Kathmandu: Resolution on constituent assembly, ceasefire with Maoists has been tabled; debate, vote on Sunday.
29 April 2006
The Hindu
Parliament meets in Nepal
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: As thousands of people kept up a noisy vigil outside the handsome, white-washed gates of the Singha Darbar, seat of Nepal's government, parliamentarians meeting on Friday for the first time in four years loudly applauded the tabling of a resolution calling for elections to a constituent assembly.
The resolution — which took the form of a letter written by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala — was read out by Deputy Speaker Chitra Lekha Yadav as Mr. Koirala was unable to attend the session due to an infection of bronchitis. His illness also meant the Grand Old Man of the Nepali Congress could not formally be sworn in Prime Minister. His nephew, Shekhar Koirala, said Mr. Koirala was expected to recover in time for the next sitting of Parliament on Sunday. "He will also be sworn in Prime Minister on that day."
In his message, Mr. Koirala proposed that Parliament commit itself to the election of a constituent assembly, in keeping with the demands of the janandolan, or people's movement as well as the 12-point agreement reached with the Maoists last November. He also proposed that the terrorist tag be removed from the Maoists and that a ceasefire be declared by the government in order to facilitate the peace process with the rebels. As Ms. Yadav read out each of these proposals, MPs loudly thumped their desks in approval. One MP who conspicuously did not applaud was Budhiman Tamang, a former Minister in King Gyanendra's Cabinet.
In a major semantic shift that was symbolic of the changed political circumstances, Ms. Yadav in her remarks ditched the old word for democracy — prajatantra — in favour of "loktantra." The message, of course, being that the Nepalese were no longer subjects but citizens.
Mr. Koirala's proposals were seconded formally by Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other leaders of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA). The House was then adjourned till 4 p.m. on Sunday.
The proposals themselves will be discussed on that day before being formally approved.
"The idea is not so much to pass a Bill as for Parliament to commit itself to elections for a constituent assembly," Jhala Nath Khanal, a senior leader of the CPN (UML) told The Hindu . "Parliament will set the direction for government, which must then fix the date for elections and also work out the modalities."
Prominent among the demonstrators outside the Singha Darbar were representatives of Nepal's different ethnic and tribal groups such as the Newars, Magars, Sherpas and Gurungs, most of whom are marginalised by the current political system. Marching under the banner of the Nepal Magar Mahila Sangh, for example, Kavita Alemagar, a famous singer, said Nepal's janajatis were in favour of a constituent assembly that would protect their rights.
“All Nepalis have suffered a lot these past few years but now we are conscious and alert and will not give up the struggle till there is a new constitution.” Asked about specific changes, Ms Alemagar said Nepal should not remain a Hindu nation. “People of all religions live in Nepal. There are Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and others. That is why the state must be secular.”
The demand for a “dharmanipeksh”, or secular, state figured prominently in the placards and slogans of the demonstrators Friday. People also demanded that the ‘Royal Nepal Army” be converted into a Nepal National Army. But the janajatis were not the only marginalized groups to converge on Parliament to make sure their voices were heard. Among the crowds which assembled were Dalit activists as well as three wheel-chair bound representatives of the Disabled Peoples’ Struggle and Self-respect committee. “The new constitution must be inclusive in every way, and recognize the rights of the disabled too,” said Bhojraj Shrestha, convener of the committee.
Gagan Thapa, a prominent student leader of the Nepali Congress, said it was remarkable how quickly the political mood in the country had changed. A convinced republican, Mr Thapa had been reprimanded two years ago by the NC high command simply for talking about a constituent assembly. “I still remember how I was summoned to the party office to explain myself,” he said. “But things have changed now.” Asked whether he was still apprehensive about the possibilities of real change, Mr Thapa said that more than the King, he was skeptical about the political will of the parties. “If the situation on the streets becomes more normal, they may try to make the constituent assembly conditional, or reach a deal with the palace. That is why we are here, to tell the parties the people are watching you.”
Less than a kilometer away, the student front of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) held a large meeting calling for an unconditional constituent assembly and a republic. Thousands of people attended the rally, which took place at the same park as the SPA programme a day earlier. Leaflets bearing a message from Maoist leader Prachanda were distributed and the speakers who spoke from the dais – including a prominent student leader, Lekh Nath Neupane, who is wanted by the police – warned the SPA not to betray peoples’ expectations. Though a working relationship of sorts between the Maoists and the SPA is looking increasingly likely, the abduction of 22 RNA soldiers by Maoist insurgents on the day Prachanda declared a three-month ceasefire has taken observers here by surprise. Human rights groups have demanded that the trainee soldiers, who were unarmed when abducted, be released immediately.
Thanks to Mr Koirala’s indisposition, there is still some debate about how exactly he should be sworn in as Prime Minister. “Ultimately, this is up to the will of the individual leader, isn’t it?”, Mr Khanal said when asked how his party would react if Mr Koirala is sworn in by King Gyanendra. “If Girija babu decides to chart a new course for Nepal, he can insist that the swearing-in ceremony be conducted before the public, by the Chief Justice, or even in Parliament.”
Acting on their own, MPs on Friday did rid the House of some if its royalist trappings. Most of the UML representatives, for example, flouted the requirement that they wear national dress.
28 April 2006
Out of the shadows, peace roadmap slowly takes concrete shape
Kathmandu: But many questions remain unanswered on eve of reconvening of Parliament; Maoists likely to stage rally today.
28 April 2006
The Hindu
A roadmap for peace takes concrete shape
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: One of the concrete roadmaps envisaged is for the Girija Prasad Koirala-led Seven Party Alliance government to announce its intention to hold elections to a constituent assembly within, say, one year. This is then followed by the withdrawal of the "terrorist" tag from the Maoists as well as an appeal to India to release from its jails those Nepalese Maoist leaders against whom it has no charges. After formal negotiations between the SPA and the Maoists begin and a certain basic understanding is reached about the modalities of the proposed constituent assembly, the Maoists will then join the interim government, which will conduct elections. During this period, the Peoples' Liberation Army — the armed wing of the Maoists — will be confined to the barracks under international supervision.
Once new constitutional arrangements are made by the elected assembly, argues Shyam Shrestha, editor of Mulyankan weekly, the PLA could be merged with the Royal Nepal Army in the same way the African National Congress' armed cadres entered the South African Defence Forces following the end of Apartheid. "The main point is that once a political settlement is reached, the Maoists should no longer retain any arms and ammunition. They should become just like any other party," says Mr. Shrestha.
U.S. message to Maoists
U.S. Ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty said the U.S. designation of the CPN (M) as a terrorist organisation would change only once the Maoists "changed their behaviour."
In an interview to Nepal One Channel, Mr. Moriarty dismissed the Maoist formula for the eventual merger of its armed wing with the Royal Nepal Army as a ploy to turn the national army into an instrument for taking over the country.
The U.S. Embassy issued a statement calling the proposed constituent assembly "an excellent avenue for the Maoists to join the political mainstream and peacefully help address Nepal's problems." But in a veiled warning to the SPA about the limits of their proposed peace process, the Embassy insisted that the Maoists could not participate in any elections unless they "first ... lay down their arms and renounce violence."
Unrealistic
SPA and civil society leaders say such a demand is not only improper for a foreign government to make but also unrealistic. They say it is possible to devise a peace formula that would include the intermediate step of placing the Maoists' army under international supervision during elections pending their final laying down of arms.
In an attempt to put the SPA on notice on the question of an unconditional constituent assembly, the Maoists are likely to try and mobilise their supporters for a rally at Khula Manch at noon on Friday. According to local news reports, the rally will be held under the auspices of the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union — Revolutionary, considered close to the Maoists.
The 205-member House of Representatives will meet at 1 p.m. on Friday, though expulsions and deaths have reduced its strength to 200. The NC is the strongest group with 72 MPs, the UML has 66, the NC (Democratic) of Mr. Deuba has 39, while smaller parties — including a handful of royalist outfits — make up the rest. Since the Speaker, Tara Nath Ranabhat has resigned, Mr Koirala, as the eldest member of the House, will preside over the first meeting.
If Mr. Koirala, who has taken ill, recovers in time to attend the opening of Parliament on Friday — and it is not clear he will since he was on ventilator throughout Thursday — one of the issues on which there is as yet no clarity is where the swearing-in ceremony for the Prime Minister will be conducted and who will administer the oath.
