The parliament has been so choked that it has not been able to do, in three months, even one of the basic functions-crafting a government.

As parliament speaker Subhash Chandra Nembang announced the indecisive result of October 6 poll, the tenth in the monotonous series, the helpless state of the elected body made the public frustrated once again. The defeat of Nepali Congress leader Poudel on the day may have given a sort of personal pleasure to Jhala Nath Khanal of CPN UML, the pre-voting withdrawer in the contest, and the seven time loser withdrawer Prachanda of UCPN Maoist.

Whether that rout will be instrumental in compelling politicos - the key stakeholders of the Constituent Assembly - to find some way out of endless voting exercise in parliament is, however, not clear. Equally vague are the answers to these issues:  Will it make the quest of Khanal - Prachanda - for tripartite prime-ministership (or revolving or sharing premiership among three) successful? Or will it produce an updated Kathmandu-version of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement initialed over four years ago?

Varied views

Critics blame Poudel for not quitting after Prachanda's withdrawal in the eighth round. They wonder why he is torturing parliament by maintaining candidacy in circumstances in which he has no chance to get majority support. The combined group - over 344 parliamentarians - is committed through a Maoist-CPNUML- pact not to participate ever in such poll.

One stream of democrats finds no rationale in NC's insistence on the poll simply on the ground that the parliamentary rule allows it. The democratic party NC should take a political decision and quit as a matter of respect for the will of majority, they emphasize.

Another section, however, takes Poudel's candidacy as highly important in preserving parliamentarian values and avoiding political vacuum. "It is a must for checking the trend to undermine parliamentary process." They question why the majority worked out by two leftist parties after the seventh round did not go for easily defeating Poudel in a normal parliamentary practice and forming government on their own. "NC", they argue, "would have accepted their victory and deadlock would have been tackled in a normal manner. Until that question is answered convincingly, Poudel should continue the lone race."

Auditing the democratic exercise politically, one finds a positive side: it has trained Nepalis to tolerate failure of parliament in delivery of end-output. The training has prepared people psychologically not to be shocked in eight months - May 28, 2011- when the Constituent Assembly might fail once again to give them the much coveted constitution, the instrument to sustain peace and institutionalize democratic republicanism.

The negative dimension of the auditing is: politicos have ridiculed an unquestionable democratic tool to transfer power through parliament. They have defamed majority, which is considered as the workable concept in any democracy. The way the voting in parliament has been mocked at has disappointed people in an irreparable way. It has generated public frustration over politics. Party leaders will have to work very hard to regain their trust.

Bliss

Individual leaders may find points to cheer over the failed rounds of the poll. Prime Ministerial contestant Prachanda may celebrate his clever withdrawal after failing to score for seven times and enjoy the political bravery of comradeship with CPN UML through which he eliminated all chances of win for his opponent - Poudel of Nepali Congress.

The unfinished poll has given Jhala Nath Khanal, the chairman of CPN UML, an opportunity to rejoice the game of pulling down own-party-majority government and neutralizing, thereafter, votes in parliament for not allowing others to replace it. The neutrality he practiced for making the prime ministerial poll meaningless is something he could be proud of.

Poudel also finds in his run for ten - time - loss on Wednesday a motto of protecting parliamentary process and avoiding political vacuum in the country. He could have some compensating pleasure of having dedicated himself to part of the continuing Nepali Congress struggle for the noble parliamentary cause of forming government through democratic voting. Reluctance to withdraw, he thinks, might pressurize other parties to act in a parliamentary way.

Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal is in the meanwhile reaping windfall gain: having good time in gaining success after success after resignation: what he could not do in 13 months of full-fledged majority governance he achieved in nearly three months as a care taker. Today he could boast of having Maoist opposition leader by his personal side and that of his party: a sort of triumph in presiding over both democratic alliance and the newly emerged leftist one at the same time. And of course a prolonged, unopposed and rather comfortable tenure in Singha Durbar with limited or no accountability to govern!

Colossal loss

Individual leaders' sense of pleasure would be short-lived and meaningless when viewed against the landscape of multiple losses the country has suffered because of the indecisiveness in prime ministerial poll. To find People's Movement II champions locked up in power-oriented politics, completely unmindful of the cause and course of peace and constitution, in a matter of four years, is really discouraging. More heart-breaking is the scene that depicts them effortful in making the Constituent Assembly redundant in four months after extending its tenure by one year.

By R.K.Regmee
nepalnews.com