Nepal, 18 August
Interview with the NC’s central committee member and former lawmaker Gagan Thapa.
Nepal: Will elections take place on 19 November?
Gagan Thapa: India doesn’t have a fixed election date, yet the elections are confirmed there whereas sadly in our case, the date has been fixed but elections are unconfirmed. It was the same scenario in 2008. We can see that political players are gradually heading towards elections, but Nepalis are doubtful that the deadline will be met. There is also no guarantee that all parties will take part in polls. However, it is imperative to have elections on 19 November, there can be no extensions. If we change the date, the future of our country will be in jeopardy and there is a danger that polls might never take place.
How can the dissenting parties be convinced to come on board?
The challenge is to bring three political powers into the electoral process: Mohan Baidya’s CPN-M, Upendra Yadav’s MJF, and Ashok Rai’s United Socialist Party. All major political parties including the NC are making efforts and we are close to reaching a deal on issues raised by Yadav and Rai’s parties. But the CPN-M’s unwillingness to participate in the elections is making other parties believe that they don’t have to take part either. This sets a dangerous precedent. Since polls cannot be postponed under any condition, we don’t have the time to form a new government as per Baidya’s demand.
Can such a difficult election process guarantee a constitution?
We are all responsible for the failure of the first CA, we should not repeat past mistakes Once we come to a basic agreement on contentious issues, we can open them up for public discussion. If this is not possible, we’ll have to look for other ways.
What about the shape and size of the CA?
Experience from the precious CA provides us with a guideline on how big a CA should be and how to conduct elections through a mixed system. No political party is pressing for a particular number at the moment. So the entire country can be considered as one constituency following the fully proportional system. This means only political parties can contest for elections and CA seats will be allocated according to the percentage of votes collected. If we conduct CA elections in this way, the CPN-M might take part.
Are you saying we should change our electoral system?
We already tried out the mixed system once. We have reached this far because of agreements between different parties and actors. If we open up the possibility of fully proportional system, then we might be able to bring the dissenting parties on board. As per the number of votes, a CA member can be appointed. Also, community and area participation will be determined in the same way. After the elections, we will all take our own proposals to the CA. Whichever system the public favours, we can adopt that one.
How is the NC preparing itself to face the public?
There are two things the party is working on for the upcoming elections. The NC will present its version of what the new constitution will look like, if people like our vision, then they can come and vote for us. Second, we will have a detailed list of programs that we will implement if we get to form a government. This means we will be walking with a draft constitution in one hand and a memo in the other.
Read the original Nepali