Democracy returns to Nepal

Bowing to pressure from political parties and the general populace, King Gyanendra has done what he should have done a long time ago: he has revived Nepal's Parliament. In a short speech on Nepali television, he also said he had invited the seven party alliance to meet him on Friday, presumably to discuss the modalities.

 

Parliament had been dismissed by the King in 2002 and by restoring the status quo ante, the monarch has revived the suspended democratic process. Now he and the alliance will have to work out where this places the Maoists, a key partner in the recent agitations. The Maoists were nowhere on the political scene in the late 1990s but have since grown in their sphere of influence, controlling several areas outside the valley of the capital, Kathmandu.

 

India, which has a strategic interest in Nepal, is among the countries said to have played a role in brokering this deal. If so, it is a welcome development and comes after confused signals emanating out of the Indian political establishment. Earlier, India had welcomed the King’s initial moves to invite the alliance to form a government without committing himself to the restoration of Parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, en route to Germany, appeared not to have been adequately briefed about the situation in the neighbouring country and the rising anger of the populace at the King’s wily manoeuvring. Subsequently, India changed its position, but the official thinking continues to favour the King's presence in the scheme of things, if only to negate the threat of the Maoists.

 

The Indian challenge now will be to ensure that the political parties demonstrate that they can make democratic processes work and bring peace to Nepal. Failure to do so by incessant infighting could once again play into the hands of the King who has all along argued that the country's parties are incapable of mature political behaviour. A bigger threat comes from the Maoists who should be brought within the democratic fold and made to give up their guns.

 

The people of Nepal have gone through a lot in recent years and the economy has suffered. But in the past few days political parties, civil society and common citizens all came together to fight for democracy and stand up to the King. Now that they have achieved their objectives, it is time to start building up Nepal.