Before the people
Responding to public sentiment, Communist Party of Nepal (UML) leader Madhav Kuma Nepal declared on Thursday that the swearing-in should be done in front of the people rather than in the palace. Another unresolved question is the status of the upper House, whose recall was not mentioned by King Gyanendra in his last proclamation. Any legislation, let alone constitutional amendment, would require the upper House's assent. Yet even if it were to be convened immediately by the all-party government under the doctrine of necessity, as some legal experts have argued, there are 19 vacancies, which need to be filled.
Mundane problems
Besides these weighty issues, Parliament staff is also grappling with problems that are more mundane.
The Kantipur daily reported that the House of Representatives secretariat is desperately trying to outfit its marshals with the necessary uniforms in time for Friday's deadline. And more than half of Parliament's fleet of 65 cars are not in working condition.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
28 April 2006
The Hindu
A roadmap for peace takes concrete shape
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: One of the concrete roadmaps envisaged is for the Girija Prasad Koirala-led Seven Party Alliance government to announce its intention to hold elections to a constituent assembly within, say, one year. This is then followed by the withdrawal of the "terrorist" tag from the Maoists as well as an appeal to India to release from its jails those Nepalese Maoist leaders against whom it has no charges. After formal negotiations between the SPA and the Maoists begin and a certain basic understanding is reached about the modalities of the proposed constituent assembly, the Maoists will then join the interim government, which will conduct elections. During this period, the Peoples' Liberation Army — the armed wing of the Maoists — will be confined to the barracks under international supervision.
Once new constitutional arrangements are made by the elected assembly, argues Shyam Shrestha, editor of Mulyankan weekly, the PLA could be merged with the Royal Nepal Army in the same way the African National Congress' armed cadres entered the South African Defence Forces following the end of Apartheid. "The main point is that once a political settlement is reached, the Maoists should no longer retain any arms and ammunition. They should become just like any other party," says Mr. Shrestha.
U.S. message to Maoists
U.S. Ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty said the U.S. designation of the CPN (M) as a terrorist organisation would change only once the Maoists "changed their behaviour."
In an interview to Nepal One Channel, Mr. Moriarty dismissed the Maoist formula for the eventual merger of its armed wing with the Royal Nepal Army as a ploy to turn the national army into an instrument for taking over the country.
The U.S. Embassy issued a statement calling the proposed constituent assembly "an excellent avenue for the Maoists to join the political mainstream and peacefully help address Nepal's problems." But in a veiled warning to the SPA about the limits of their proposed peace process, the Embassy insisted that the Maoists could not participate in any elections unless they "first ... lay down their arms and renounce violence."
Unrealistic
SPA and civil society leaders say such a demand is not only improper for a foreign government to make but also unrealistic. They say it is possible to devise a peace formula that would include the intermediate step of placing the Maoists' army under international supervision during elections pending their final laying down of arms.
In an attempt to put the SPA on notice on the question of an unconditional constituent assembly, the Maoists are likely to try and mobilise their supporters for a rally at Khula Manch at noon on Friday. According to local news reports, the rally will be held under the auspices of the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union — Revolutionary, considered close to the Maoists.
The 205-member House of Representatives will meet at 1 p.m. on Friday, though expulsions and deaths have reduced its strength to 200. The NC is the strongest group with 72 MPs, the UML has 66, the NC (Democratic) of Mr. Deuba has 39, while smaller parties — including a handful of royalist outfits — make up the rest. Since the Speaker, Tara Nath Ranabhat has resigned, Mr Koirala, as the eldest member of the House, will preside over the first meeting.
If Mr. Koirala, who has taken ill, recovers in time to attend the opening of Parliament on Friday — and it is not clear he will since he was on ventilator throughout Thursday — one of the issues on which there is as yet no clarity is where the swearing-in ceremony for the Prime Minister will be conducted and who will administer the oath.
Before the people
Responding to public sentiment, Communist Party of Nepal (UML) leader Madhav Kuma Nepal declared on Thursday that the swearing-in should be done in front of the people rather than in the palace. Another unresolved question is the status of the upper House, whose recall was not mentioned by King Gyanendra in his last proclamation. Any legislation, let alone constitutional amendment, would require the upper House's assent. Yet even if it were to be convened immediately by the all-party government under the doctrine of necessity, as some legal experts have argued, there are 19 vacancies, which need to be filled.
Mundane problems
Besides these weighty issues, Parliament staff is also grappling with problems that are more mundane.
The Kantipur daily reported that the House of Representatives secretariat is desperately trying to outfit its marshals with the necessary uniforms in time for Friday's deadline. And more than half of Parliament's fleet of 65 cars are not in working condition.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
Parties gear up in Nepal
Kathmandu: Tens of thousands of people turn up to warn the parties against betrayal as parliament is all set to reconvene. And in another major softening of their stance, the Maoists spell out three conditions for joining 'peaceful politics'.
28 April 2006
The Hindu
Parties gear up in Nepal
People's revolution still alive
Siddharth Varadarajan
- More than one lakh people congregate in Kathmandu
- Ready to cooperate, provided three conditions are fulfilled: Maoists
- G. P. Koirala taken ill on eve of Parliament session
Kathmandu: King Gyanendra's eleventh-hour climbdown may have averted a violent showdown but the people's revolution in Nepal shows no signs of letting up. On the eve of the reconvening of Parliament, more than one lakh people crowded into the Khula Manch grounds at Ratna Park on Thursday to hear what the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) leaders intend to do once they assume power.
Holding aloft flags of the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party, they chanted slogans demanding a constituent assembly and warning their leaders not to betray the movement. Above all, they wanted assurances from Prime Minister-designate Girija Prasad Koirala, but the grand old man of the Nepali Congress (NC) was taken ill with an unspecified lung ailment. Instead, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Communist Party of Nepal (UML) leader Madhav Kuma Nepal sought to spell out the kind of steps their all-party government would take in its first days in office.
Mr. Deuba, an establishment figure who has flirted between palace and opposition for nearly half a decade, declared: "There is no alternative to a constituent assembly." On his part, Mr. Nepal announced that if Parliament did not take a decision on holding elections for a constituent assembly, he would resign from the House and re-launch the people's movement. Mr. Nepal said the new government would remove the terrorist label from the Maoists, reciprocate the ceasefire declared by the insurgents on Wednesday night, and start negotiations towards a final settlement of the conflict.
In a mea culpa of sorts, Mr. Deuba admitted that he was deceived by King Gyanendra over and over again but that "this time I will not be deceived ... I know the King better than most people so he may deceive the people. That is why I can't compromise on the issue of holding elections to a constituent assembly to make people sovereign," he said.
Meanwhile, the Maoists have taken a major step towards establishing a closer working relationship with the SPA, indicating their willingness to enter the arena of peaceful politics provided three conditions are met.
Speaking to Nepal One channel late on Thursday, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Baburam Bhattarai said the SPA must announce its intention to go in for an unconditional constituent assembly, reciprocate the ceasefire and release all Maoist prisoners, and remove the terrorist tag and red corner notice from the party and its mass organisations. In response to a question, Dr. Bhattarai confirmed that the demand for the release of jailed party leaders and activists included those being held in India such as Kiran and Gourav.
27 April 2006
Nepal army chief helped convince Gyanendra
Kathmandu: What made King Gyanendra blink on Monday night? A combination of people power and pressure from the Royal Nepal Army. As the crowds in Kathmandu surged, the RNA chief realised things were spiralling out of control. He had two options: led things deteriorate to the point where there was a really possibility that his soldiers would disobey orders to fire on protestors. Or make sure the orders themselves were changed.
27 April 2006
The Hindu
NEWS ANALYSIS
Nepal Army chief helped convince Gyanendra
Siddharth Varadarajan
THE ROYAL Nepal Army's perception that the crisis in the country was fast escalating out of control played a decisive role in convincing King Gyanendra to step back from the brink on Monday night.
Beginning on Saturday afternoon — the day lakhs of demonstrators swarmed past police lines to enter downtown Kathmandu for the first time — the RNA brass began looking for a formula that would allow the Seven Party Alliance to take up the reins of government.
According to a number of sources who spoke to The Hindu on condition that they not be identified in any way and that certain details be left out, it was the Army chief, General Pyar Jung Thapa, who took the initiative to push the palace to settle on the SPA's terms.
A range of emissaries, including former jurists and diplomats, were pressed into action on Sunday and Monday to hammer out the terms on which King Gyanendra was to announce his humiliating surrender.
