President of the NGO Federation Nepal, Dr Arjun Karki, has suggested that a ‘national advisory assembly’ be formed comprising of the parties, Maoists and representatives of various sections of the society in order to supervise the government until the elections to constituent assembly.
“The reinstatement of the parliament is an achievement of the people’s movement but it is not necessary that its tenure should be overstretched in a traditional manner… It should rather be turned into a ‘sleeping parliament’ but it may still remain alive,” Dr Karki, an expert in development politics, says in an interview with Nepal weekly magazine, adding, “The Maoists do not have presence in the parliament. And we cannot think of a solution without the Maoists. That’s why a national advisory assembly should be constituted with participation of representatives of the seven parties, Maoists, civil society, Dalit, ethnic communities and women.”
He says the national advisory body, which is similar in concept with that of a roundtable conference as proposed by the Maoists, would keep the government under supervision until the election to constituent assembly. The House of Representatives could make a declaration regarding the formation of the national advisory assembly, which “in no way will downsize the essence parliament”, argues the NGO Federation chief, adding that the concept should be discussed in the preliminary negotiations between the government and the Maoists.
Saying that disarming the rebels before talks is not a workable idea as some ministers of the present government are suggesting, Dr Karki maintains that the rebels’ weapons should be put under the supervision of a dependable international organisation. The question of decommissioning of arms could, however, become in the agenda of government-Maoist talks. He says the United Nations is the most reliable international party in the Nepalese context “but placing international power players in the frontline for the management of the conflict will not be wise for reasons relating to our geo-political sensitiveness.”
“There are several instances of UN’s involvement in weapons management. Keeping the arms under supervision is one model. …Arrangements can be made to keep the arms of the Maoists and the Army within a certain boundary and monitor this process. Another way out is to prepare grounds for Maoists to come into peaceful politics — by handing over all the weapons to the UN,” explains he.
Dr Karki is of the view that with the shifting of loyalty after the parliamentary declaration, the Army’s orientation should be changed in order to make it fully accountable to the people.
He stresses that the political parties should primarily focus on the restructuring of the state while delivery of service to the people is another area they should work on while not being remiss of the fact that the monarchy that now been cornered from the power politics could raise its head.
“The institution of monarchy has been wounded. It will certainly try to rise up. This institution enjoys staunch support from Hindu religious fundamentalists,” points out Dr Karki, who actively rallied the support of the non-governmental organisations in favour of the pro-democracy movement.
“So the possibility of the monarchy trying to bounce back can not be ruled out. But the political parties must start working for people and ensure service delivery in accordance with the people’s mandate.”