 CHONG ZI LIANG |
The NC and UML have been given their chance in the past and couldn't deliver. In last year's election the Maoist party was given a chance, but they showed they aren't much better in getting the job done. The Maoist trade union is unrepentantly militant. The student wing calls itself 'revolutionary' and roughs up anyone who dares stand in its way. The YCL is actually a corps of ex-guerrilla commanders. Even without combatants coming out of their temporary camps, the Maoists have enough muscle to intimidate the entire population into submission.
The machinery of the state, the administration, police force and the armed police are so demoralised that they lack the will to take action against common criminals, political hooligans and even a bunch of teenagers blocking a highway. The Nepal Army used to be above it all, but now the leadership row threatens to destroy even that institution.
In the absence of any coercive deterrent, Nepal seems to be ripe for the Maoist takeover. Pushpa Kamal Dahal told his guerrillas to be ready for that in his Shaktikhor Tapes. That won't happen without a fight, and Dahal knows he daren't go back to war. If the country disintegrates, his forces will be some of the first victims.
Other parties too need to realise that love them or hate them, ignore Maoists they can't. It is better for stability and the peace process to have the Maoists in government than outside it. Even though it may seem idealistic and unrealistic, this is the time for all other political parties to stop behaving like useful idiots and start looking beyond getting to Singha Durbar. This crisis is the chance they have to bury their differences and work towards a consensus national government at least until the constitution is written.
Let us simplify it all for you: this country is now divided between those who want to seize total control by violent means if necessary, and those who believe in democracy and pluralism.
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