government’s insensitivity towards their anxiety for the restoration of peace in the country.

Meanwhile, though the political leaders have been admitting that mistakes had been committed during the 12 years of parliamentary system, they have not been specific about the mistakes committed. They must declare the types of mistakes committed and declare the resolve not to repeat them in future and ask for forgiveness for their past misdeeds. On top of it all, the old and senior leaders of the parties must give up the reins of party machinery and pledge to help the new leadership in the parties as guardians and advisors. The same people who committed errors cannot create confidence among the people that they would change their mindset and working habits.

The issue of strengthening democracy and making it participatory has taken such deep roots in the minds of the people that only clear commitment on such issues could assure the people of the creation of a fully democratic society where every Nepali would feel a stake in the nation.

People have shown their eagerness to accept the role of the parties in a democracy and have rejected the claim of good governance by the present government. This phenomenon has to be taken up seriously by the alliance. The alliance’s effort to bring the Maoists into the mainstream politics by renouncing violence has increased the esteem of the alliance. The current talks between the alliance and the Maoists to further clarify the 12-point agreement reached between them have been widely applauded by the people. All eyes are set on the venue of the talks with cautious expectation.

The alliance has been persuading the Maoists to declare ceasefire and provide them with enough space to launch peaceful agitation along with their participation. However, the problem before the Maoists remains as to what would be the government’s response to their unilateral ceasefire. Would the government resp-ond to Maoist declaration of ceasefire or continue to take advantage of the situation to weaken their resistance?

Looking at the functioning of the government and listening to the statements of the people in the government there is no ray of hope that the government would change its strategy of liquidating the Maoists. Any change in the strategy of the government would strengthen the civil administration and it will have to recognise the effectiveness of the agitating seven-party alliance. The government has a strategy to promote new political parties to replace the parties in the alliance.

On the one hand, the strategy of the government is to militarily exhaust the Maoists, and on the other to float new parties which would participate in the next general elections for the House. As long as the agitating parties go on repeating the type of agitation they have been holding till now, the strategy of the government will remain unchanged. Therefore, a new strategy has to be adopted not only to agitate but also to open dialogue with the government.

The King has invited the parties for a dialogue. Only through dialogue could any new strategy be formed. Dialogue necessarily does not lead to success, but several attempts through dialogue may lead to success. In this context, the famous saying of the late US president John F Kennedy is very relevant: “Do not negotiate out of fear, but do not fear to negotiate.”

Upadhyay is a former foreign minister