KIRAN PANDAY

The Maoists continue to disrupt the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly. If the stalemate continues, state governance will come to a complete halt. The current year's budget has to be approved by Parliament to maintain some semblance of governance.

The role of the president is at the core of the political confrontation. The Maoists want to move a parliamentary resolution motion to censure the President's instruction to (now ex-) army chief Rookmangad Katawal to continue in his post in contravention of his sacking by the (now ex-) government.

On the face of it, merely debating the issue does not appear to be an unreasonable proposition. However, the 22 parties making up the anti-Maoist ruling coalition fear that they might not be able to withstand parliamentary scrutiny of their moves prior to the fall of the Maoist government. If such a motion were carried by the simple majority needed, the UML-led government would fall. Even if it failed, Premier Nepal would have to seek a trust vote: a dicey prospect for someone who doesn't enjoy the confidence of even his own party.

The government has come up with a counter proposal that dares the Maoists to bring an impeachment motion against President Ram Baran Yadav. This is something the Maoists are not willing to do, for two reasons. The motion requires a two-thirds majority to be passed, which means the NC and UML together have the numbers in Parliament to defeat it. Secondly, even if the motion failed, Yadav might resign on moral grounds. This would discredit the Maoists in the Madhes and could bring in someone even more inimical to them.

There must be a compromise formula between these two extremes. NC lawmaker Narahari Acharya thinks that if the Maoists were to come up with a constitutional amendment bill in Parliament to define the limits of presidential powers, the other parties may not object when the discussion turns towards censure of past actions. Perhaps this is a formula that CA Chairperson Subhas Nembang needs to sell to the NC, UML and all their international backers.

The present Constituent Assembly may not be to the liking of many, but if it goes, everyone will have to go with it. The President and the CA Chairperson are both products of the House. They are morally obliged to do everything in their power to make it function normally.

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