Kathmandu, October 5, 2007

The Election Commission today cancelled “all programmes related to the election” on getting a letter from the government asking it to do so.

The EC, which had completed all preparations, said it had cancelled the programmes published last Sunday as “the wishes of EC alone” are not enough to hold the elections.

The CPN-UML, Janamorcha Nepal and Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party wrote separate notes of dissent, saying the decision to defer the election was against the people’s desire of making a new constitution through the CA polls.

The Nepali Congress, in a statement today, blamed the Maoists for the cancellation of the elections, and said the party was “forced to accept” the decision “in view of the necessity to maintain the unity of the seven political parties.”

A statement signed by NC acting president Sushil Koirala said that “an uneasy and unexpected situation of being

unable to hold election on the specified schedule” was created by “the new conditions and stand” of the CPN (Maoist).

Prachanda, in a statement, said that his party agrees to suspend the election process till the special session of the parliament takes a decision on his party’s stance on a republic and proportional representation system of election and to maintain unity between the six-party alliance and the CPN-Maoist.

“But we believe the election must be held on November 22 by taking a decision on a republic and proportional representation system,” he said.

The Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (NMKP), in a statement, said that it was not responsible for suspension of the elections.

What course now?

The cancellation of election has generated a wave of disappointment, but the country must look forward and find a way out of the current situation.

At the heart of the current imbroglio lies the Maoists’ 22-point precondition for the election. The Maoist intransigence roots back to the Fifth Plenum held in early August.

Hardliners led by Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal) pointed at the plight of PLA soldiers in the camps and district cadres indicated that the support for the Maoists was not sizeable enough to guarantee they could lead political change through parliamentary politics.

The 22 preconditions, announced on August 20, emerged as a compromise between different ideological streams within the CPN (Maoist).

However, the very lobby which opposed the peace path taken by the ideological group led by Dr Baburam Bhattarai, has always remained in favour of driving political change through ad hoc political arrangements, and has no respect for competitive multi-party politics or the parliamentary system.

Although the Maoists must finally take the blame for the current situation, a couple of outstanding problems in the peace process fuelled the strength of hardliners within the Maoist party.