The Big Three should continue to be together for successful implementation of new constitution. It was their unbreakable unity that made the new constitution possible; otherwise the state of crippling political transition could have dragged on for many more years. The three parties had been involved in some acrimonious ideological battles in the first Constituent Assembly, which was also the reason for the first CA's ultimate failure. Even after the second CA elections, there was a lot of bad blood between Nepali Congress and CPN-UML on one hand and the UCPN (Maoist) on the other as the Maoist party even refused to accept people's verdict to start with. The constitutional process, once again, seemed stuck. It took the April 25th Great Earthquake and the trail of destruction it left behind to once again bring the three players on the same platform. It would be impossible to get the country back to its feet, they seemed to realize, until the political transition was brought to an end and all their attention devoted to rebuilding the devastated country. It was wonderful to see our parties for once think beyond their parochial interests.But this unity that resulted in the new constitution on September 20th seemed to have been strained when, post constitution, CPN-UML and Maoists joined hands to form new government. Congress— reneging on its gentleman's agreement to hand over government leadership to UML after the promulgation of new constitution—decided to field Sushil Koirala as its prime ministerial candidate yet again. Thankfully, prime ministership now settled, the parties are again inching closer. Congress backed Maoist candidate Onsari Gharti Magar as new Speaker, thereby avoiding a potentially bitter division in the parliament. It was a signal that Congress was serious about continuing the spirit of cooperation seen before September 20th. The biggest party in the parliament was perhaps also keen to lock in the post of new President, who is to be chosen immediately after Dashain. Ideally, like Gharti Magar, the President too should be a consensus candidate. With UML occupying Singha Durbar the Presidency for Congress makes sense. From Congress or not, we would like to see the Big Three back the same candidate.
The President's Office is a symbol of unity in this diverse country. So it makes sense to pick a consensus candidate, preferably from the marginalized communities—and soon. The process of filling up vital posts should not drag on and it should not distract the political parties from the main agenda: holding meaningful dialogue with the agitating forces and accommodating their legitimate demands in the new constitution. If that happens, the Indian economic embargo will also come to an end. But whatever India does in the days ahead, the Oli government must make a concerted effort to diversify Nepal's trade and the sources of its vital assets like oil. As we have seen, it's dangerous to put all our eggs in one basket. But even this will only be possible if at least main parties are serious about it. They should realize that the time for competitive power politics has not yet come.
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