Kathmandu: The “Politics of confrontation” with the King appears to have slipped from the hands of President Girija Prasad Koirala.

UML’s strongman, Madhav Nepal’s has the key now of the country’s politics for obvious and understandable reasons.

Deliberate or otherwise, the audience granted by the King to the mainstream political leaders has definitely served as a deterrent to the politics of agitation currently being waged by five major political parties against what is generally believed to be against the King.

While on the one hand, a clever and seasoned politician Madhav Nepal apparently got to the bottom of the King’s message at time of the audience and appears to have been acting accordingly by will or otherwise, then on the other Girija Prasad Koirala got infuriated with the King for having been told to ponder over the seven-point agenda pushed by the monarch.

Koirala’s fury against the King is understandable because one of the agenda among the seven contain matters related to making Nepal a corruption free society which Koirala couldn’t accept for obvious political reasons.

Koirala thus remains adamant on his previous stand: restore the parliament first and then we will take care of your all seven points.

Contrary to Koirala’s lopsided overtures, Madhav Nepal is busy in devising a scheme that not only satisfies the demands of the political parties but also could take care of the grievances of the two other forces, e.g. that of the monarchy and the insurgents as well.

In a sense, Madhav Nepal has stolen the political show leaving Koirala to ponder over as to how he did it and who is behind Mr. Nepal’s new scheme that sidelined him?

Koirala’s frustration must have grown for it is not him now but Madhav Nepal calling the shots.

Analysts say that if Koirala is really frustrated with Madhav’s sudden overtures, its impact would be seen in the streets. For Koirala would now provide a new zeal to the students affiliated to his party and would tell the student-cadres that there has been a conspiracy by the King in collaboration with the UML to sideline the congress and the rest of the parties now in agitation. The students would thus complying to Koirala’s instructions create havoc in the streets here and there.

On his part, Madhav Nepal clarifies that he is not out of the coalition against regression and that he would continue to support the movement until the King yields.

However, the fact is that Madhav Nepal and his party colleagues now have begun saying that what is the harm in looking into the King’s seven point agenda?

The fact is that talking to NTV Monday evening, one of the party leader of the UML, Pradip Nepal, another Brahmin communist, did admit that the fresh Road-Map is the outcome of their separate parleys with the Maoists in Lucknow and back home in Nagarjun with the King.

Better late than never, Mr. Nepal, the junior one, did accept that the UML has tried its best to accommodate all sections for a peaceful landing by responding to the grievances of all including the King and the Maoists.

Girija Prasad Koirala and his colleagues has suddenly become suspicious of the UML’s roadmap. It would be no wonder that Koirala one fine morning dubs the Roadmap as a part of the same Grand design.

However, the UML says that they will move ahead with their new face-saving formulae in the larger interest of the nation come what may. Nevertheless, much will depend on how the UML’s roadmap is taken up by the scholars, the Maoists, the Palace and above all by UML’s own coalition partners.

Tentatively, the UML outlines the special features of its roadmap in this fashion, The sacking of the Thapa government; the formation of an all-party government from among the political parties that comprised in the now dissolved parliament; the formation of a common forward looking program of action which would later initiate talks with the Maoists; convening of a sort of round-table conference by the all-party government which could include the parties in parliament, the Maoists and others as well; an agreement to be reached from the round-table conference for the formation of a new constitution; formation of an interim government that includes the Maoists which would later conduct the parliamentary elections; the new parliament thus formed would be entrusted with the job in bringing out a reform in the existing constitution to pave the way for the approval of a proposal for drafting a new constitution; declaring the existing constitution as an “interim rule arrangement” and thence the commencement of the drafting of an entirely new constitution; constitution of a committee by the new parliament for constitution drafting, tabling the draft of the constitution, if no consensus is reached, to be forwarded to the parliament for its approval by two thirds of the majority, and scrapping up of the 1990 constitution, promulgation of the new constitution, and finally bringing in the mediatory role of the UN’s in managing the arms and the militia of the Maoists.

What will have to be watched is the reaction of the coalition partners, the Palace and above all of those of the Maoists for the UML’s grand paper work.

Be that as it may, since the roadmap has been declared after the completion of the Lucknow and the Nagarjun parleys, what could be guessed in advance is that the Palace and Maoists might possess some soft corner for the UML’s roadmap.