The fate of the new constitution is hanging on a cliff. The leaders of four major parties, engaged in marathon meetings, are on the cliff top. The Nepalese people expect the leaders will do something to pull the rope together and bring the constitution safely home. Given the leaders’ track records of acting in the eleventh hour to avert crisis, we can hope against the hope that they will produce some miraculous way out of the prolonged deadlock at the Constituent Assembly. Unfortunately, hope is dimming. The thunderous sounds coming out of the meeting halls blaming one another for the sad state of affairs are ominous. Apprehensions are looming large that they might start a sword dance themselves even as the Damocles’ sword is hanging above. Had this been a movie, it would make a great cliff hanger. But it is not. Each action of the leaders has a direct implication to every citizen.

In fact, the ordeals the people have suffered thanks to the inability of the leaders to find a solution to the political problems over more than six years after the popular April Uprising of 2006 have been too many to count.

The country now is at the most critical juncture. The CA term is ending in a few hours. The glimmers of hope seen when UCPN-Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda took the courage to integrate the ex-combatants into Nepal Army were lost in the 47 days of inaction following that event. Worse still, their actions fueled communal tensions. Now the nation is virtually under the grip of uncertainty, and fear of clashes and reprisals. Closures and violence do not solve the problems. The solutions, ultimately lie with the leaders, and should be sought in the chamber halls. This is a time for co-existence, cooperation, consensus and the zeal to understand one another’s point of views.

The leaders should stop fighting, because that is what they have been doing all along, give up their rigid stands for the cause of the people and the country. Although on a difficult slope, the constitution is right there in the cliff. If they put their hands together, they can secure it in whatever form it is at the moment today itself. Make a fresh start from May 28.