US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU55

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, NP, Political Parties 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  KING SEES "POSITIVE SIGNS" AFTER 
DISCUSSIONS WITH PARTIES 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 0046 
 
Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
1.  (C)  On January 7 Prabhakar Rana, King Gyanendra's 
business partner and confidant, telephoned the Ambassador on 
the King's behalf to advise that the monarch has concluded 
his consultations with the leaders of political parties 
(Reftel).  Press accounts of the discussions (most of which 
indicate a tepid response from the political leadership) are 
not accurate, Rana emphasized, although he acknowledged that 
Nepali Congress leader G.P. Koirala, who told the press he 
was not "hopeful" for reconciliation after meeting the King, 
is proving the most recalcitrant.  Having met the party 
leaders, the King believes he sees "positive signs" of a 
possible breakthrough in the deadlock between the parties and 
the Palace, Rana reported, and plans to consult further on 
the matter with Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa upon his 
return from the SAARC Summit in Islamabad later in the day. 
 
2.  (C)  For now, Rana said, the King is awaiting the 
parties' responses in writing to his seven-point program for 
national consensus (Reftel).  (Note:  The seven points are: 
national consensus; national unity; peace and security; good 
governance; controlling corruption; elections that reflect 
the people's wishes; and a government on the basis of 
all-party consensus.  End note.)  Obviously there will be 
differences in viewpoint among the parties, he admitted, but 
the King believes these can be thrashed out during further 
consultations.  With the parties' responses in hand, these 
differences can be identified, worked through, and, 
ultimately, consensus achieved.  Only after he attains the 
parties' consensus on a national program will the King 
entertain discussions about appointing a consensus Prime 
Minister, Rana stressed, adding that the monarch has already 
ruled out reinstating Parliament as a possibility.  The King 
has asked nothing else from the parties than their 
development of such a consensus, Rana continued, emphasizing 
that the King was not, for example, necessarily expecting the 
parties to cease their protests against him. 
 
3.  (C)  According to UK Ambassador Keith Bloomfield, Madhav 
Nepal, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal - 
United Marxist Leninist (UML), termed the King's seven-point 
proposal "an academic exercise."  For Nepal, who met the King 
on January 2, appointing an all-party government should 
precede development of a national consensus.  Nonetheless, 
the UML is responding to the King's challenge by developing 
its own proposals for a program of national consensus, which, 
Nepal cautioned, "might not" necessarily parallel the King's 
own proposal.  (Note:  Adoption of a 10-point "road map" for 
the future is on the agenda of the UML Central Committee 
meeting today.  The party hopes to release its "road map" to 
the public on January 9.  End note.) 
 
4.  (C)  Comment:  Since the King dismissed the government of 
former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in October 2002, the 
parties have focused nearly all of their energy into protests 
against the Palace and rallies against "regression."  While 
the parties have been fairly energetic in expressing what 
they are against, they have been somewhat less active in 
articulating what they are for--or how best to reassert the 
rule of law and restore peace and stability to their 
constituents' troubled lives.  While party leaders may 
attempt to dismiss the King's proposed program as an 
"academic exercise," it will be difficult for them to 
disagree publicly with his request for national consensus on 
such fundamental principles as good governance, democratic 
elections, and national unity without proposing an 
alternative vision for Nepal's future.  While it may be too 
early to determine if the King's overture will succeed in 
reconciling the Palace with the parties, we are hopeful that 
his initiative will, at the very least, prompt the parties to 
begin formulating ther own proposals to help redress the many 
problems--from the insurgency to widespread corruption to 
rampant social inequities--that continue to plague Nepal. 
 
MALINOWSKI