The document on the Common Minimum Program that the eight parties (surprisingly) signed is a dramatic departure from economic plan the Maoists were insisiting upon to build the great New Nepal.

There is no mention of 'nationalist capitalists' or of doing away with private ownership of land. There are no clauses on nationalisation of private health centres or educational institutions.

Instead, the program talks about foreign and domestic investment, the need to build and reconstruct infrastructure, and most importantly, increasing labor productivity and getting from the paradigm wherein the economy is held to ransom by a 'pseudo-militant' labour force. The CMP actually talks about ending extortion of all kinds and reducing the fiscal gap.

Of course there are reasons to be sceptical. How many plans have we seen signed but never implemented? The document reads suspiciously like a wishful-thinking party election manifesto. The ambitious clauses that plan to end corruption, nepotism, and favouritism have real attention to detail, such as requiring government officials to hand over all gifts received to the government. Unfortunately, it sounds a bit like the slogans of yore: drinking water for all, universal free education, and the like.

The real test of credibility has begun for the eight parties and the coming months will present a challenge to the CPN-M in particular. Its leadership will have to demonstrate that it still controls the party's cadres. For the seven parties, renewed credibility will come from dealing with the powerbrokers-often their own-who are under investigation by the Committee for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The king, his people, and palace might have their powers suspended, but it is now up to the parties to ensure that they do not enable new palaces to sprout in Balkhu, Baluwatar, Buddhanagar, or Budhanilkantha. That's what reform is about.

The parties could perhaps afford to deviate from the earlier agreements. If this plan is ignored, there will be little chance to set in palce conditions for a better Nepal. We can't afford a New Nepal in which there are worse versions of the failures of the old one.

While the CMP does emphasise economic growth and development, it does not address the critical issues of job creation, revenue building, and enterprise creation in the Nepal's remote, rural corners. It also assumes that resources are unlimited and that it is not essential to look at issues relating to their sustainable use. The plan does not have a strategy on how to discipline the plethora of donors and INGOs that will come to prey on the rebuilding business. In the 1990s, these agencies helped produce some great report writers. Hopefully, this time around, they'll drop the lesson on unaccountable spending. The onus also lies on such agencies to ensure that the CMP is followed through.

It's been a long year. Hopefully by next April, things will look less like an April Fool's joke.