The winter session of the interim parliament was adjourned for ten days, minutes after its commencement on Monday. However, the government found time to table two ordinances for passage – the Arms and Ammunition (Second Amendment) Ordinance-2007 and the Nepal Trust Ordinance-2007. The adjournment reflects the compulsions, and good sense, too, of the seven political parties. It is three months since the CPN-Maoist put the alliance and the government on notice that it would quit the government and take to the streets if its demands of immediate republic and full proportional representation were not met. But the political row remains unresolved, mainly because of the Congress’s disagreement with both the demands and the Maoists’ refusal to withdraw them and it led to the indefinite postponement of tomorrow’s (the Nov. 22) election. However, the SPA’s decision to find a solution through dialogue has kept the hopes for a consensus alive.

Consensus on how to move ahead in the light of the parliament’s passage of the two resolutions – on republicanism and full proportionality – remains central to the success of the winter session. The necessity of steering a successful transition will exert significant pressure on the political parties to come together on the issues. The resolutions have also raised serious political and moral questions for the Koirala-led Congress party, despite the threat of a small faction of the party to defy the whip on voting in the parliament if the leadership ‘went against the Congress Mahasamiti decisions. But the parties, all the more so the Congress, can hardly afford to let the stalemate continue. A silver lining is the latest reported SPA understanding in principle to evolve a consensus on “giving legal and political status” to the two resolutions in the ongoing parliamentary session.

A fresh election date would be impossible without a consensus on the parliament’s directives to the government. A delay in finding a breakthrough would push the election agenda further back, beyond the end of this Nepali calendar year (mid-April). This would erode the credibility of the SPA generally, and of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala particularly. And it could cause fissures in the SPA, besides rendering the national political course uncertain. During the 10-day recess, the SPA is also likely to review the political agreements signed between the Maoists and the other parties or government since the 12-point understanding and how best to implement them. It may also reach one on respecting the parliament’s directives. Some responsible leaders of the major parties have been stressing this need in recent days. Indeed, the effort to review the agreements and their implementation will be worthwhile, as it will help remove any misunderstandings and flaws that may have remained. Given the huge task placed on their shoulders by Jana Andolan II and the equally huge task of meeting the challenges standing in the way, the seven parties will need to keep and strengthen their alliance for several years even after the CA polls, as Koirala has rightly emphasised more than once.