Country out on a limb

22 November, a Thursday, was to have been the date of deliverance for the people of Nepal. That was when the country would have gone in for the Constituent Assembly elections, and the restructuring of state and the wiping-out of historical injustices would have begun. Already twice postponed for logistical reasons, there was every possibility this time that the elections would be held. Key representatives of the restive Tarai population and the indigenous-ethnic peoples had made compromises on the promised 'mixed' electoral system, and the hope was that the hundred mutinies erupting all over the country would be addressed through sober reflection during the Constituent Assembly debates. Nepal was being privileged with the opportunity to write a new constitution: to learn from its own history as well as that of the region and the world, in order to produce a statute that would put a stamp on both the peace process and a democratic, representative, inclusive future.

But the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) pulled the electoral rug from under the people. Coming to the conclusion that they were not going to have a respectable showing at the polls, the Maoists first quit the government, then threatened to disrupt the election process. Ultimately, the leadership exploited the understanding of the other political parties that – as things stood – the peace process would not survive the Maoist departure from the polls. And so, the polity entered a state of suspended animation.