Kathmandu: The King has to act and that too very fast.

The nation can’t remain at the mercy of the Almighty for long. The King must use his good offices soon in order to accommodate the demands of the parliamentary parties now in agitation in order to arrest the constitutional dilemma that is apparently going on since his last October 4 moves.

The King must act fast if he wishes to continue as a benevolent monarch having belief in the democratic system. The King is now left with no other option than to forge a sort of rapport with the agitating parties and with their support he must now find a permanent solution to the seven year old Maoists imbroglio.

With all the respect and honor to the King, our analysts wish to suggest the monarch that the two successive governments formed under his command summarily failed either to restore peace or to even bring the agitating parties to the mainstream politics. However, this should not be construed to mean that the King failed in his endeavor to get the country out of the present mess, but then yet what could be safely said of him is that despite his sincere efforts his men in the establishment neither could win the hearts of the people nor became able to explain the rationale behind the King’s October 4 moves.

The constitutional monarch has to act fast as time is running out. The Maoists, sons of the same soil indeed, must be brought back to the table and assured that they would be provided all the things which they wish save those which were under debate.

Analysts say that the Maoists could not have left the talks for good had they been convinced that the agenda put forth by the establishment at time of the talks could be reformed, changed and even rewritten in order to convince the other camp.

However, the government, according to former Prime Minister Chand, pushed its agenda in haste and thus the negative impact on the continuation of the talks.

“ The operation was successful, but the patient died”, is how Mr. Chand had to comment on the resumption of the talks and the subsequent abrupt failure of the ceasefire even.

Our analysts also wish to suggest the King that what is the harm if he invited some top-hats of the insurgency to the Palace or any where which is convenient to both the sides and listen to their demands and explain at the same time his own reservations.

It is already an established fact that the Thapa government can’t negotiate certain points that directly deal with the monarchy itself. The government neither has the mandate nor ability to talk on such susceptible and sensitive issues.

The Maoists demand elections to the constituent assembly. The government and the parliamentary parties enmasse reject this proposition. Save Deuba’s party which says that if the Maoists abandon violence and surrender the arms, their party could support the idea of a constituent assembly.

Add to this, facilitator Daman Nath Dhungana is in favor of constituent assembly. The rest have so far not spoken their minds. The intellectuals are yet to criss-cross the nitty-gritty of the constituent assembly. The lay men who have not yet been told as to what is a democracy will perhaps take one more decade to understand the most advanced for of democratic system which, according to Dr. Bhattarai, is close to republicanism.

The King has the political leverage. He is close to the parliamentary parties. The government is in place. The intellectuals are ready to offer him the needed advice. The Maoists appear ready to meet him. Add to this the entire international community is behind the country which the King can exploit to the betterment of the nation.

It’s time that the King acts fast. He should use, say analysts, his own channels which hopefully should be in place in order to convince the parliamentary parties of his good intentions for the system now in place and to convince simultaneously the Maoists through the parliamentary parties. The King can seek the assistance of certain countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and even India for so many understandable and obvious reasons. Fortunately these countries have already hinted on that lines. The King, if he so desires, can seek the support of some known neutral countries like Norway, Finland and Denmark as well.

How the King proceeds, opine analysts, should be entirely his discretion. All that the people wish is the restoration of peace. Since the two government’s appointed by the King in the past have miserably failed, it should be the King now to take up the challenge.