"One cannot wait for madness to overtake us and I am afraid we were very much on the verge of it," one of those involved in the mediation process said. "Had there been a delay of even 10 to 12 hours more, things would have taken a very different turn."
No option
"Early on in his consultations, General Thapa knew that Gyanendra really had no option other than to restore parliament and allow the Seven Party Alliance to implement their political roadmap," said a source.
Notwithstanding the praise the King had drawn from the international community for his earlier proclamation, the RNA chief knew that the offer to have the SPA nominate their candidate for Prime Minister had gone down badly with the people. "He said nothing about restoring parliament, a constituent assembly or the release of prisoners," said one of the emissaries. "The king had not even shown the grace to express his condolences for those who had died in the peoples' movement." Clearly much more was needed.
As the process of consultation went into high gear, it became apparent that the SPA would settle for nothing less than King Gyanendra's capitulation to their roadmap. "The key factor in all this was the unprecedented display of people power," a source said.
"This helped the parties stand firm. But it also enabled the army chief to convince the King to concede everything."
Unambiguous message
As an opening gambit to the SPA, curfew hours on Sunday and Monday were relaxed. But the parties' lack of trust in the King seemed unbridgeable. Finally, General Thapa sent a clear and unambiguous message to the SPA leadership: if you form the government, the RNA will be firmly behind you.
However, one sticking point remained till the end: how to get Gyanendra to announce his acceptance of a constituent assembly. The monarch's advisers took recourse to legal rhetoric, arguing that the king could hardly announce his support for something that the 1990 constitution did not envisage.
A compromise was finally reached: Gyanendra would invite the SPA to implement their political roadmap, in full knowledge, of course, that a constituent assembly was a key part of the parties' agenda.
As the final contours of his offer took shape, Gyanendra held consultations with a handful of foreign ambassadors. His concern was that if the parties sought outside advice on whether to accept the royal package, they should be encouraged to say yes. However, the king's request to at least one resident envoy to play the role of a go-between with the SPA was politely turned down.
Although General Thapa's persuasive skills helped tip the balance, sources say King Gyanendra himself was equally aware that his tactics had backfired. At the end of the day, allowing the SPA to follow its roadmap means postponing the day of reckoning for the monarchy. "The king knows that actual constitutional change, if it comes, is still many months away," said a source. "Please do not assume that he has had any change of heart. He remains the same old person. He will lie low for a while and try and manipulate things from behind. The SPA should be aware of this and not delay the implementation of their roadmap."
27 April 2006
The Hindu
NEWS ANALYSIS
Nepal Army chief helped convince Gyanendra
Siddharth Varadarajan
THE ROYAL Nepal Army's perception that the crisis in the country was fast escalating out of control played a decisive role in convincing King Gyanendra to step back from the brink on Monday night.
Beginning on Saturday afternoon — the day lakhs of demonstrators swarmed past police lines to enter downtown Kathmandu for the first time — the RNA brass began looking for a formula that would allow the Seven Party Alliance to take up the reins of government.
According to a number of sources who spoke to The Hindu on condition that they not be identified in any way and that certain details be left out, it was the Army chief, General Pyar Jung Thapa, who took the initiative to push the palace to settle on the SPA's terms.
A range of emissaries, including former jurists and diplomats, were pressed into action on Sunday and Monday to hammer out the terms on which King Gyanendra was to announce his humiliating surrender.
"One cannot wait for madness to overtake us and I am afraid we were very much on the verge of it," one of those involved in the mediation process said. "Had there been a delay of even 10 to 12 hours more, things would have taken a very different turn."
No option
"Early on in his consultations, General Thapa knew that Gyanendra really had no option other than to restore parliament and allow the Seven Party Alliance to implement their political roadmap," said a source.
Notwithstanding the praise the King had drawn from the international community for his earlier proclamation, the RNA chief knew that the offer to have the SPA nominate their candidate for Prime Minister had gone down badly with the people. "He said nothing about restoring parliament, a constituent assembly or the release of prisoners," said one of the emissaries. "The king had not even shown the grace to express his condolences for those who had died in the peoples' movement." Clearly much more was needed.
As the process of consultation went into high gear, it became apparent that the SPA would settle for nothing less than King Gyanendra's capitulation to their roadmap. "The key factor in all this was the unprecedented display of people power," a source said.
"This helped the parties stand firm. But it also enabled the army chief to convince the King to concede everything."
Unambiguous message
As an opening gambit to the SPA, curfew hours on Sunday and Monday were relaxed. But the parties' lack of trust in the King seemed unbridgeable. Finally, General Thapa sent a clear and unambiguous message to the SPA leadership: if you form the government, the RNA will be firmly behind you.
However, one sticking point remained till the end: how to get Gyanendra to announce his acceptance of a constituent assembly. The monarch's advisers took recourse to legal rhetoric, arguing that the king could hardly announce his support for something that the 1990 constitution did not envisage.
A compromise was finally reached: Gyanendra would invite the SPA to implement their political roadmap, in full knowledge, of course, that a constituent assembly was a key part of the parties' agenda.
As the final contours of his offer took shape, Gyanendra held consultations with a handful of foreign ambassadors. His concern was that if the parties sought outside advice on whether to accept the royal package, they should be encouraged to say yes. However, the king's request to at least one resident envoy to play the role of a go-between with the SPA was politely turned down.
Although General Thapa's persuasive skills helped tip the balance, sources say King Gyanendra himself was equally aware that his tactics had backfired. At the end of the day, allowing the SPA to follow its roadmap means postponing the day of reckoning for the monarchy. "The king knows that actual constitutional change, if it comes, is still many months away," said a source. "Please do not assume that he has had any change of heart. He remains the same old person. He will lie low for a while and try and manipulate things from behind. The SPA should be aware of this and not delay the implementation of their roadmap."
Maoists soften stance in Nepal
Kathmandu: The Maoists have lifted their blockade on capital and district headquarters and also declared a ceasefire. But they have also warned the Seven Party Alliance against delaying the decision to go in for an unconditional constituent assembly.
27 April 2006
The Hindu
Maoists soften stance in Nepal
But warn parties against delay
Siddharth Varadarajan
Though couched in the language of a warning, Mr. Prachanda's latest statement reflects a softening of the Maoists' initially hostile reaction to King Gyanendra's announcement that Parliament was being reactivated. The Maoists on Tuesday had termed the SPA's endorsement of the King's decision a "betrayal."
Since Mr. Koirala is widely expected to make a positive announcement about his new government's decision to press ahead with a constituent assembly when Parliament convenes on Friday, the Maoists' statement opens the door for renewed cooperation between the insurgents and the SPA.
"The basis of this movement is the 12-point agreement and the promise of a peace process," said Krishna Pahadi, a leading human rights activist. "When it meets, Parliament must address the task of achieving long term peace. There is also the need to end impunity — to not allow human rights violators to get away — and to resolve the issue of the monarchy." Only an unconditional constituent assembly can provide the basis for tackling all these issues, he added.
As the question of constitutional change comes to the fore, a debate of sorts has started here about the legal obstacles that any push for a constituent assembly might face. In meetings with diplomats, for example, some SPA leaders have spoken of their fear that the Supreme Court might quash or stay any attempt to hold elections for a constituent assembly.
According to Shambhu Thapa, president of the Nepal Bar Association, these fears are misplaced. Article 116 of the 1990 Constitution allows for amendments "without prejudicing the spirit of the Preamble," which refers, inter alia, to constitutional monarchy. "The first step, therefore, is for Parliament to amend the preamble to include a reference to a constituent assembly. The amended Preamble should also state clearly the purpose of a constituent assembly, i.e., to enable the people to decide what kind of political system they want."
Once this is done, says Mr. Thapa, no court can ever challenge the legality of going in for a constituent assembly. "Is there any legal or social jurisprudence which can stop a process which seeks to ascertain what people want?"
Some analysts are critical of the SPA for having waited for King Gyanendra to announce the restoration of Parliament. "The parties should have announced the decision themselves," says Kanak Mani Dixit, the editor of Himal, who spent nearly three weeks in prison for defying curfew. Even now, says Mr. Dixit, the symbolism of the process is important. "The peoples' movement has brought Gyanendra's nose to the level of mud and that is where it should remain. Koirala should insist on being sworn in by the Chief Justice and not by Gyanendra," he says. "That would send a very important message."
