The 7-point agreement between Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML to form a majority government under NC president Sushil Koirala and write the new constitution is akin to a quick political breakthrough of the week. The deal seeks to institutionalise the past agreements, including the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006, own up the decisions made by the first Constituent Assembly (CA), and elect the country's new president and vice-president after promulgating the constitution in a year. Other points are about government formation and mutual support: for example, in exchange for UML support to NC government, NC will support UML candidate for the CA chair. This mutual support and reciprocal appreciation will be the key to sustaining the deal for the long term. Signing the deal, Koirala gave credit that UML support to his government gave the country a new direction. UML chief Khanal reciprocated: the people's mandate was for the NC and UML to move ahead in tandem.
That UCPN-Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has also pledged his support to the NC-led government promises the nation's protracted political transition will come to an end soon. The role of the third largest party, regardless of whether it is in the opposition or government, will be vital to accomplish the tasks as the NC-UML combine spelled out in the agreement. In fact, all 30 political parties represented in the second CA will have an obligation to come on board the political process to draft the constitution. If a national government helps the parties to speed up work in the direction of ending the transition, the NC president should consider giving their representatives some role in the government too. As the largest party in the CA, NC has the obligation to form the government as well as to create the environment to promulgate the constitution in a year. Both tasks have proven tough in the interregnum of five years between the first and the second CA.
NC will have no magic wand to fix the ills of daily governance. Neither will it be able to go alone in writing the constitution. The NC-UML combine, however, can do what proved tough in the past. The seats of the two parties in the CA and the support from a few other parties, in case the combine can muster it, will give it an immense strength to work wonders for the country. The deal needs sustenance and further buttressing so that more parties will see a reason why they should support the new coalition. The common people see in the deal a moment to heave a sigh of relief just like the spectators do when the main actors of a drama realise their follies, bury their hatchets and embark on a greater quest together. At this turning point of Nepali politics, the new government of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, the only candidate in the parliamentary election, should receive all the support from all sections of the society. Time is now for every political party to bury the hatchet.
