King Gyanendra also referred to the need to address the common distrust in his annual message to the nationon the occasion of Democracy Day on February 19, when he appealed upon all to stop 'blaming and doubting eachother'.
For the moment, however, the biggest stumbling block seems to be the distance between the political partiesand the government that was appointed by the King in October, after the democratically elected Prime Ministerwas ousted for 'incompetence'. The Prime Minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, has repeatedly called for anunderstanding between the two sides, but his offers have, so far, been in vain. A recent all-party meetingcalled by the Prime Minister to discuss the Maoist issue was boycotted by all the seven parties represented inthe last parliament that was dissolved in May last year. Even Chand's own party, the Rastriya PrajatantraParty (RPP), preferred to opt out.
This show of solidarity among the political parties is, however, quite misleading when it comes to concertedaction. Of the seven parties, three have been treated as pariahs by the other four. Two of the former, the RPPand the Nepal Sadbhavana Party, have been shunned because the Prime Minister and his deputy are from thoseparties respectively; the third, the Nepali Congress (Democratic) because it was responsible for thedissolution of the parliament which has ultimately led to state power being concentrated in the hands of theKing. The remaining four, which includes the two largest, the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UnifiedMarxist-Leninist), have finally agreed to demand the restoration of the dissolved parliament and are preparingto launch an agitation, though the strategy and the timing are still to be decided.
Meanwhile, in the countryside, the Maoists have begun holding mass meetings openly, and are also approachingvarious political parties for roundtables at the district level. Unlike previous occasions, the securityforces have, however, not let down their guard. Security in Kathmandu is still tight, checkpoints at highwaysare still in place, and some outlying towns are still under nighttime curfew.