27 April 2006
The Hindu
Maoists soften stance in Nepal
But warn parties against delay
Siddharth Varadarajan
- Renewed cooperation possible between Maoists, SPA
- Fear of legal obstacles to constituent assembly misplaced, says Bar Association president
Though couched in the language of a warning, Mr. Prachanda's latest statement reflects a softening of the Maoists' initially hostile reaction to King Gyanendra's announcement that Parliament was being reactivated. The Maoists on Tuesday had termed the SPA's endorsement of the King's decision a "betrayal."
Since Mr. Koirala is widely expected to make a positive announcement about his new government's decision to press ahead with a constituent assembly when Parliament convenes on Friday, the Maoists' statement opens the door for renewed cooperation between the insurgents and the SPA.
"The basis of this movement is the 12-point agreement and the promise of a peace process," said Krishna Pahadi, a leading human rights activist. "When it meets, Parliament must address the task of achieving long term peace. There is also the need to end impunity — to not allow human rights violators to get away — and to resolve the issue of the monarchy." Only an unconditional constituent assembly can provide the basis for tackling all these issues, he added.
As the question of constitutional change comes to the fore, a debate of sorts has started here about the legal obstacles that any push for a constituent assembly might face. In meetings with diplomats, for example, some SPA leaders have spoken of their fear that the Supreme Court might quash or stay any attempt to hold elections for a constituent assembly.
According to Shambhu Thapa, president of the Nepal Bar Association, these fears are misplaced. Article 116 of the 1990 Constitution allows for amendments "without prejudicing the spirit of the Preamble," which refers, inter alia, to constitutional monarchy. "The first step, therefore, is for Parliament to amend the preamble to include a reference to a constituent assembly. The amended Preamble should also state clearly the purpose of a constituent assembly, i.e., to enable the people to decide what kind of political system they want."
Once this is done, says Mr. Thapa, no court can ever challenge the legality of going in for a constituent assembly. "Is there any legal or social jurisprudence which can stop a process which seeks to ascertain what people want?"
Some analysts are critical of the SPA for having waited for King Gyanendra to announce the restoration of Parliament. "The parties should have announced the decision themselves," says Kanak Mani Dixit, the editor of Himal, who spent nearly three weeks in prison for defying curfew. Even now, says Mr. Dixit, the symbolism of the process is important. "The peoples' movement has brought Gyanendra's nose to the level of mud and that is where it should remain. Koirala should insist on being sworn in by the Chief Justice and not by Gyanendra," he says. "That would send a very important message."
26 April 2006
And now for a Constituent Assembly
Empowered through battle, a victorious people savour their moment.
26 April 2006
The Hindu
Now for a Constituent Assembly
Empowered through battle, a victorious people savour their moment
Siddharth Varadarajan
WHAT NEPAL has witnessed over the past three weeks is a show of popular defiance unique in the world. Unlike the "velvet" and "colour" demonstrations in the former Soviet bloc countries which received so much moral and financial support from Western Governments, the people of Nepal have had to stare down the advice from Western chancelleries — as well as India — to give up their struggle for democracy mid-course. And as the residents of Kathmandu reclaimed on Tuesday the streets from which they had been beaten back a few days earlier, they seemed very clear that even now final victory was still months away.
Throughout the city, groups of people walked up and down in small and large spontaneous processions, each with their own set of placards, banners and slogans. The Democratic Tourism Forum, an association of tour operators, held aloft banners warning the leaders to be careful and demanding elections to a Constituent Assembly. The Nepal Central Bank employees federation banner read, "For democracy and peace, we want a Constituent Assembly now." Two young men on motorcycles drove side by side slowly, holding a banner which said, simply, "Thank you, journalist comrades." And then there was a group of students whose main preoccupation seemed to be to hang Kamal Thapa, King Gyanendra's Home Minister, who has emerged as the fall guy for having faithfully implemented the monarch's orders to shoot at demonstrators.
Crowd turns nasty
It was on Darbar Marg, near the historic clock tower and within visibility of the gates of the Narayanhiti Palace, that the mood of the crowd turned nasty. Youthful demonstrators from the suburbs who had come downtown to savour their victory turned their attention to four large hoardings emblazoned with quotations of King Gyanendra. First they defaced the words "Shri 5" from the name of the Nepal Government, declaring that the country belonged to the people and not the King. Then they blackened Gyanendra's name. Egged on by others in the crowd, the youths proceeded to batter the hoardings and wrench them from the poles to which they were attached. As each strip of painted metal came free, it was flung on the ground and trampled over by dozens of angry protesters. "Long live the republic," they shouted, "Netaru, savdhaan [Leaders, be warned]."
Despite the menace inherent in the proximity of more than 100,000 people to the palace gates, the atmosphere festive, even carnivalesque. Vendors of "Mount Ebherest" ice cream did brisk business as Ratna Park nearby slowly filled up. Families had come with their children. Communist and Nepali Congress flags were everywhere. "We want to burn the crown and rule the country ourselves," they shouted.
I asked one group of particularly enthusiastic slogan shouters whether they intended to try and cross the heavy police picket line and march towards the palace. They were from the suburb of Kalanki, scene of some of the heaviest fighting between demonstrators and police these past few days. Three residents had been shot dead in police firing. "I swear, if Gyanendra had not said what he did last night, we would all be there, not here today," one youth declared, pointing towards the palace. "But one day, we will definitely go there too," he added. "Now, if the party people betray us, we will finish them off," another declared.
An older man said that there was no need to get injured storming the police line. "As soon as we get our constituent assembly, we will walk into the palace ourselves."
Though the slogans against Gyanendra and his son, Paras, were virtually non-existent on Tuesday, there was no weakening of the republican sentiment so evident on the streets. "Today we are celebrating victory day," said Devendra Bista, a third-year college student.
"We can't be coming onto the streets everyday but if the parliament does not quickly decide a date for elections to a constituent assembly, all of us will be back." Another student, Sanjeevani Shreshta, said the monarchy had to go. "The monarchy here goes back to Kulmandan Shah and now there is Gyanendra. From `ka' to `gya', we have covered the entire Nepali alphabet. This is now the end." But what about Paras, I ask. "To go from `gya' back to `pa', they will need to invent a new script. But the people are the ones who are going to do be doing all the writing from now on."
Back at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, where a mock referendum was held on Monday, the results were announced at a meeting on Tuesday morning: 55 per cent of ballots cast were in favour of republican status for Nepal, 42.5 per cent for a ceremonial monarchy, and 2.5 per cent for traditional monarchy.
Outside Girija Prasad Koirala's house in Maharajgunj, the scene was chaotic. Large crowds gathered from early morning, urging the leaders to push for constitutional change. When Madhav Kumar Nepal emerged later in the morning, people cheered loudly but soon started shouting, Netaru, savdhan. Some held aloft banners warning the parties not to repeat their previous mistakes. Several banners also urged the Maoists to be heed the people's sentiments for peace. Some placards pointedly warned the MPs against collecting their allowances for the four years Parliament remained suspended.
Prahlad Kumar Oli, a member of the pro-UML General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, said the people's voice had emerged the strongest in the past few weeks. "Of course, people still feel they can be betrayed. I am sure that if the King does not agree with the parties' agenda once parliament meets, the movement will resume. Change can be postponed but not stopped." The parties, he said, also have a responsibility to be transparent.
On Thursday, the Seven Party Alliance will hold a large rally in Ratna Park where they intend to announce their programme once parliament is restored.
Promise to continue struggle
At the T.U. teaching hospital, the local pro-democracy coordination committee promised to continue the struggle till a constituent assembly was elected and peace established. Dr. Arun Sayami, president of the Cardiac Society of Nepal, said now was not the time for people to take out a victorious sindoor yatra. "This is just the beginning of the revolution." "Until yesterday, people lived at the mercy of the King but from today, it is the king who has to live at the mercy of the people," he declared to loud applause. He drew even louder applause when he said that the ball was now in the court of the parties and that if they betrayed peoples' expectations, "the people will hang them."
But Dr. Sayami also had some words of advice for the Maoists. "What has happened today is also a victory for the Maoists," he said. "The slogan of constituent assembly was their slogan and most people used to oppose them on this. Today, the whole of Nepal is for a constituent assembly. So the Maoists should give up violence and join the peaceful process. What their armed struggle could not achieve in 12 years, people have achieved peacefully in 19 days."
