Where is Nepal Headed?

From what I understand one of the main arguments for including the the Maoists in the government was to instill in them a sense of accountability. After all, the argument goes, when the Maoists are IN government, it is very difficult for them to go around practicing hooliganism and resorting to violence.

A sound argument, at least on the surface of it. I personally have a stronger (and much shorter) argument than that – they are Nepalis!

That’s when logic ends and reality starts kicking in. Certain actions of the Maoists put the whole peace process in doubt. Add to that the history of the seven parties, and the combination, really, begins to look suspect. For the current arrangements to work there needs be a change in thinking, strong trust within the governing alliance and committed leadership. All three, unfortunately, are in short supply.

There hardly seems to be a shift in thinking going on. The very government that was bent on “investigating” the killing of 21 people during last year’s April uprising, is allowing the continuation of a home minister, whose tenure has seen twice as many people killed.

Trust seems to be severely lacking between the SPA and the M as well as between SPA themselves. Not a day goes by without us hearing about someone expressing displeasure about the other.

As for strong and committed leadership, I argue that there is none given that there is no unified voice coming out about anything. These are trying times for Nepal and even now we don’t see two leaders of different parties talking about a unified message. If not now, when? And I ask again, who is in charge in Nepal?

As for my own change in thinking, as much as I hated to see the Maoists join the government without any material shift in their modus operandi, I am now willing to hope that this marriage will turn out to be happy and amicable. However my questions remain unanswered.

• Will the Maoists now focus on ruling and establishing credibility instead of yapping about everything?
• Will Madhav Kumar Nepal, please, take a strong position on anything?
• Will Girija prove that he is thinking beyond the one or two years that he has left to live?
• And, will we, in the near future, see any signs of material positive impact from the alliance of SPA and M.?