SUSHIL Koirala of the Nepali Congress has been elected Prime Minister of Nepal, bringing to an end the chaos for three months. The polls on November 19, 2013 to elect a new Constituent Assembly went off successfully but no government could be formed. The 6-point agreement between the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal
(CPN-UML) prevented further deterioration in the situation. Backed by the CPN (UML), Koirala as Prime Minister will command a simple majority. The job ahead for him is to finalize the new Constitution which has long been awaited. Since 2008 when the civil war ended, Nepal has had six Prime Ministers from three parties. The elections in November were held with the new Constitution in limbo. The NC and the CPN (UML) have done well to remove the obstacles following the elections. The Maoists labelled the United Communist Party of Nepal—Maoists (UCPN-M) refused to accept the poll results and to join the new Constituent Assembly. The crisis is now over. Maoists have got off the high horse.
Sushil Koirala will have the daunting task of stemming the political slide in Nepal. He has to bring the UCPN-M and smaller parties into the governmental process. Insurgency and lack of governance should be eradicated. There should be consensus on drafting the new Constitution. The coalition has agreed to go ahead with it. All depends on the Maoists. Without them in the political set-up, the situation in Kathmandu will not stabilize. India should do its best to help Nepal achieve the desired goal.