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
26 April 2006
The Hindu
Now for a Constituent Assembly
Empowered through battle, a victorious people savour their moment
Siddharth Varadarajan
WHAT NEPAL has witnessed over the past three weeks is a show of popular defiance unique in the world. Unlike the "velvet" and "colour" demonstrations in the former Soviet bloc countries which received so much moral and financial support from Western Governments, the people of Nepal have had to stare down the advice from Western chancelleries — as well as India — to give up their struggle for democracy mid-course. And as the residents of Kathmandu reclaimed on Tuesday the streets from which they had been beaten back a few days earlier, they seemed very clear that even now final victory was still months away.
Throughout the city, groups of people walked up and down in small and large spontaneous processions, each with their own set of placards, banners and slogans. The Democratic Tourism Forum, an association of tour operators, held aloft banners warning the leaders to be careful and demanding elections to a Constituent Assembly. The Nepal Central Bank employees federation banner read, "For democracy and peace, we want a Constituent Assembly now." Two young men on motorcycles drove side by side slowly, holding a banner which said, simply, "Thank you, journalist comrades." And then there was a group of students whose main preoccupation seemed to be to hang Kamal Thapa, King Gyanendra's Home Minister, who has emerged as the fall guy for having faithfully implemented the monarch's orders to shoot at demonstrators.
Crowd turns nasty
It was on Darbar Marg, near the historic clock tower and within visibility of the gates of the Narayanhiti Palace, that the mood of the crowd turned nasty. Youthful demonstrators from the suburbs who had come downtown to savour their victory turned their attention to four large hoardings emblazoned with quotations of King Gyanendra. First they defaced the words "Shri 5" from the name of the Nepal Government, declaring that the country belonged to the people and not the King. Then they blackened Gyanendra's name. Egged on by others in the crowd, the youths proceeded to batter the hoardings and wrench them from the poles to which they were attached. As each strip of painted metal came free, it was flung on the ground and trampled over by dozens of angry protesters. "Long live the republic," they shouted, "Netaru, savdhaan [Leaders, be warned]."
Despite the menace inherent in the proximity of more than 100,000 people to the palace gates, the atmosphere festive, even carnivalesque. Vendors of "Mount Ebherest" ice cream did brisk business as Ratna Park nearby slowly filled up. Families had come with their children. Communist and Nepali Congress flags were everywhere. "We want to burn the crown and rule the country ourselves," they shouted.
I asked one group of particularly enthusiastic slogan shouters whether they intended to try and cross the heavy police picket line and march towards the palace. They were from the suburb of Kalanki, scene of some of the heaviest fighting between demonstrators and police these past few days. Three residents had been shot dead in police firing. "I swear, if Gyanendra had not said what he did last night, we would all be there, not here today," one youth declared, pointing towards the palace. "But one day, we will definitely go there too," he added. "Now, if the party people betray us, we will finish them off," another declared.
An older man said that there was no need to get injured storming the police line. "As soon as we get our constituent assembly, we will walk into the palace ourselves."
Though the slogans against Gyanendra and his son, Paras, were virtually non-existent on Tuesday, there was no weakening of the republican sentiment so evident on the streets. "Today we are celebrating victory day," said Devendra Bista, a third-year college student.
"We can't be coming onto the streets everyday but if the parliament does not quickly decide a date for elections to a constituent assembly, all of us will be back." Another student, Sanjeevani Shreshta, said the monarchy had to go. "The monarchy here goes back to Kulmandan Shah and now there is Gyanendra. From `ka' to `gya', we have covered the entire Nepali alphabet. This is now the end." But what about Paras, I ask. "To go from `gya' back to `pa', they will need to invent a new script. But the people are the ones who are going to do be doing all the writing from now on."
Back at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, where a mock referendum was held on Monday, the results were announced at a meeting on Tuesday morning: 55 per cent of ballots cast were in favour of republican status for Nepal, 42.5 per cent for a ceremonial monarchy, and 2.5 per cent for traditional monarchy.
Outside Girija Prasad Koirala's house in Maharajgunj, the scene was chaotic. Large crowds gathered from early morning, urging the leaders to push for constitutional change. When Madhav Kumar Nepal emerged later in the morning, people cheered loudly but soon started shouting, Netaru, savdhan. Some held aloft banners warning the parties not to repeat their previous mistakes. Several banners also urged the Maoists to be heed the people's sentiments for peace. Some placards pointedly warned the MPs against collecting their allowances for the four years Parliament remained suspended.
Prahlad Kumar Oli, a member of the pro-UML General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, said the people's voice had emerged the strongest in the past few weeks. "Of course, people still feel they can be betrayed. I am sure that if the King does not agree with the parties' agenda once parliament meets, the movement will resume. Change can be postponed but not stopped." The parties, he said, also have a responsibility to be transparent.
On Thursday, the Seven Party Alliance will hold a large rally in Ratna Park where they intend to announce their programme once parliament is restored.
Promise to continue struggle
At the T.U. teaching hospital, the local pro-democracy coordination committee promised to continue the struggle till a constituent assembly was elected and peace established. Dr. Arun Sayami, president of the Cardiac Society of Nepal, said now was not the time for people to take out a victorious sindoor yatra. "This is just the beginning of the revolution." "Until yesterday, people lived at the mercy of the King but from today, it is the king who has to live at the mercy of the people," he declared to loud applause. He drew even louder applause when he said that the ball was now in the court of the parties and that if they betrayed peoples' expectations, "the people will hang them."
But Dr. Sayami also had some words of advice for the Maoists. "What has happened today is also a victory for the Maoists," he said. "The slogan of constituent assembly was their slogan and most people used to oppose them on this. Today, the whole of Nepal is for a constituent assembly. So the Maoists should give up violence and join the peaceful process. What their armed struggle could not achieve in 12 years, people have achieved peacefully in 19 days."
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
Nepal Maoists want "unconditional" elections
Kathmandu: They denounce the King's revival of Parliament; SPA accused of betraying the people's movement by walking into the monarchy's trap.
26 April
The Hindu
Nepal Maoists want "unconditional" elections
Siddharth Varadarajan
KATHMANDU: Even as jubilant crowds took to the streets here on Tuesday, a day after King Gyanendra's climbdown in which he agreed to reinstate Parliament, the message to political leaders was loud and clear: Constitute a constituent assembly and do not deviate from the aims of the pro-democracy movement.
At an impromptu roadside meeting in Vasundhara, not far from the residence of Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala, one speaker declared: "If Girija babu does something funny, we will hang him." The crowd around him cheered lustily.
The Seven Party Alliance (SPA), spearheading the anti-monarchy protests, issued a statement welcoming the King's latest proclamation and declaring that Mr. Koirala would be their candidate for Prime Minister.
"Restoration of the House of Representatives is only the beginning for us," the SPA declared, conscious of the mood on the streets. The parties also expressed their commitment to abide by the 12-point agreement reached with Maoists last November.
For the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which has formed a partnership of sorts with the SPA since November last, these assurances are clearly not enough. In a toughly worded statement issued in the name of party leaders Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, the Maoists denounced the King's revival of Parliament and accused the SPA of betraying the people's movement by walking into the monarchy's trap.
"Continue agitation"
They called on the people to continue their peaceful agitation until "unconditional" elections to a constituent assembly were announced.
"The SPA's unilateral support for the revival of Parliament, without consulting the Maoists, in effect tried to break the spirit behind the 12-point agreement. Why should people believe that Parliament, which has come as a gift from the King, would have the resolve to hold unconditional elections to the constituent assembly?''
Despite the tough language of the Maoists' statement, independent analysts do not consider the gap between the Maoists and the parties to be insurmountable.
Devendra Raj Panday, former Finance Minister and leading civil society campaigner for democracy who was released on Tuesday after months of incarceration, told The Hindu that the Maoist rejection appeared tactical. "The 12-point agreement had envisaged the reinstatement of Parliament. Though the Maoists had some reservations about it, they endorsed the overall agreement," he said. "I think the Maoist reaction [to the SPA's acceptance of the restoration of Parliament] may be tactical. They can't be seen as welcoming anything the King says. And they had never really been in favour of reinstatement of Parliament. But as long as parties move forward on the constituent assembly, the Maoists will come on board."
Acknowledging that there were procedural and methodological issues involved in an election to a constituent assembly which could not be resolved very quickly, Dr. Panday stressed that once Parliament convened "it should not get bogged down in business as usual." Going for a constituent assembly has to be the first agenda item and since the Maoists have to be with them on this, negotiations with the Maoists have to begin almost immediately, he said.
