Stupendous Year
Breath-taking pacts and numbing delays mark the one year since the restoration of Loktantra
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
The year 2006 will go down in the history of Nepal as one of the water-shed years in many respects.
As the country celebrates the first anniversary of successful People's Movement II as Loktantra Day, people rejoice a number of fundamental changes they helped bring about – from taming of autocratic monarchy to ending Maoist conflict.
However, one sore point that would continue to haunt the people is the uncertainty surrounding the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. It was the CA that had brought together seven parties and the Maoists on a common plank and ensured full public backing.
Unfortunately, the CA election is as close today as it was on April 24 last year when King Gyanendra handed back executive powers to the people's representatives.
Although in his message on the occasion of Loktantra Day, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, said that he remembers and respects brave martyrs who have left behind responsibility, dreams and objectives to be fulfilled, he is yet to clarify the public when the CA elections will now take place.
UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has said in his message that the country now shoulders the historic duty of conducting Constituent Assembly elections, building democratic republic, federal restructuring and inclusive democracy to bring about socio-economic transformation - but these issues are as formidable a challenge as they were a year ago.
Worrying Signs
A year after the Loktantra was ushered in, there are ominous signs of cracks developing among the eight party alliance.
With the CA thrown into uncertainty, communist parties are now coming closer to form a common front against Nepali Congress and other rightist parties.
The rise of rhetorics and use of threatening words by the parties has hurt the unity of the eight parties. The Maoists have stalled the parliamentary proceedings demanding the declaration of CA election date and announcement of republic. The UML has openly questioned the capability of the Prime Minister. The Nepali Congress, on its part, has hit back at the Maoists for stalling the House.
The Maoist leaders have also warned that they will launch street protests if the CA elections are not held by June.
As the parties trade blames and step up rhetorics, the eight party unity has come under strain.
"This is the time to remember, analyze and remain vigilant. The eight party unity is more important now than ever before as transitional period has extended," Kanak Mani Dixit, senior journalist and citizen activist told Kantipur TV on the eve of Loktantra Day.
Citizen activists who had actively participated in Jana Andolan organized a number of events to celebrate the Loktantra day. "A year has gone by since the People's Movement of Nepal, which stunned the world with its citizens' participation. Much has been achieved in the interim-peace is at hand, the kingship has been sidelined, and the Maoists have joined the interim parliament and government. BUT – the date for the Constituent Assembly elections is yet to be announced, action has not been taken against either the king or those who sought to suppress the People's Movement. The demands for representation and recognition of identity from the indigenous people, the Madhesh population and other oppressed groups are yet to be addressed. Political confusion and instability remain the order of the day," states a press release by the civil society activists issued on the eve of Loktantra Day.
As international community joins people of Nepal in the celebrations, both hope that CA elections would be held soon to institutionalize the gains made in the past year.
