BIKRAM RAI

Two weeks into office, the Bhattarai government has already come under fire from opposition parties NC and UML for its neglect of the peace process. They had earlier expressed commitment to support the government based on its merit. But the latest comments by the leaders in the opposition indicate that the parties are unhappy with the way things have been handled so far.

Having seen two governments come and go without making much difference to the peace process, there is an enormous burden of hope on the present government. So, the opposition's rhetoric casts a shadow of doubt on public that it may face similar fate. The NC and UML have accused the Maoists of avoiding the major issues of peace process: integration and rehabilitation of ex-combatants, focusing solely on constitution drafting. The meeting held between the two parties last week concluded with an understanding that they would push for decisive breakthrough on the peace process before cooperating on constitution drafting.

Even the coalition partner, the Madhesi front showed remarkable flexibility by dropping their demand for immediate induction of 10,000 Madhesis in the Nepal Army, on condition that the future recruitments in NA would be inclusive in nature.

The Maoists must exhibit similar flexibility by respecting concerns of all the major political stakeholders and work towards taking the peace process to its logical end before focusing on constitution drafting.