With India using various channels to exert influence on different groups, including the Maoists in Nepal to take up King Gyanendra’s offer, a broad consensus had emerged by evening on a roadmap and it could all flow provided the monarch took the decision to restore parliament.

The political parties and the Maoists want the king to use Article 127 to revive Parliament, which can pass a resolution to form an interim government. The key point is that the power to form a government must not be doled out from the palace but decided through Parliament that represents the will of the people.

The principal issue with the Maoists after yesterday’s announcement by the king was that of a fresh constituent assembly. The monarch had not addressed this and soon after his brief address, hectic consultations began with the Maoists reaching out to the Left here for express advice. By this morning, the Left had its roadmap ready and by the end of the day, the plan was reflected in a statement issued by the Seven Party Alliance.

The CPM’s Sitaram Yechury worked out a four-point formula on a stage-by-stage approach to restore popular rule that was conveyed to the alliance leadership on Saturday. The Yechury Formula states that the king restore the dissolved parliament; the seven-party alliance form an interim government; that parliament adopt a resolution calling for elections to the constituent assembly (in which the king would play no role); and in the period leading up to the elections, the interim government would negotiate with the Maoists to renounce violence and participate in the democratic process.

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