Following the victory of the historic jan andolan of the people of Nepal against the tyranny of king Gyanendra last April, various political forces in Nepal had come together on a common platform that the people would decide the future direction of their country through an elected Constituent Assembly. This represented a bold new initiative to strengthen democracy in Nepal, put an end to civil conflict, and keep meddling foreign powers at bay.

In the past one year, many important steps have been taken towards this objective. Eight political parties, including the CPN (Maoist) had formalized their agreement to work together towards this end. The old parliament was dissolved, and a new interim constitution was promulgated with the objective of ushering in an interim government and holding elections to the Constituent Assembly. When the defeated monarch tried to incite opinion against the new order, he was unanimously denounced by all the parties, and restrictions were placed on his activity. In the beginning of April, the new interim government consisting represen alives of eight parties was constituted, and it right away announced that the elections to the Constitutent Assembly would be held as scheduled on June 20 this year.

However, just a week later the Election Commission of Nepal announced that it would not be possible to hold elections in June. This sudden announcement has thrown a real challenge to the democratic forces in Nepal who have waited patiently for the process of democratisation to take its course. Postponing the elections would effectively mean that they cannot be held before the end of the year at the earliest, because of the monsoons and the festival season in Nepal. The past experience of the 1950s when the postponed elections to the constituent assembly were never held, is in everyone's mind. Strong suspicions are being voiced that this is part of the discredited monarch's scheme to scuttle the new constitution.

The Election Commission's announcement has revealed dissensions among the political parties about what course to pursue. While the Nepali Congress headed by Prime Minister Koirala has not come out clearly with its stand, the splinter group headed by former Prime Minister Deuba has supported the Election Commission. The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) has advocated holding a referendum to decide on the fate of the monarchy. The CPN(M) has advocated that the interim legislature itself adopt a resolution abolishing the monarchy and proclaiming a republic, although it is also willing to accept a referendum. It has also warned that the basis of the current unity of the political parties is the agreement to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly, and if these are scuttled, it would again urge the people to take to the path of struggle to defeat the monarchy.

These are testing times for the people of Nepal. All the signs show that the monarchy is wounded but not reconciled to its demise, and that it is operating through various elements. It almost certainly would be receiving some support from various imperialist powers with whom it has had a long history of dealings. The challenge before the people of Nepal is that they hold firmly to their determination to decide their own destiny and the political structure of the new Nepal. The challenge is to force the political parties to stick to their promise and quickly organise the elections to the Constituent Assembly which alone should have the power to decide on the future of Nepal. In this struggle, the people of Nepal have the full and unreserved support of the working class and people of India.