Today Nepal holds an election for its constituent assembly. The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M) plunged into the democratic exercise, taking a calculated risk. It stands to gain already. People have accepted it as one of the important catalysts behind the election to the constituent assembly. It is also thought of as one of the major contributors towards Nepal’s likely journey — of republicanism and federalism.

But the Maoists are still not confident of getting the votes, which is why their militant young communist league cadres have fanned out in big numbers, mainly in what they call the Maoist base areas. These are areas where rival political leaders were forbidden from entering — something that the Election Commission failed to take into account effectively. This, political observers feel, is a guarantee that Maoists will have a respectable position or numbers in the constituent assembly. Ignoring and overlooking likely electoral malpractices is an apparent method to ensure that Nepal will have lasting peace and its own model of democracy.

Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel has said repeatedly that after all an election is just an extension of the peace process, implying that rigorous implementation of the code of conduct and disqualification of those indulging in gross violation will derail the election, and by extension, the peace process.

As polling day arrives today, the people’s enthusiasm is heady. Prime Minister G. P. Koirala told international observers — about 1,000 of them — that all problems of the country would be over once the constituent assembly poll was over. This is a dream that the people of Nepal, of whom nearly 45 per cent are illiterate, and an almost equal number live under the poverty line, have bought. But many, including international observers and a majority of Nepal’s people understand that what Koirala is saying is neither true nor possible. This is where the Maoists sound different. Not only are they targeting the King as the cause of Nepal’s backwardness, but as the electioneering drew to a close, they began lumping the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) as the allies of the king who were out to ‘annihilate us as terrorists’. Maoist Chief Prachanda’s message to the electorate everywhere he went was clear — let these parties apologise to us for having called us ‘terrorists for our pro-people fight’.

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