Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav is on a visit to India. Nepal is now at the crossroads. Since end May this year, it is without a constitution and legislature. The interim constitution and the Constituent Assembly have expired. Elections in November could not be held. Yadav tried to get the political parties to forge a national unity government and install a consensus prime minister in place of care taker prime minister Baburam Bhattarai but failed. The differences between the parties continued and Bhattarai is reluctant to step down. His party, the United Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist has split. Some are loyal to Bhattarai , the others owe allegiance to party chief Prachanda. So the political process ushered in during 2006 is now in a logjam. There have been four PMs and two parties at the helm with the result that the deadline for the new constitution has been deferred several times. The parties stand discredited. India is concerned with good reason. Insecurity in Nepal threatens India’s security. New Delhi offered moral support to President Yadav’s initiative. India should prevail upon Nepal’s political parties to sink their differences. But meanwhile India is ready to deal with whoever is in the saddle.
India’s role in resolving Nepal’s crisis can only be limited. China and other players are very much in the political drama of Nepal. The country’s political leaders have to set their own house in order. They have themselves to thank for the continuing crisis in their country. Bhattarai’s appointment as Prime Minister and his friendly visit to India last year aroused hopes which did not last. But Yadav’s visit now may start a return to the process of constitution making and stabilize democratic governance in Nepal.
