The Election Commission (EC)’s notification to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala that it is not “technically” possible to hold the elections to the constituent assembly (CA) on June 20 has sent the eight political parties into a huddle to consider their next move. In his letter on Friday, the chief election commissioner (CEC), Bhoj Raj Pokharel, also urged the government to announce an election date keeping in mind that the EC needs at least 110 days after all legalities concerning voters, candidates, political parties, election officers, monitors and

others have been completed. Admittedly, the delays made by the government in completing all these legal formalities despite full knowledge of the promised election date had sown suspicion in many minds that it was not serious about keeping that date, though till last week Koirala was telling the world that it was his responsibility to conduct the polls on schedule and that he would do it under any circumstances. Not long ago, he said that in extraordinary times, the CA polls would be held in an extraordinary manner.

One thing also raises some doubts about the EC. That is, if it needed 110 days to hold the polls after the completion of the above-mentioned formalities, why did it send the letter of its inability to the government with only a little over 60 days remaining, when a bill of constitutional amendment to incorporate the poll date of June 20 had been registered in the interim parliament, and why did it enact the drama of registering the political parties? On this score, the EC commissioners, particularly the CEC, face a moral question. But the failure to hold the polls on schedule has considerably weakened the public position of Koirala, who had been quick to take personal credit for the peace process, on which, he told the 14th SAARC summit in New Delhi, he had gambled six decades of his political career and also that he had been able to “bring the terrorists into the political mainstream”.

When Sher Bahadur Deuba failed to conduct the general elections in the stipulated six months, he was branded “incapable” at a time when the Maoists were in possession of much of the countryside. Even the then active King Gyanendra failed to fulfil his promise of the general elections in nearly four years of his rule. However, Koirala had a much easier task — he had the mandate of Jana Andolan II launched jointly by the SPA and the Maoists, the Maoists had come into the peace process and he had a full year with him. Though the blame game alone will not help resolve the problems, it is time for taking stock and coming up with solutions that will not allow the past mistakes. The deferral of the CA polls by, say, six months need not be a life-and-death question given the ground realities but as Nepal is still a high-risk case, the people naturally are afraid that the CA polls, once delayed, as in the post-1951 period, might never take place again. The test of statesmanship and foresight of the eight parties lies in ensuring that history does not repeat itself in Nepal.