Congress Unification Bid Gains Speed

Narayan Upadhyay

The bid to unite the Nepali Congress has been gaining unprecedented momentum. The Nepali Congress, which was reluctant to hold talks with the leaders of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) in the past, has now formed a three-member team to thrash out solutions to the much-expected party unification. Unlike in the past, both sides seem to be serious about party unification. The top party leaders of both the Congresses, who in the past had only given lip service to party integration, have been active in parleys to merge the parties.

Communist dominance

The current national political scenario in which the communist parties of different hues are declaring themselves as the dominant political force is the paramount reason that is bringing both the Congresses together after splitting five years ago. The fear of imminent unification among Nepal's left parties, including the Maoists and CPN-UML, might have impelled the Congress parties to come together in recent times.

Another reason why the leaders of both the Congresses and their ranks and files have been pushed towards unification is the upcoming Constituency Assembly (CA) elections. In the changed political context, the Constituent Assembly holds the key to charting out the kind of political, economic, social and cultural course the nation would follow in the future. After the success of the People's Movement in April last year, there has been a demand to replace the monarchy with republicanism. The communists, mainly the Maoists and the UML, are leading the republican agenda. Some sections within both the Congresses are, too, in favor of a republic, but the top brasses from both the Congresses have not made their intention clear about the fate of the monarchy. The communist parties are making a clarion call for declaring Nepal a republic from the Legislature Parliament, but leaders of both the Congresses do not support the communists. They want the issue of monarchy to be decided by the very first meeting of the upcoming constituent assembly.

There are other pressing issues that make the CA an important entity for the Nepali Congress. Apart from deciding on the future role for the monarch, the CA will help prepare a new constitution and decide on the model and style of how the government should function. The demands of an all-inclusive governing system, where people of different castes, sex, race and regions would have fair representation are also to be tackled. By now, it has become obvious that a political party, which can elect a majority of their members to the CA, can have their say when the CA takes up its epochal decisions on the various important political matters and socio-economic issues. Unification is, thus, necessary for the Congress parties to safeguard their interests when the historic CA takes place. If both these groups go to the CA elections separately, they are unlikely to win enough places, which would be suicidal for them.

As a party that has been waging a struggle to establish democracy in the nation for the past six decades, the Nepali Congress thinks that the onus of safeguarding democracy in the nation lies mainly on its shoulders. Amidst mounting fear that the Nepalese Left would form an alliance to dictate terms by taking advantage of the fluid political situation and capture the maximum number of positions in the CA, both the Congresses have no choice other than to hasten their unification attempt. Several other significant matters have also speeded up the Congress unification bid. Leaders of both the sides have realised that the democratisation of Nepal's politics has received a hammering following the split in the Nepali Congress five years ago. The forces harbouring a wish to play against democracy and supporting a dictatorial regime had the best of their times when former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his supporters divided the Nepali Congress vertically. The break-up of the then ruling party gave enough leverage to the King to usurp power.

On the other hand, the split in the Congress not only made the voice of both the Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress (Democratic) weak, it also discredited the nation's entire democratic movement.At this hour of political turmoil, unification of the two strong political parties that pursue democratic principles and values is anticipated by a lager section of the Congress ranks and files.The recent meeting between Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai is an indication that the unification process is moving in the right direction. The process has received further backing with the envoys of the world's largest democracies such as India, the USA, Great Britain and other European Nations pressing the top leaders of both the sides to merge their parties. The envoys are concerned that chaos may reign supreme should a party like the Nepali Congress remain divided for long.

Future course

The lingering political crisis, the rise of communist domination and a need to win a majority in the upcoming CA elections are reasons for the Congress parties to move firmly towards unification. The talk teams from both the sides must now act positively to bring the unification process to a logical end. The Congress leaders cannot afford to be indifferent to the much-awaited unification. Otherwise, the leaders and the Congress as a party will fail to become the main players in deciding the future course of Nepali politics. A united and consolidated Congress is necessary not only for its survival in the wake of the communists' rising dominance but also to steer the nation towards full-fledged democracy. In short, united the Congress would stand, divided it would fall.

Source: The Rising Nepal, June 6, 2007