Kathmandu: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba apparently has concluded that the Maoists would not come to the talks and that he should proceed with the idea of holding of the elections on time fearing that the King might again dub him as “most incompetent” prime minister the nation ever had in the recent history.
This means that Deuba will not wait for long the rebels to come to the talks.
Interestingly, his coalition partners in government, the UML and the RPP, reject his views on elections.
Madhav Nepal, a very powerful political personality in the present scheme of political things, is on record to have reiterated that until and unless the peace talks with the Maoists did not yield positive results, elections, as presumed by Deuba, can’t be held. In saying so Madhav clearly hints that he favored talks with the Maoists in any case. In the process, he is appeasing the rebels by pressing his own party partnered government to declare unilateral ceasefire hoping that if the government exhibited this polite gesture, the other camp might follow the suit.
His presumption is that neither the government nor the Maoists can afford to ignore his suggestions for fear of the wrath of the majority of the population who want peace at any cost at least for the festival seasons.
Neither the government is not listening to his pleas nor the Maoists have so far hinted that they will announce a ceasefire much ahead of the beginning of the festivals.
Similarly, yet another political stalwart, RPP leader, Pashupati S. Rana amply hinted prime minister Deuba Monday afternoon that he rejected the idea of going to the hustings prior to the restoration of peace in the country. His presumption is that if the Maoists were not taken into confidence prior to the polls, elections can’t be held in a peaceful atmosphere.
This means that Deuba is a lone crusader who favored elections. Except him, his own partners in government reject outrightly his ideas to go in for elections if the Maoists did not come to the peace talks.
Going deep inside these political overtures, what becomes clear is that the partners in government differ sharply on matters of holding of the elections. The fact is that Madhav Nepal and Mr. Rana have no time to understand Deuba’s internal agonies that of being dubbed once more as incompetent one which is what he is even prior to King’s declaration.
The Maoists in the recent days have hinted clearly that they were in no mood to talk to Deuba government. The Maoists conclude apparently that Deuba set is a mere dummy which can neither decide nor can play a significant role in managing the landing of the whole issue to a safe place.
Nevertheless, Nepali analysts are quick to ask questions to the rebels that if they could sit for talks with Premier Chand, Thapa and Narayan Singh Pun in the not too distant past, then why they can’t sit together with much a similar government? Admittedly, Deuba’s installment as country’s chief of the executive by the King has been made possible through the use of the same controversial article 127 which made Chand and Thapa the nation’s prime ministers. The Maoists have yet to furnish plausible answers in this regard.
To cut it short, Narayan Singh Pun, a minister in Chand’s cabinet who was one of the key member to have initiated talks with the Maoists, has once again indicated that if he is allowed or instructed to initiate the talks with the Maoists by responsible quarters, he can do so well within a week or so. If his assertions are to be believed then what could be safely said is that Mr. Pun is in close contact with comrades in the other camp and that all that he needed was a “go-ahead” signal from quarters who wield powers.
Should Mr. Pun be given a try?