Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has defended his move to announce fresh elections for the new Constituent Assembly as, in his own words, all other options were exhausted. In an interaction with the heads and representatives of all foreign embassies and missions in Kathmandu the other day, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai made it clear that he would leave no stone unturned to steer the country out of the current crisis, for which he was prepared to make any kind of sacrifice including his resignation. In his clear and strongly worded speech to the diplomats, Prime Minister Bhattarai asked all the political parties to come up with a tangible and workable solution for consensus, to which he would be no obstacle.

But in the present situation, it would not be wise to leave the country in a state of political vacuum by giving into the pressures of certain political parties. If the other parties were to demonstrate reliable ground for national consensus, the prime minister is ready to quit immediately, which he has repeated time and again. So far as the election is concerned, this was announced under compulsion, and this was not the first choice. The first choice was the promulgation of the new constitution from the floor of the Constituent Assembly. However, the Constituent Assembly failed to accomplish its job in time, for which the principal leadership of all the major parties is responsible. Thus, the prime minister was left with no alternative other than to announce fresh elections.

Moreover, this is the most democratic step a government can take. In a democracy, the people’s verdict is paramount. After the Constituent Assembly failed to give the country a new constitution in time, it was necessary to seek the people’s views and verdict on this issue. This necessitated an election, which can alone ascertain what the people really think about the parties, their performances and activities. Based on a fresh mandate of the people, a new political course of the country can be charted out.

However, some political parties are crying foul and have vowed to block and disrupt the election. This shows they do not believe in democracy and democratic practices. Any political party that believes in democracy must take part in elections and help conduct the elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner. The foul cry of some political parties against the election shows they are either afraid of facing the people simply because of their past inaction or they do not believe in the democratic system. The international community understands the situation well and the prime minister hopes Nepal’s international friends would cooperate as Nepal settles its problems.