Will dialogue succeed?

Incidentally, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are all democratic countries, even though in a nascent way, and fledging democracies often face challenges as lack of good governance, and other failures, are impediments on the way to strengthening the edifice of pluralistic society.

Nonetheless, democracy is still the most cherished method of governance in the South Asian region, and the elected governments in the three countries are expected to settle the domestic problems which of late have assumed grave proportions as time is running out fast for an amicable resolution of these issues. The urgency is applicable to all the three countries in varying degrees.

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Nepal, the picturesque Himalayan country, is fresh from a long political unrest that saw the restoration of the democratic government which was unduly trampled under the feet of an ambitious king. Things have been reversed as the country has reverted to representative authority, but not before a lot of turmoil and loss of lives and property in the long-drawn pro-democracy agitation launched by the seven political parties and ultra-left Maoists.

Certainly, the capitulation of King Gyanendra to peoples' demand, and the subsequent clipping of his many powers by the parliament can be seen as a great victory for democratic values. However, it is not the end of the woes of Nepal which is being intermittently convulsed by a variety of factors over the last several years.

At the moment, the government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, and the Maoists headed by their elusive leader Pushpa Kumar Dayal better known as "Prachanda," are engaged in a contentious dialogue on the shape of the future constitution, particularly on the role of the monarchy and the coming national elections.

Both -- the present seven-party ruling combine and the radical leftists -- can rightly claim credit for the success of the anti-king movement as they had launched parallel agitations and, at later stage, worked in concert for ending the monarch's absolute authority.

But some fundamental differences cropped up later, as the government, broadly, favours continuation of ceremonial monarchy, devoid of any effective power, while the Maoists are totally opposed to it any form. This is proving a hard nut to crack as the nation is still struggling to fashion a sound system of governance. The two sides have agreed on fresh elections for a constituent assembly that would draft a new constitution, but the entire process is also running into trouble owing to several complications.

Maoists want early polls, which are expected in April next year, whereas there is a discernible tendency among some figures in the government to prolong the rule although the prime minister has made it clear that elections to the constituent assembly can brook no delay.

However, the status of the arms that are in possession of the Maoists, the role of the army and some other sensitive issues are defying accords, but the two sides are seeking to hammer out the differences. The interests of Nepal are largely contingent upon on the success of the talks as the Maoists have said that they might have to go back to fighting if no satisfactory solution is found to the issues involved.

Sri Lanka is back to civil war centering on the demand of the Tamil militants, although a ceasefire exists on paper. The country is almost bleeding to death because of the more than two decades of civil war in which neither the government nor the rebels could make any headway. The intensity of the war has increased in recent times as the truce has virtually collapsed, and the gains achieved earlier in several round of talks have been obviated.

It is in this situation that international mediators, led by Norway, have once again succeeded in making the two sides agreeable to a fresh dialogue which will take place by the end of October. The site of the discussion remains unresolved, and the Norwegian peace envoy, Jon Hanseen-Buaru, is trying to secure an accord on this issue. Hopefully, this will be achieved since the more important matter of resumption of the talks has been agreed upon.

President Mahinda Rajapakse and Tamil rebel supremo Villupai Prabakharan have given their consent to the fresh parleys. Sri Lankans are pinning great hopes on the coming talks while fighting is still raging. A small, but otherwise prospective, nation with relatively remarkable social-economic progress is now unfortunately almost on the verge of ruination due to the fratricidal conflict.

Now the question is, will the leadership of the government and the Tamil rebels rise to the occasion centering on the coming dialogue and provide a sigh of relief to their countrymen?

Finally, it is our Bangladesh where a "dialogue" has lately taken off following long stand-off in the political arena. Here things seemed strewn with more complexity as the government and the opposition adopted almost diametrically opposite positions on certain key issues related to the holding of the next national elections which are round the corner.

The tensions and anxieties of the people have heightened, particularly as no light could be seen at the end of the tunnel till the other day, while polls are drawing nearer. Happily, the secretaries general of the two main political parties are meeting amidst an ambience of cautious optimism.

The final outcome of the "dialogue" is uncertain, but the very fact that the contending sides have sat down for talks augurs well, though these should have taken place earlier. This happened as pressure mounted on them to break the stalemate.

People feel that the undesirable situation is a creation of the politicians and it is they who would have to resolve the crisis. As the "dialogue" continues at the time of writing this column, all are keeping their fingers crossed about the shape of things to come. Anyway, at least a glimmer of hope has certainly emerged because of the "dialogue." The rest remains to be seen.

Three South Asian nations are engrossed in crucial "dialogues" on settling their critically important national issues. The hopes of their people are that the talks must not defy a solution even though discussions are complex and sensitive. Will the political leadership of all these countries be able to live up to the expectations of their people?

Only time will tell.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is a senior journalist.