Things going well
While it was legitimate for people to be suspicious of the parties, given their record, Dr. Panday said they behaved very responsibly these past few weeks.
"The parties stood up to the King, to India and to the donor countries. This is very refreshing. Even on choosing a prime ministerial candidate, there wasn't the usual wrangling. Things are going well so far."
Senior diplomats also seemed convinced that the new all-party government's top priority had to be a dialogue with the Maoists structured around the goal of a constituent assembly.
"For this to happen, of course, there would need to be a two-way ceasefire, as well as the removal of the "terrorist" tag from the Maoists and the repeal of certain laws," a diplomat said. Significantly, in his address to a public meeting at Kalanki, CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal promised the new all-party government would take all these steps.
Realistically speaking, say analysts, given the harvest and monsoon seasons as well as the festival of Dasein, the earliest that any elections can be held is November.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
26 April
The Hindu
Nepal Maoists want "unconditional" elections
Siddharth Varadarajan
KATHMANDU: Even as jubilant crowds took to the streets here on Tuesday, a day after King Gyanendra's climbdown in which he agreed to reinstate Parliament, the message to political leaders was loud and clear: Constitute a constituent assembly and do not deviate from the aims of the pro-democracy movement.
At an impromptu roadside meeting in Vasundhara, not far from the residence of Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala, one speaker declared: "If Girija babu does something funny, we will hang him." The crowd around him cheered lustily.
The Seven Party Alliance (SPA), spearheading the anti-monarchy protests, issued a statement welcoming the King's latest proclamation and declaring that Mr. Koirala would be their candidate for Prime Minister.
"Restoration of the House of Representatives is only the beginning for us," the SPA declared, conscious of the mood on the streets. The parties also expressed their commitment to abide by the 12-point agreement reached with Maoists last November.
For the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which has formed a partnership of sorts with the SPA since November last, these assurances are clearly not enough. In a toughly worded statement issued in the name of party leaders Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, the Maoists denounced the King's revival of Parliament and accused the SPA of betraying the people's movement by walking into the monarchy's trap.
"Continue agitation"
They called on the people to continue their peaceful agitation until "unconditional" elections to a constituent assembly were announced.
"The SPA's unilateral support for the revival of Parliament, without consulting the Maoists, in effect tried to break the spirit behind the 12-point agreement. Why should people believe that Parliament, which has come as a gift from the King, would have the resolve to hold unconditional elections to the constituent assembly?''
Despite the tough language of the Maoists' statement, independent analysts do not consider the gap between the Maoists and the parties to be insurmountable.
Devendra Raj Panday, former Finance Minister and leading civil society campaigner for democracy who was released on Tuesday after months of incarceration, told The Hindu that the Maoist rejection appeared tactical. "The 12-point agreement had envisaged the reinstatement of Parliament. Though the Maoists had some reservations about it, they endorsed the overall agreement," he said. "I think the Maoist reaction [to the SPA's acceptance of the restoration of Parliament] may be tactical. They can't be seen as welcoming anything the King says. And they had never really been in favour of reinstatement of Parliament. But as long as parties move forward on the constituent assembly, the Maoists will come on board."
Acknowledging that there were procedural and methodological issues involved in an election to a constituent assembly which could not be resolved very quickly, Dr. Panday stressed that once Parliament convened "it should not get bogged down in business as usual." Going for a constituent assembly has to be the first agenda item and since the Maoists have to be with them on this, negotiations with the Maoists have to begin almost immediately, he said.
Things going well
While it was legitimate for people to be suspicious of the parties, given their record, Dr. Panday said they behaved very responsibly these past few weeks.
"The parties stood up to the King, to India and to the donor countries. This is very refreshing. Even on choosing a prime ministerial candidate, there wasn't the usual wrangling. Things are going well so far."
Senior diplomats also seemed convinced that the new all-party government's top priority had to be a dialogue with the Maoists structured around the goal of a constituent assembly.
"For this to happen, of course, there would need to be a two-way ceasefire, as well as the removal of the "terrorist" tag from the Maoists and the repeal of certain laws," a diplomat said. Significantly, in his address to a public meeting at Kalanki, CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal promised the new all-party government would take all these steps.
Realistically speaking, say analysts, given the harvest and monsoon seasons as well as the festival of Dasein, the earliest that any elections can be held is November.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
Nepal parties want constituent assembly
SPA plumps for Koirala. But even as there's celebration on the streets, people tell leaders to "beware".
26 April 2006
The Hindu
Nepal parties want constituent assembly
Siddharth Varadarajan
The "main objectives" to be achieved through the restoration, they said, were "constituting an all-party government, election to a constituent assembly, and on the whole, establishing an inclusive and participatory complete loktantra [democracy]... and the establishment of lasting peace."
Though the statement does not explicitly say so, party leaders insisted that announcing their intention to hold elections to a constituent assembly would be a top priority for Parliament when it met.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
26 April 2006
The Hindu
Nepal parties want constituent assembly
Siddharth Varadarajan
KATHMANDU: Following King Gyanendra's humiliating late-night climbdown on Monday, in which he agreed to reinstate Parliament, hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life descended on the Nepalese capital on Tuesday to stake their claim to the political future of the country.
Jubilant, boisterous but good humoured and well-behaved, the enormous crowds seemed as intent on celebrating their victory over the King as on warning the political leaders set to assume power not to deviate from the aims of the movement.
The slogans raised and banners put up outside the residence of Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala said it all. "Netahru, savdhaan [leaders, beware]," the crowds chanted. "We want a constituent assembly."
The parties woke up on Tuesday to find the ball firmly in their possession. After firming up their tactics, the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), spearheading the anti-monarchy protests, issued a statement welcoming the King's latest proclamation and declaring that Mr. Koirala would be their candidate for Prime Minister.The "main objectives" to be achieved through the restoration, they said, were "constituting an all-party government, election to a constituent assembly, and on the whole, establishing an inclusive and participatory complete loktantra [democracy]... and the establishment of lasting peace."
Though the statement does not explicitly say so, party leaders insisted that announcing their intention to hold elections to a constituent assembly would be a top priority for Parliament when it met.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
25 April 2006
Dateline Kathmandu: Gyanendra blinks, announces revival of parliament
With the democratic opposition's promised million-person march on the Nepalese capital less than 12 hours away, King Gyanendra has finally stepped back from the brink. The question now is how quickly the parties can press ahead with a Constituent Assembly.
Gyanendra blinks, announces revival of parliament
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: With the democratic opposition's promised million-person march on the Nepalese capital less than 12 hours away, King Gyanendra finally stepped back from the brink. Appearing on national television at 11:30 pm local time, he announced the revival of Parliament, a key demand of the Nepali Congress and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) it is part of.
Stating that he was "cognizant of the spirit of the ongoing people's movement as well as [the need] to resolve the on-going violent conflict and other problems facing the country according to the road map of the agitating Seven Party Alliance", the Nepalese monarch said the reinstated House of Representatives would meet at 1 pm on Friday, April 28.
The King reiterated his belief that the "source of state authority and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Nepal is inherent in the people of Nepal". He also expressed his "heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the peoples' movement."
Unlike his royal proclamation on Friday, which the SPA rejected as insufficient, King Gyanendra's statement Monday night did not seek to specify what the newly revived Parliament should do other than to "contribute to the overall welfare of Nepal and the Nepalese people." Nor did he explicitly seek to confine its activities to the 1990 Constitution. Indeed, the only reference to the Constitution – which most Nepalese want to change – was when he mentioned that the dissolution of Parliament in May 2002 had been ordered by him on the advice of Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution.
Though the King's latest offer is bound to take some of the steam out of the mass protests planned for Tuesday, the revival of Parliament is unlikely to offer anything other than a very temporary respite for an increasingly beleaguered monarchy.
"If Parliament is reconvened, I think it would have less than 24 hours to announce its decision to hold elections for a Constitutent Assembly," said Krishna Khanal, a key civil society leader of the democracy movement. "Otherwise the people will turn against the parties too".
He spoke to this reporter on the sidelines of a massive outdoor public meeting in the working-class Kathmandu suburb of Kirtipur on Monday afternoon amidst rumours that the King's emissaries were trying to reach an understanding with the parties. The mood in the meeting was distinctly republican and the 8,000 strong audience did not seem very inspired when one or two speakers from the SPA laid emphasis on revival of Parliament. According to Mr Khanal, the Nepalese people will not settle for anything less than a Constituent Assembly.
