With the winter counting down its days and the spring knocking at the door, the atmosphere is heating up with rumours. On the one hand, the countdown to constituent assembly election has begun with the seven-party alliance (SPA) holding a series of joint meetings in Kathmandu (Jan. 14) and Biratnagar (Jan. 19). On the other hand, the political sphere is also agog with rumours of coups. Maoist supremo Prachanda and other top ranking leaders have publicly expressed apprehension about a possible democratic coup.

While some anticipate Maoist-royalist coup, which could take place on the pretext of a possible democratic coup, others opine that the democratic coup may take place as a counter to royalist-communist coup which couldn’t be orchestrated under their working unity during the April uprising. There is likelihood of yet another coup against provision of the interim constitution (IC), known as civilian cum constitutional coup, which would stand on the irrational logic that a federal system would divide the unitary sovereignty of the country.

But amidst the coup rumours, it seems the people’s dream to build their own Nepal will remain unfulfilled. Every community yearns for a new Nepal, its own Nepal in which it can shape its destiny with dignity, with no humiliation and marginalisation that it had had to experience for centuries. With the end of the armed struggle and subsequent signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord, framing of the constitution by the interim legislature-parliament, its approval, formation of interim government and declaration of a date for Constituent Assembly (CA) election, people were optimistic that bad days were past. But with

repeated postponement of CA polls date, people are getting impatient. Of course, the government has again announced a new poll date of April 10.

During the time, the IC has been amended thrice, including, among other things, to increase the number of seats to be contested and to declare the country a federal democratic republic via the legislature-parliament. Like any election, every party in the SPA coalition is interested in garnering maximum votes. Towards this end, various kinds of coalitions or fronts are mooted. Most interestingly, the Maoist leadership is in touch with those in the vanguard of royalist forces, the so-called nationalists now seeking Maoist support after their isolation. This has indeed raised the eyebrows of political observers. Interestingly, the present political condition brings to mind a famous proverb: A river returns to its original course after 12 years.

Fortunately, the credit for it goes to the Maoists as they are in search of an alliance with nationalist forces after a gap of seventeen long years. It again takes one back to those old days of the party-less Panchayat system when nationalism had a special meaning. However, the people’s movement back in 1990 had supposedly overthrown the system.

Only those who supported the autocratic Panchayat system were considered nationalists and all those who were for restoration of democracy and democratic rights were labelled anti-national (arashtravadi).

The advocates of the Panchayat system never realised that nationalism means a feeling of love and pride in the citizens for one’s country. That, nationalism may also stand for the collective desire of a group of people who share the same race, culture or language for an independent country.

Nationality can also be explained in terms of the legal right of belonging to a particular nation. It may mean a group of people with the same language, culture and history who form part of a political nation. Hence, Nepal has several nations within itself.

Generally, people are accustomed to the idea of sovereignty as the state of a country whereby it is free to govern on its own and independent of any external power. In a democracy, it is the people who are sovereign, and the parliament or the legislative body constituted by elected representatives acts in accordance with the sovereign will of the citizens. Hence actual sovereignty is vested in the citizens.

Moreover, the word “people” has different connotations. It may stand for the people of the whole nation, a particular community or a region, who are sovereign. Their sovereignty can be curtailed or enhanced only by themselves. It lies in their ability to excercise wisdom and act as per their own requirements. Their sovereignty was wrested away by some rulers centuries ago. Holding it back is no longer justifiable.

But if imposed from above, their preconceived doubts regarding the ruler and the ruled will remain. Of course, if their well-being and interests are guaranteed in a nation state, they, as a state, can happily surrender their sovereignty to a bigger nation state. Hence, a federal system will strengthen sovereignty, not weaken it as is being suggested by some pundits.

Prof Mishra is ex-election commissioner