The parliament vote on Sunday may have averted an immediate political crisis, but the fallout is rattling the seven party alliance.

The Maoists have been portraying as a victory the house vote in which they exchanged proposals with the UML to pass their resolution for full-proportional representation and the UML's compromise on republic. They are gearing up for street protests immediately after Tihar with a mass meeting in Kathmandu on 18 November. The idea is to bring the NC under mounting pressure from the streets and the house (which reconvenes on 19 November) to abide by the directives.

The NC, for its part, is trying to put on a brave face saying it alone refused to buckle under Maoist pressure. But it is hobbled by an increasingly frail but autocratic party president who has to also double as prime minister and leader of
the alliance.

The UML went into an alliance with the Maoists last week, but it now appears the party went against the wishes of a majority of its top leaders. This is now creating serious tension in the top leadership.

"You have to understand why the Maoists brought the proposal, they haven't yet abandoned their goal of capturing state power through arms," K P Oli told himalkhabar.com on Wednesday. He said a majority of UML central committee members were against the proposal and the party could never work with the Maoists. "How can we be with a party that doesn't want elections?" he asked.

Subhas Devkota