the peace process is at this moment in real peril because many of the agreements and understandings which we reached in the past have not been fulfilled. The key issues associated with the peace process like management of Maoist combatants, return of property, etc. etc., are yet to be resolved. The constitution writing is being delayed. People´s expectations of peace, non-violent politics and terror-free liberal politics expressed during the popular movement have been betrayed. We are all to blame for this in various degrees. In such a situation, if there was any person who could give a proper direction with authority, to whom others would listen and was respected, it was Koirala. With him no more, there is a serious void in the country.
There will be no conflict in the Nepali Congress [for leadership]. It will be a serious challenge for our party following his death. How we will manage the party, remain united to give it a proper direction, and fill the void is a challenge. There will be no quarrel for leadership. In the near future, there will be a national convention of our party. Whoever will be elected by the national convention will emerge as the next leader of the party and all will support him. But the point is: no single person has the capability to step into his shoes. It should be a collective leadership and the challenge before us is to form a collective team which is really united.
The immediate fallout of Koirala´s death on Nepali politics is that there is no authority now. Koirala´s words were final. His words represented the last word in the Nepali Congress. One may disagree/agree with him, but whenever he said something it was beyond question and everybody accepted it. Outside his party also, his words were taken seriously. People disagreed but they accepted them. Now there is no such authority. What is now needed is to come to a consensus. You have to come to a decision and the decision should be institutional. Koirala himself was the institution in the party and that institution is gone now.
Naturally, the extreme forces will do their level best to consolidate their position further to capture power. In fact, the situation runs the risk of right polarization and left polarization. So there is a need for the middle ground - represented by the NC, UML and other parties who believe in constitutional politics, rule of law, political freedom, social pluralism and social justice - to grow stronger. Extremist forces will try everything to gain an upper hand in this situation. Similarly, there will be another force which will not be silent. Another force means traditional forces that have been very weak. So I think both the left and right extreme forces will certainly try to take advantage of this vacuum created by the death of Koirala.
His death will have ramifications on the peace process. It will be directionless for some time. There will be confusion for some time as there is nobody to whom you could look for guidance. There will be a blame game for some time because we have a situation of stalemate. We have not made progress even on key constitutional issues, in regard to management of combatants, with regard to all outstanding issues of the peace process. So there will be confusion and lack of decision for some time.
I believe we will eventually be able to bring back the politics of consensus that Koirala always stressed. But in the name of consensus we will not compromise on the issue of plural democracy, on the issue of national unity, the basic values of democracy.
Koirala was trying to bring out the [unwritten] understandings he reached earlier [with the Maoists]. In his last days, if you recall correctly, about just three weeks ago, Koirala said it was agreed the combatants to be integrated in the security forces ranged between 3-5 thousand. Koirala suggested that 3,000 combatants can be accommodated and Prachanda was demanding 5,000. So this was the understanding. He spoke point blank in front of Prachanda. Prachanda did not say anything. What I am saying is that he was trying to bring out the unwritten deals and understanding he had reached with Prachanda during the peace negotiations.
Koirala was a political figure highly respected in India. Koirala commanded high respect in Indian politics. That authority is lost; that advantage is lost. When Koirala asked for something, suggested something, the present crop of Indian leaders could not say no. I know this from my experience during his visits and various negotiations. Even [Indian Prime Minister] Manmohan Singh could not say no. But that advantage wont be any more.
(As told to Prem Khanal and Kiran Chapagain)
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