Push It Forward

WHEN Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala proposed a 14-point agenda for national consensus in his speech on the opening day of the current 20th session of parliament, it was naturally seen as an attempt to get the country out of the multitude of crises it is in. There is an all-round agreement that Nepal is going through a political crisis, and more. Governance has suffered on various fronts. Maoist insurgency has created an enormous law and order problem across the country. Economy is on downturn. Industries are suffering. Foreign investors were chary of coming in. So, something had to be done sincerely. And that something could be done only through the joint efforts of all the political parties as no single party, be it a ruling party with a majority, could alone resolve the problems. Thus, the main thrust of Mr. Koirala’s agenda was to fashion a consensus among all the political parties to tackle the problems. Speakers from various political parties at an interaction Tuesday agreed that the greatest need of the hour was to forge collaborative efforts through national consensus. The indication that their parties were generally positive towards the premier’s proposal should give some room for optimism that, despite all the oppositional politics and the standard noises against most proposals from the ruling party, there may be some progress in pushing the agenda forward in the near future.

But obviously some essential spadework would be needed before any advance could be made on the points contained in the agenda. The first task of the government is to hold talks with all major political parties to agree on how to move forward on each of the agenda items. A representative of Nepali Congress party told the gathering at the interaction that the process of holding talks with opposition parties was going to start soon. No delay whatsoever should come in the way of at least beginning the process of consultations. Many of the issues raised by the agenda are such that there is the likelihood of things getting further out of control in the absence of immediate consensus among all the political parties on how to deal with them. The implementation of Integrated Security and Development Programme in Maoist-affected districts is one area where any drawn-out political wrestling would spell blows to what is essentially a scheme to tackle the insurgency through development works coupled with maintenance of a minimum level of security. Finalisation of crucial bills related to, among others, fighting corruption and regulating the activities of the political parties, are also long-overdue tasks where political parties in the parliament must come together to be engaged in. While the government must make determined efforts to bring the opposition parties into confidence and push further its overture earnestly, the opposition parties, for their part, would be doing the nation a great service if they chose to shed their petty politics and responsibly respond to this agenda from the prime minister.

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