Timely local election
Never mind its pro-poll pronouncements, there is now a big reason to doubt the commitment of the ruling Nepali Congress-CPN (Maoist Center) coalition government to timely local election. Otherwise, why would the coalition decide to impeach a sitting Chief Justice, who, in any case, would have retired after a month? Perhaps the political parties in the coalition were not confident of their electoral prospects and were looking for a good excuse to put off the election. It is hard to believe that highly experienced politicians like Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal didn’t understand the monumental implications of their decision to forcefully remove Sushila Karki. Above all, they must have known that this ill-timed decision would distract the attention of the political class, and of the country at large, which should have been firmly focused on local election. Now, in the political climate thoroughly muddied by the impeachment motion in parliament, it will be hard to establish broad political consensus in favor of election—which was a difficult task even without the impeachment controversy. It will be interesting to see how the government now goes about creating a favorable climate for local election.
As we have repeatedly maintained, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a two-phase election if it helps bring the disgruntled Madhesi forces on board. But it is as yet unclear that the Federal Alliance led by Uprendra Yadav and the newly-created Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) have agreed to Prime Minister Dahal’s proposal for a two-phase election. The protesting parties have said that they are not ready for election of any kind, until the constitution is first amended to their liking, which will entail, at the least, increasing the number of local level units in 11 Tarai districts and amending the constitutional provision on changing federal boundaries. But the main opposition, CPN-UML, is not ready for either of these compromises. So how is it possible to find a meeting point between the two sides in the current political negotiations? The prime minister has tried to assure his countrymen that local election scheduled for May 14 (or at least the first phase of it) will go ahead as planned. But how will this happen when he doesn’t have the votes in parliament to amend the constitution? Or is there a plan to push ahead with the first phase on May 14 even without a prior understanding with Madhesi outfits?
There are so many questions before the prime minister but so few answers. People right around the country have unambiguously said, and in one voice, that they would like to see timely local election. As their prime minister at this crucial juncture, it is Dahal’s responsibility to make this happen. Having played his part in destabilizing the national polity with the impeachment motion, the prime minister has his task cut out to bring the derailed national politics back on track. One thing is for sure: if the local election is delayed and the three sets of constitutionally-mandated elections cannot be held by the January 2018 deadline, Messrs Dahal and Deuba will have to shoulder the bulk of the blame.
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