Kathmandu: The Congress and the Left announce a major joint movement to have either an all-party government or the restoration of the dissolved parliament while the Maoists delay their talks with the government for reasons the government says is unknown. The nation on the other hand, awaits the return of their monarch from a pilgrimage to India after which it expects a direction to the current fluidity.

Many accounts have it that a change is on the Threshold with the King at the center of the things deciding to break the deadlock. How he will do so remains a matter of speculation. Clearly things would have been easier had the major political parties participated in government in order to allow them their access to the formal talks with the Maoists to facilitate the necessary agreements on how the system would be put back on track by the early conclusion of parliamentary elections.

As a result the parties to muscle in and have a say in a course of events from which they have interestingly put themselves at an uncomfortable distance. The muscle of course is to be provided by the cadre and there is no denying that they have a virtual monopoly here.

The people on the other hand want the breakthrough. For one thing, they want the peace to hold. For another, they want good governance to prevail. These key public demands keep the public eye away from party demands for agitation. Unfortunately, on the other hand, the slow moving Chand government has not cashed in adequately on the current public apathy to party activities. While it is a certainty that these activities are likely to grow.

The current contradictions lie here. Despite its sources of formation, the Chand government must pace up its activities visibly to cater to the public demands for permanent relief from the malgovernance of the past years for the King to retain the mass support that welcomed his initiatives on the constitution. It is not surprising therefore that the demands for change in government gets public credence. To boot, party machinery fuels the speculation for change as a means of entry for their leadership in the current mainstream.

The truth perhaps lies somewhere in between. It is impossible to see a dissolved parliament restored. It is possible to see a new government with wider participation. It is impossible to see the mainstream party leadership back in the seats of power as Royal nominees to government given their current public adamancy. A compromise here may be predictable. Or else, a change could mean a more spruced up cabinet capable of seeing the transformation to elections. This would also mean that the effects of the talks with the Maoists would have to be absorbed.