.The start of the silent period on the eve of the CA elections is the beginning of the zero point in the Nepali history. All those who could cry louder have finished doing so. All possible claims have been made by all probable claimants. Strong and weak, fake and real, committed and uncommitted, have all cried in the name of Loktantra, whatever it means to whosoever. Who wins the majority in the count is a matter of electoral process. The struggle that started with the bullet in the jungle against the feudal system has ended with the ballot. That is the most significant part of the transition.

Writing on the eve of the elections is really an exciting feeling. The probable handicaps have been averted. The forces, both seen and unseen and inside and outside, that could have prevented the polls from taking place have been silenced. . The most feared obstacle from the extreme right wing was supposed to come from the monarchists, but nothing of that kind really happened. (It is interesting to note that King Gyanendra issued an appeal on the eve of the elections in the name of the people to cast their votes in a free and fair manner!)

Similarly, the ultra leftists represented by the YCL were also supposed to disrupt the whole electoral process. But here too, the obstacle proved to be negligible. So, unless something unthought-of and beyond the control of the present power balance happens within the next two days, the CA elections will have closed by Thursday evening and the country will start a fresh spell of resurgence from Friday. We can again speculate about the future of our country. In fact, with the ending of the deafening din and bustle of the election campaign, some speculation has already started.

The result may take more than a week to be announced. On the negative side, comments may be made both in the national and international media that the elections were not held according to the international standards, that there were several cases of intimidation, rigging, and other forms of undemocratic behavior.

On the positive side, comments may be made that, given the hazardous past insurgency, the elections could not have been fairer, that it has set a miraculous example of sustaining democracy in crisis and so on. There may be several lapses, but the present alliance deserves compliment for having conducted the CA elections after two suicide attempts.

Every conceivable political group participated in the elections. The people were energized to revive their sovereign power through the elections. The CA is a rare occasion to take mandate from the people. The people have given their verdict in a difficult situation and have expressed the hope that the democratic process may not be derailed again by any force.

The most conspicuous difference will be the absence of the monarchy in the Nepali power system. Had King Gyanendra been satisfied with the constitutional position granted by the 1990 Constitution to the king, the monarchy would not have been eliminated so soon. So, thanks to the ambition of a tyrant, the highest feudal institution has gone away.

However, the end of the monarchy is not necessarily the end of the feudal system. Feudalism is wedded into the tradition of our society. The worst part of it is that some popular parties have been unable to shed the feudal glory. Unless the leaders of such parties undergo vast psychological catharsis, or unless such leaders are replaced by more dynamic and progressive leaders, there will be several subtle attempts to save the feudal elements in the society.

One general speculation is that the big claims of gaining majority in the CA by the so-called big parties will have been dwarfed by the elections. There will be a reduced rate of representation for all the three big parties.

Similarly, the vociferous regional forces will have been reduced from their imaginary heights and brought to their practical size. That may breed some embarrassment for them but it will be a furtive ground for the constitution making process. The minor parties will gain from the proportional voting and it will add to the diversity and plurality of the CA.

New forces, new faces and new alignments will appear. The glamour of the three parties’ dominance will be reduced. The Maoists will stop intimidating in the name of the people’s power. There will emerge a new all party alliance for running the government until the new constitution is drafted.

However, the process of forming the all party government will involve a tight tug of war between the old alliance and the newly emerging forces. But the new forces, big or small, must be accommodated to form a new basis of drafting the new constitution.The CA will concurrently work both as the maker of the new constitution and running the national administration as the national legislature. Running the new government will be a practical exercise in democracy. Many new comers will find it difficult to remain accountable to the CA as the Maoists did in the initial period of the interim government. It will demand a more cohesive team in the government than the present SPA set-up. The CA will have the sanction of the people through the elections which the present set-up conspicuously lacked. The Maoists had never before faced the people except under the duress of their baton or bullet.

Similarly, the newly emerging regional forces had been claiming the mass support without any measurable means of verification. Now, every force will know how deep their popular support is. This reality of the actual popular support will keep everybody within the definable limit of the popular mandate.

Drafting the new constitution will be the most challenging task before the CA. Several pledges and commitments have been made during the pre- electoral overhaul that may be difficult to keep in the given reality. All the parties have made tall pledges in their election manifestoes, but the people have put the parties in their right position. So, compromises will have to be made. All aspects of the transformation of the state will have to be reviewed from the realistic perspective. That the future state will be a democratic, federal republic cannot be contested by anybody in the aftermath of the election.

The most difficult decision will be finding the realistic basis of the federation. The greatest challenging task is to keep the nation intact. So, the basis of federalization cannot be a compromise in the integratedness of the nation.

The interim constitution had stipulated that the new constitution will be drafted within a span of three years. But, a realistic projection appears to take double that time. The sheer size of the CA with 601 members will be too unwieldy to proceed rapidly.

Moreover, the people will have to be consulted on several occasions on several issues of national importance. As the cliché goes, morning shows the day. Here the day does not end today; it will last till the draft of the new constitution is completed.