Time to ponder

After a hiatus of more than four months the UCPN-Maoist has allowed the House to resume business. The Maoists have been insisting persistently that the other political parties concede that the Presidential step providing reprieve to the then sacked Army Chief Rookmangud Katwal was unconstitutional. They have even resorted to various phases of agitations and have threatened the fourth phase of their protests beginning December 25. Should the so-called “civilian supremacy” not be restored as demanded by the Maoists by then they have threatened an indefinite general strike thence. However, now that the Parliament is running commitments have been made to get the draft of the new constitution within two days which augurs well at a time when it is being doubted if this will be written within the stipulated time. Not being able to do so would invite a constitutional crisis with drastic consequences and anarchy. There are various contentious issues that have to be addressed while writing the new constitution, among them being the national symbols and also the envisaged autonomous states. The various political parties have not been able to agree on these, although the need for consensus is realized by them. If the political parties cannot agree on these and other fundamental issues, they have decided to go to the polls in the Constituent Assembly.

The writing schedule of the constitution has been amended for the eighth time, and the fast approaching deadline would make the writing of the constitution difficult due to the constraint of time. So these latest developments have to be seen from a positive light for they send out signals that all is not lost, and there is still hope that the constitution will eventually be written on schedule and the peace process will reach the logical conclusion as per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Since the major political parties have major roles to play, it is expected that they will not belie expectations this time around and that finally a consensus will be reached some time now in the very near future. They should realize that merely sticking to partisan interest will not do anybody good and as leaders of national stature they have to think about the welfare of the country and the people first and foremost.

With these positive developments, independent civil society too has a vital role to play to see that

the political leaders deliver what they have promised. Now that the UCPN (M) has relented and let

the House function without any obstruction,

it stands to reason that issues of national importance will be discussed in the Parliament and the

concerned stakeholders will not to take to the

streets to get their demands fulfilled at the flimsiest excuse. Meanwhile, the leaders of the various political parties should refrain from giving inflammatory speeches for they would only impede the peace process in this delicate transient period. Now, there

is some hope that the political deadlock of

seven months or so will finally end and the leaders will play more responsible roles for there are important works still remaining like the rehabilitation

of the former Maoist combatants.

A timely bid

That Chief Justice Anup Raj Sharma has formed three high-level panels for effecting reforms in the judiciary is an acknowledgement that the house has to be put in order for effective and efficient justice delivery system. It is true that the CJ has a very short tenure during which he himself has to guide the move forward. But, it goes to his credit that the relevant high-level committees have been formed at least. One of the committees is to study corruption and the irregularities in the judiciary and to devise the strategy necessary to tackle graft in the judiciary. The other committees are to study the other facets of the judiciary.

With the need to strengthen the faith of the people in the judiciary, the need for sprucing had been felt long time back, but besides the vocalizing part no concrete efforts had been made to ascertain the deficiencies in a straightforward manner. Now the process seems to have begun. Nevertheless, the two month deadline is too short a duration to study the complicated set up of the judicial system in the country. Yet, the welcome part is that an initiative has been taken and the results, hopefully, can be viewed within the tenure of the present CJ.