PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal's resignation over the army issue signals a new direction for Nepali politics. By resigning he has demonstrated his political ethics and understanding?though it would have been more effective if he had resigned when the other parties were protesting against dismissing Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal.

Prachanda has also made it easier for other parties in the government to continue implementing the peace process.

Now that the PM has resigned, it is up to NC, UML and the other parties to act with political discipline, far-sightedness and wisdom. Learning from the conflicts that the Maoist government has had to face over the last nine months is the biggest challenge for these parties. In fact, if the parties had worked together from the beginning and formed a political consensus today's situation would never have happened.