NC-MAOIST ROW
Dangerous Deflection
As two crucial parties of coalition indulge in blame game, the issue of elections seems nobody's priority
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
In the aftermath of the announcement by the Elections Commission (EC) regarding its inability to hold Constituent Assembly (CA) elections by June, the political blame game has continued.
Of late, the game is increasingly turning into Nepali Congress (NC)-Maoists row with leaders of both the parties engaged in verbal duel.
As the leaders of two parties trade charges, the issue of elections seem to have been conveniently overshadowed.
Nobody now seems intent at following the issue of elections. The Maoist leaders have raised the issue of immediate republic announcement as the most pressing agenda for the time being.
Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, senior Maoist leader, has warned that his party would start indefinite peaceful agitation if republic is not announced by the first week of Jestha (third week of May).
Addressing a program organized by Gorkha-Kathmandu Republican Forum on Saturday (April 28), Dr. Bhattarai said the Maoists were preparing for indefinite agitation if the parliament does not announce republic by then. He said the Maoist will make efforts to generate a consensus on this issue among eight parties first. "If that does not materialize, we will forge unity among leftist and republican forces and declare the country republic by simple majority of the parliament," he said.
Coinciding with his remarks, another senior Maoist leader Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal' said his party was preparing to declare republic through street, parliament and government.
Mohan Baidya 'Kiran", another top rung Maoist leader, even revealed that Maoists and UML were preparing to introduce a commitment motion at the parliament regarding republic declaration.
His statement came at a time when there have been increasing talk about forging larger communist unity.
In what appears as a counter to the Maoist statements, senior Congress leaders have also hit back warning that the country could fall into another civil war. NC vice president Sushil Koirala warned that continued lack of discipline by the Maoists could trigger civil war in the country.
Referring to the reports of Maoists carrying weapons and their combatants coming out of camps to stage political demonstration, Koirala wondered what would happen if the Nepali Army (NA), too, lost its discipline. "There will be civil war," he added.
The two general secretaries of NC, Ram Chandra Poudel and KB Gurung have already ruled out immediate republic announcement through the parliament.
Poudel, who is the Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, has said that the parliament does not have the authority to declare republic as it is bound by the interim constitution which expressly states that the issue of monarchy will be decided by the first meeting of the elected CA.
Gurung similarly trashed Maoists' demand for immediate republic announcement saying republic cannot be declared based on whims.
The bitterness between NC and Maoists increased after the NC leaders felt that the Maoists were intentionally trying to disrupt their mass meeting in Birgunj on April 28 by imposing snap transport strike in Narayani zone on that day. At that mass meeting, Minister Ram Chandra Poudel said that the obstructions posed by the Maoists aimed at disrupting NC mass meeting will 'obstruct the unity of eight parties.'
Even as NC and Maoists are drifting apart, the Maoists and the UML seem to be getting cozier. Maoist chairman Prachanda went to Balkhu headquarters of UML on Wednesday (April 25) to hold serious discussions with general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal on issues ranging from declaration of republic to forging larger left unity. At the meeting, the two agreed that republic should be declared if the elections of Constituent Assembly (CA) cannot be held on time.