Shekhar Koirala of the Nepali Congress agreed with Mr Khanal's assessment that a restored Parliament would have less than 24 hours to decide on a Constituent Assembly. "If the Maoists are to be brought into the mainstream and take part in multiparty elections, then there has to be constitutional change". Mr Koirala said that even though the King may say that Parliament has no right under the 1990 Constitution to convene a Constituent Assembly, the parties would invoke the doctrine of necessity to do so. "There is no room for legal hair-splitting now".
A senior South Asian diplomat concurred. "The only way out of the present crisis is for the King to bridge the gap between himself and the parties. And the only way he can do this is by surrendering on each of the demands raised by the SPA". And this would include the popular demand for a Constituent Assembly effected through the revived Parliament.
Even as the streets of Kathmandu witnessed spirited clashes between youthful demonstrators and the police, Monday saw back and forth movement between the palace and key leaders of the SPA as the King sought an eleventh-hour way out of the present impasse. Diplomatic sources familiar with the back-channel negotiations said the delay in the King's announcement was caused by his advisers looking at various legal options -- primarily to do with forestalling constitutional change -- while the parties too felt obliged to consult the Maoists, with whom they have established a united front of sorts on the question of a roadmap to genuine democracy.
Gyanendra blinks, announces revival of parliament
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: With the democratic opposition's promised million-person march on the Nepalese capital less than 12 hours away, King Gyanendra finally stepped back from the brink. Appearing on national television at 11:30 pm local time, he announced the revival of Parliament, a key demand of the Nepali Congress and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) it is part of.
Stating that he was "cognizant of the spirit of the ongoing people's movement as well as [the need] to resolve the on-going violent conflict and other problems facing the country according to the road map of the agitating Seven Party Alliance", the Nepalese monarch said the reinstated House of Representatives would meet at 1 pm on Friday, April 28.
The King reiterated his belief that the "source of state authority and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Nepal is inherent in the people of Nepal". He also expressed his "heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the peoples' movement."
Unlike his royal proclamation on Friday, which the SPA rejected as insufficient, King Gyanendra's statement Monday night did not seek to specify what the newly revived Parliament should do other than to "contribute to the overall welfare of Nepal and the Nepalese people." Nor did he explicitly seek to confine its activities to the 1990 Constitution. Indeed, the only reference to the Constitution – which most Nepalese want to change – was when he mentioned that the dissolution of Parliament in May 2002 had been ordered by him on the advice of Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution.
Though the King's latest offer is bound to take some of the steam out of the mass protests planned for Tuesday, the revival of Parliament is unlikely to offer anything other than a very temporary respite for an increasingly beleaguered monarchy.
"If Parliament is reconvened, I think it would have less than 24 hours to announce its decision to hold elections for a Constitutent Assembly," said Krishna Khanal, a key civil society leader of the democracy movement. "Otherwise the people will turn against the parties too".
He spoke to this reporter on the sidelines of a massive outdoor public meeting in the working-class Kathmandu suburb of Kirtipur on Monday afternoon amidst rumours that the King's emissaries were trying to reach an understanding with the parties. The mood in the meeting was distinctly republican and the 8,000 strong audience did not seem very inspired when one or two speakers from the SPA laid emphasis on revival of Parliament. According to Mr Khanal, the Nepalese people will not settle for anything less than a Constituent Assembly.
Shekhar Koirala of the Nepali Congress agreed with Mr Khanal's assessment that a restored Parliament would have less than 24 hours to decide on a Constituent Assembly. "If the Maoists are to be brought into the mainstream and take part in multiparty elections, then there has to be constitutional change". Mr Koirala said that even though the King may say that Parliament has no right under the 1990 Constitution to convene a Constituent Assembly, the parties would invoke the doctrine of necessity to do so. "There is no room for legal hair-splitting now".
A senior South Asian diplomat concurred. "The only way out of the present crisis is for the King to bridge the gap between himself and the parties. And the only way he can do this is by surrendering on each of the demands raised by the SPA". And this would include the popular demand for a Constituent Assembly effected through the revived Parliament.
Even as the streets of Kathmandu witnessed spirited clashes between youthful demonstrators and the police, Monday saw back and forth movement between the palace and key leaders of the SPA as the King sought an eleventh-hour way out of the present impasse. Diplomatic sources familiar with the back-channel negotiations said the delay in the King's announcement was caused by his advisers looking at various legal options -- primarily to do with forestalling constitutional change -- while the parties too felt obliged to consult the Maoists, with whom they have established a united front of sorts on the question of a roadmap to genuine democracy.
Dateline Kathmandu: In Nepal, novel forms of protest and familiar ones too
From a peoples' referendum to clashes with the police and even talk of petrol bombs, Nepal today is seething with anger.
25 April 2006
The Hindu
In Nepal, novel forms of protest and familiar ones too
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: The rest of Nepal may yet be wondering whether and when it will get a chance to vote for a Constituent Assembly but for the students, staff, faculty and patients of one hospital in the Nepalese capital, the moment of reckoning is now.
As their own contribution to the ongoing mass upsurge for democracy, the Free Students Union at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj organised a little referendum, in which anyone who made it through the hospital gates during curfew on Monday could cast a ballot indicating his or her preference for ganatantra (republic), lokatantra (ceremonial monarchy), or rajtantra (monarchy).
A similar open referendum in Pokhara, King Gyanendra's preferred retreat from Kathmandu, saw 22,000 votes cast in favour of a republic, 14,000 for a ceremonial monarchy and only 53 for a monarchy of the kind that exists now.
By the time this correspondent dropped by the T.U. Hospital in the morning, several hundred ballots had been cast. "We are mostly for a republic," a student replied to my question what early trends indicated. I asked a fourth-year medical student who had just voted what he had to say to those who said Nepal's unity would be endangered if the monarchy were abolished. "Please see what's going on in the streets," he shot back. "All are united, except the King." I asked the student what his name was. "Paras," he replied, to the mocking laughter of his friends. Paras is also the name of King Gyanendra's son, a crown prince much reviled on the streets of his country.
Angry mood
The mood in the hospital is particularly angry for two reasons. A few weeks ago, the police stormed the campus hostel, beat up pro-democracy students and fired tear as shells in the courtyard between the teaching hospital and the children's hospital. And on Monday, the hospital was treating a steady stream of patients injured in the police crackdown on demonstrators. A senior doctor, who asked not to be identified, said the worst cases were of those injured by rubber bullets. "Of the eight cases we have received in the past few days, I am sorry to say, four people have lost their sight in one eye."
In the ophthalmology ward, we saw the most recent victims. Ram Bahadur B.K., a 16-year-old boy, had lost his left eye. "We operated on him this morning but could not save his eye," the doctor said, lowering his voice. Ram had not woken up yet and did not know he was blind in one eye.
Meanwhile, a short distance away, a large crowd of demonstrators braved curfew to march towards Narayan Gopal Chowk barely 400 metres away from the gated compound, where Prince Paras lives. The crowd taunted the police and also appealed to their sentiments "as Nepalese" to side with the people and not fire tear gas. Then they began to chant `Paras gunda, rukma jhunda (Paras is a thug, let's hang him)' and `Gyane chor, desh chhod (Gyanendra the thief, leave the country)'.
The police commander argued with them for a while before signalling his men to charge. Within seconds, dozens of policemen waded in swinging lathis and firing tear gas. The crowd ran as fast as it could, only to regroup some 100 metres away. A fusillade of stones came raining down on the police from all sides, as the residents of houses in the side streets joined in the fight. Reinforcements were rushed, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired and the crowd was eventually driven back several hundred metres.
We caught up with the same demonstrators several hours later on the ring road near Banasthali. They were now holding aloft two magnificent but slightly comic effigies of Gyanendra and Paras. This time, they were allowed to pass by a police picket peacefully. "If I can find a leader," the police commander told me, "I can make sure the demonstration remains peaceful. It is only when the protesters are without a leader that things get difficult."
Helmeted scribes
Two Western photographers, wearing helmets, suddenly alight from their vehicle. "I think ever since Bush invaded Iraq, you journalists have started wearing helmets," he said. "I was stationed in Kosovo during the invasion and saw all the journalists on TV. And now I see this happening in Nepal."
I asked the police commander whether he knew the United Nations was considering banning the Nepalese police and army from lucrative peacekeeping operations until King Gyanendra handed over power. "I am not bothered," he said, adding sotto voce, "It is the Army who should be!"
