The official positions of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML will become known within a few days after their central working committee and central committee respectively decide as to their participation in the new government that the Constituent Assembly (CA) will form. But going by the kind of argument or condition that some of the central leaders of both the parties are making, it seems that they have not been able to accept their parties’ defeats in the CA election gracefully, and are even, in disregard of the people’s verdict, trying to retain advantages and deny others what is due to them according to the popular will. These leaders are stressing, for instance, that if the CPN-Maoist is to lead the next government, it must agree to amend the Interim Constitution so that just a 51 per cent majority is required to make or unmake the Prime Minister, as against the existing requirement of two-thirds majority.

Some of their arguments are: as long as the Maoists are unable to muster a two-thirds majority in the CA, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala should remain in the post; the CPN-Maoist should dissolve the YCL, its youth wing; Prachanda should not be allowed to head the government because he also happens to be the supreme commander of the People’s Liberation Army; the CPN-Maoist’s weapons should be destroyed or handed over to the Nepal Army beforehand; the CPN-Maoist should not be allowed to lead the government since the ‘international community’ does not support it, and so on. By such postures, NC and UML leaders are only lowering their stock in public further, as people will consider them power-hungry and to be obstructing the implementation of the people’s mandate. The CPN-Maoist holds exactly half the total of the 240 seats under the direct election system, and with 100 from proportional system, it has 220 seats altogether, a figure that the NC and the CPN-UML cannot reach even when their overall tallies are added up.

Undoubtedly, the political parties should concentrate on drawing up a constitution as soon as possible, even ahead of the constitutionally set two-year timeframe. They must remain loyal to their commitments to the people. However, goalposts should not be moved to suit one’s convenience. The relative strength of the political parties, including the new ones, should be reflected in power sharing. Extraneous or untenable conditions must not be set — for example, a political party should disband its youth wing, or such-and-such a person cannot assume government leadership. However, if there are any specific problems, they could be discussed or taken in their stride. Under any democracy worth the name, a political party’s claim to power is based on the people’s trust in it, not on what foreigners think of it. The peace process is still on and the transition is not complete. Therefore, all outstanding issues,

including the management of Maoist arms and army, should be resolved according to the earlier understandings and agreements. If the central organs of the NC and CPN-UML become swayed by untenable arguments such as those listed above, these parties would suffer further erosion of public support.