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There are suggestions that the prime minister may expand the Cabinet even further to include a number of small minority parties, in a spirit of inclusiveness aimed at uniting the country’s fractured political and ethnic factions.
The largest party however, the Maoists, have launched a “people’s movement” against the government and a blockade of the Parliament. The Maoist leader and former prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, resigned last month when the government overruled his decision to dismiss the country’s army chief.
Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai said “there is no way to continue dialogue” with the government. “Now we will focus on agitation.”
Madhav Nepal’s task is not an easy one. He heads the country’s second government since the 240-year-old monarchy was overthrown last year. Now he must focus on creating consensus among the country’s lawmakers to write a new Constitution for the federal democratic republic.
Nepal’s complex political challenges were the topic of discussion among diplomats from 13 Asian nations who gathered for the 9th South Asia Peace Initiative conference Tuesday in Kathmandu. Nepal’s newly appointed minister of foreign affairs, Sujata Koirala, presided.
Ek Nath Dhakal, a member of Nepal’s Constituent Committee and chairman of the Universal Peace Federation-Nepal – the sponsor of the conference – outlined the history of the South Asia Peace Initiative over the past five years. The program has addressed conflicts in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, among others. Among its key concepts are inclusiveness, commitment to mutual prosperity and defining leadership as service to the people.
Dhakal described two parallel tracks to peace in Nepal. One is political – nominally called the “peace process” – aimed at power sharing and compromise between groups seen as having different interests. This began when the Maoists and an alliance of seven Nepali political parties signed a memorandum of understanding in New Delhi, India on Nov. 22, 2005.
In the aftermath of a decade of violent conflict, the parties agreed on a peaceful process toward building a democracy with an elected Constituent Assembly. The country has made admirable progress, but its democracy remains fragile and fractured as groups struggle to protect their own interests.
The other track could be called cultural – requiring a shift in mindset whereby all parties acknowledge their common interest and commit to serving the good of the nation and the people. While some of the country’s politicians are committed to this vision, the “tipping point” that would guarantee peace and stability has not yet been reached.
Interestingly, on the same day the MOU was signed in New Delhi, UPF-Nepal was founded in Kathmandu at an event where UPF founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon addressed an audience of 4,500 people.
In his speech, which was broadcast nationwide, Moon pointed out that lasting peace would come to Nepal, and indeed the world, only when people emulated the family as a model of peace, in which people have a natural concern for one another and are willing to put others’ interests ahead of their own.
“The first article in Nepal’s new Constitution,” suggested Jose De Venecia, former speaker of the Philippines House of Representatives, “should be that we are all one human family under God.”
De Venecia is chairman of the International Conference on Asian Political Parties, a forum of 248 Asian political parties that runs from Tokyo to Turkey, including the island nation of Oceania. It was launched in the Philippines in 2000.
De Venecia said he had come to this Himalayan nation to show support for the new government. He believes the UPF leadership paradigm offers a way forward for this struggling nation.
Foreign Minister Koirala said her government would welcome and seriously consider fresh ideas as Nepal drafts its new Constitution.
Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, in a meeting with former South Korean Assemblyman Chung Eui-yong, one of the conference participants, described three challenges for his coalition government: how to sustain the peace process, how to find the most effective form of government and how to fulfill the aspirations of the Nepali people.
Dealing with the Maoists, who have declared their preference for street battles over debate, will be his most pressing and demanding task. Perhaps if he focuses on the last of his goals – fulfilling the aspirations of the people – the Maoists will find that dwindling numbers are interested in their anti-government “people’s movement.”
