The Maoists are desperate to be a part of the interim government soon to be set up, but they are losing credibility everyday. That is the message we get from the opinions Maoist Chairman Prachanda expressed in Baglung on Monday: he seems to be getting ready not to enter government but to go back to armed struggle. A party that should be assuring the public about its intention to be involved in mainstream peaceful politics is sending just the opposite signal.

By saying that "thousands" of weapons are not in containers and that fighters are not in cantonments Prachanda has cast doubt on the entire role of the UN in arms monitoring. The statements also confirm the doubts many have about whether the camp inmates really are guerrillas. The whole point about guns in containers and guerrillas in cantonments was to remove the fear of violence, but Prachanda's statement undermines this intention. Such statements are going to be major obstacles in assuring the public about the process of bringing the Maoists into the interim government.