Political crisis looms large for Nepal

Nepal edged closer to political crisis Thursday with the prime minister confirming a threat to resign at the weekend ahead of a deadline to revive the country's stalled peace process. Premier Jhalanath Khanal had threatened to step down on August 13 barring movement on two key areas of the process - the drafting of a new constitution and the integration of former Maoist combatants into the Nepal army.
"But that does not seem to be the case. Therefore, the prime minister stands by his pledge to resign from the office if there is no progress by Saturday," he said. Khanal, from the Unified Marxist Leninist party, was elected by lawmakers in February after seven months of parliamentary deadlock that left Nepal without a leader. He heads a fragile coalition government of three parties, including the Maoists who comprise the largest party in parliament.
His decision on August 1 to appoint nine Maoist lawmakers to his cabinet was sharply criticised by the opposition Nepali Congress and his own party. They accused Khanal of bowing to pressure from the Maoists who had threatened to withdraw support from the government and trigger its collapse if they weren't given the cabinet berths. Formed in 2008 after a decade of civil war between the government and Maoist insurgents, the current 601-member parliament, or Constituent Assembly, was given a two-year mandate to write a new constitution.
But even after a one-year extension granted in 2010, the country's bickering political parties were unable to reach a consensus on the new charter - meant to pave the way for fresh elections and usher in a new social and political order. A further extension, granted at the end of May, is due to expire on August 31.
If the deadline is missed again, some observers fear the democratic process will be so badly undermined that it could pave the way for an autocratic grab for power. "In a situation like this, people might even be happy if someone takes control, if a sort of benign dictator emerges," said Lokraj Baral, a political science professor who heads the Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies. At the heart of the rift between the Maoists and the Nepali Congress is the integration of around 19,000 Maoist combatants into the national security forces.