Unresolved contradictions

With just a month to go before the end of the second extension of the Constituent Assembly, on 31 August, the mood of cynicism and uncertainty in Nepal continues to deepen, with no clear indication as to where the peace process is heading. The fast-approaching deadline has citizens worried, with the peace process and constitution-drafting stuck more or less exactly where they were before the signing of the five-point deal by the major political parties on the night of 28 May. The Assembly, which was originally elected for two years, first had its term extended by a year in May 2010, before the current three-month extension.

While the signing of the deal on 28 May deferred a constitutional crisis, the major parties – the Unified Communist Party of Nepal Maoist (UCPN-M), the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)  – have yet to make any concrete progress on the peace process and constitution-drafting, as was promised in the deal. At that time, they had agreed to form a national consensus government, accomplish the major tasks of integration and rehabilitation of the 19,000-plus Maoist ex-combatants, currently housed in 28 cantonments, and at least prepare a first draft of the much-awaited constitution. But they have continued to waste valuable time in inter- and intra-party power struggles, and over the tactical lines to be taken with regard to the peace process, while ignoring the approaching deadline and the looming constitutional crisis.