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However, when Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal left the assembly after the results were announced he did not look happy. In fact, he made serious accusations that the result was 'unnatural', 'impure', 'a conspiracy' and 'non-political'.
The fact that we now have a president and a vice-president, both from the Tarai, itself should be a sign of victory for the Maoists. It was the Maoists who first pushed for the Tarai autonomy with the Madhesi Mukti Morcha. The Maoists should be proud that a peasant's son from Janakpur has become the first president of Nepal, a historic achievement in itself.
This is not a defeat for the Maoists also because they succeeded in preventing Girija Prasad Koirala or Madhab Kumar Nepal from becoming the president. Since the very first meeting of the constituent assembly, the Maoists had been against the idea of a major party leader holding the presidency. They made inclusion the main criteria for the choice of president.
If the Maoists had not nominated Ram Raja Prasad Singh there was little chance that NC would have put up Ram Baran Yadav, and neither would the UML have fielded Ram Prit Paswan. Nepal's first president is exactly the kind of person the Maoists wanted.
Having an NC candidate in the presidency has paved the way for the Maoists to head the government. If the Maoists had won the presidency, the other parties would have ganged up for the prime minister's post. If the Maoists had supported the NC and the UML for the presidency and speaker, they would not be seen as self-centered and arrogant.
The Maoists played a pivotal role in abolishing the monarchy, and the election of the president is the culmination of that struggle. It would be wise for the Maoists to grow up and show that they are a mature political party.
The NC, the UML and MJF do not want to form an alliance to head the government. In fact, they are asking the Maoists to lead the government. So why are they hesitating? The people elected the Maoists as the largest party. Now they can't shirk from their responsibility from leading a government to build a new constitution for a New Nepal.