Further down the ring road, towards Halchowk, headquarters of the armed police, a small group of youths has set up a burning barricade. A stick dressed in a shirt is hanging from a tree and a tyre is set on fire under it. "We are performing the last rites of Gyanendra," said a youth who gave his name as Ashok. "We are here spontaneously," he declared. "We don't have any leaders and we will not really trust anyone. Except if the seven parties and the Maoists come together. What we are doing today is just a preparation for tomorrow," Ashok said, referring to the massive demonstrations planned along the ring road for Tuesday. "My friends and I have decided we will try and stop at least 12 or 13 police trucks from crossing this spot." Are you going to put up barricades like this one, I asked. "We have had enough with barricades," he declared. "This time we are going to throw petrol bombs."
25 April 2006
The Hindu
In Nepal, novel forms of protest and familiar ones too
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: The rest of Nepal may yet be wondering whether and when it will get a chance to vote for a Constituent Assembly but for the students, staff, faculty and patients of one hospital in the Nepalese capital, the moment of reckoning is now.
As their own contribution to the ongoing mass upsurge for democracy, the Free Students Union at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj organised a little referendum, in which anyone who made it through the hospital gates during curfew on Monday could cast a ballot indicating his or her preference for ganatantra (republic), lokatantra (ceremonial monarchy), or rajtantra (monarchy).
A similar open referendum in Pokhara, King Gyanendra's preferred retreat from Kathmandu, saw 22,000 votes cast in favour of a republic, 14,000 for a ceremonial monarchy and only 53 for a monarchy of the kind that exists now.
By the time this correspondent dropped by the T.U. Hospital in the morning, several hundred ballots had been cast. "We are mostly for a republic," a student replied to my question what early trends indicated. I asked a fourth-year medical student who had just voted what he had to say to those who said Nepal's unity would be endangered if the monarchy were abolished. "Please see what's going on in the streets," he shot back. "All are united, except the King." I asked the student what his name was. "Paras," he replied, to the mocking laughter of his friends. Paras is also the name of King Gyanendra's son, a crown prince much reviled on the streets of his country.
Angry mood
The mood in the hospital is particularly angry for two reasons. A few weeks ago, the police stormed the campus hostel, beat up pro-democracy students and fired tear as shells in the courtyard between the teaching hospital and the children's hospital. And on Monday, the hospital was treating a steady stream of patients injured in the police crackdown on demonstrators. A senior doctor, who asked not to be identified, said the worst cases were of those injured by rubber bullets. "Of the eight cases we have received in the past few days, I am sorry to say, four people have lost their sight in one eye."
In the ophthalmology ward, we saw the most recent victims. Ram Bahadur B.K., a 16-year-old boy, had lost his left eye. "We operated on him this morning but could not save his eye," the doctor said, lowering his voice. Ram had not woken up yet and did not know he was blind in one eye.
Meanwhile, a short distance away, a large crowd of demonstrators braved curfew to march towards Narayan Gopal Chowk barely 400 metres away from the gated compound, where Prince Paras lives. The crowd taunted the police and also appealed to their sentiments "as Nepalese" to side with the people and not fire tear gas. Then they began to chant `Paras gunda, rukma jhunda (Paras is a thug, let's hang him)' and `Gyane chor, desh chhod (Gyanendra the thief, leave the country)'.
The police commander argued with them for a while before signalling his men to charge. Within seconds, dozens of policemen waded in swinging lathis and firing tear gas. The crowd ran as fast as it could, only to regroup some 100 metres away. A fusillade of stones came raining down on the police from all sides, as the residents of houses in the side streets joined in the fight. Reinforcements were rushed, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired and the crowd was eventually driven back several hundred metres.
We caught up with the same demonstrators several hours later on the ring road near Banasthali. They were now holding aloft two magnificent but slightly comic effigies of Gyanendra and Paras. This time, they were allowed to pass by a police picket peacefully. "If I can find a leader," the police commander told me, "I can make sure the demonstration remains peaceful. It is only when the protesters are without a leader that things get difficult."
Helmeted scribes
Two Western photographers, wearing helmets, suddenly alight from their vehicle. "I think ever since Bush invaded Iraq, you journalists have started wearing helmets," he said. "I was stationed in Kosovo during the invasion and saw all the journalists on TV. And now I see this happening in Nepal."
I asked the police commander whether he knew the United Nations was considering banning the Nepalese police and army from lucrative peacekeeping operations until King Gyanendra handed over power. "I am not bothered," he said, adding sotto voce, "It is the Army who should be!"
Further down the ring road, towards Halchowk, headquarters of the armed police, a small group of youths has set up a burning barricade. A stick dressed in a shirt is hanging from a tree and a tyre is set on fire under it. "We are performing the last rites of Gyanendra," said a youth who gave his name as Ashok. "We are here spontaneously," he declared. "We don't have any leaders and we will not really trust anyone. Except if the seven parties and the Maoists come together. What we are doing today is just a preparation for tomorrow," Ashok said, referring to the massive demonstrations planned along the ring road for Tuesday. "My friends and I have decided we will try and stop at least 12 or 13 police trucks from crossing this spot." Are you going to put up barricades like this one, I asked. "We have had enough with barricades," he declared. "This time we are going to throw petrol bombs."
23 April 2006
People, parties spurn Gyanendra's offer
Kathmandu: As surging crowds enter downtown Kathmandu for the first time since the current wave of protests began, India has officially put itself out of step with the pro-democracy forces.
23 April 2006
The Hindu (and also here)
Gyanendra's offer spurned
Protesters manage to break through the cordon sanitaire that is downtown Kathmandu
Indeed, the popular response to the King's televised offer has been so ferocious that for the first time since the current agitation began on April 6, protesters managed to break through the cordon sanitaire that is downtown Kathmandu.
Spontaneous gatherings
Gathering spontaneously at points along the ring road like Kalanki despite the shoot-at-sight curfew, which was re-imposed again, a crowd that was as large as two or even three lakh slowly converged towards the centre. Their demand: a Constituent Assembly and dialogue with the Maoists. At Tripureshwar, near the Singha Durbar, which is home to the Prime Minister's office, and other points, sporadic clashes erupted between the police and protesters. Tear-gas and rubber bullets were fired and more than two dozen people were injured.
A providential afternoon downpour helped the police as the crowds slowly melted away, but the tension on the faces of soldiers guarding the square mile around the Narayahanhiti Palace was palpable.
By late afternoon, a nervous Gyanendra had ordered the kingdom's cell phone providers to switch off all mobile services in an attempt to frustrate any attempts at organising fresh protests.
"Many more people will come tomorrow," Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the Communist Party (UML) told The Hindu . "The number of protesters is swelling day by day but the King is not paying any attention to the peoples' aspirations."
Out of step
If indeed King Gyanendra's offer was the product of his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy, Karan Singh, then it is evident that the ship of Indian influence in Nepal has run aground on the streets of Kathmandu. Indeed, by welcoming in a fulsome and even hasty manner a royal offer of democratic rule that most Nepalese consider `too little, too late,' India has, for the first time since February 2005, placed itself out of step with the Nepalese parties.
On Saturday, the UML and all other constituents of the SPA issued individual as well as collective statements denouncing King Gyanendra's offer. "The King's proclamation does not address the parties' roadmap and the aspirations of the people ... [I]t does not make any sense to join the government," the SPA said in a statement issued after the meeting.
After a meeting at the Maharajganj residence of Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala, the SPA came up with a four-point formula involving reinstatement of Parliament, formation of an all-party government, talks with the Maoist insurgents and elections to a constituent assembly with the involvement of the rebels.
Diplomatic pressure
Throughout Saturday, diplomatic pressure on the SPA to compromise with King Gyanendra mounted with European Union ambassadors calling on Mr. Koirala and others to select their nominee for Prime Minister. Indian diplomats, too, remained in touch with the party leaders through telephone for much of the day but conceded privately to this reporter that many of the SPA's misgivings about the King's offer were valid.
"At the end of the day, the King has simply not accepted the fact that state authority lies with the people," says Mr. Nepal. Explaining the SPA's roadmap, the UML leader said the starting point for restoration of democracy would be revival of Parliament. "After that, the process may be something like this. At its first meeting, Parliament would take the decision to go for a Constituent Assembly and also begin a roundtable dialogue with the Maoists." Instead of respecting a roadmap for fundamental democratic change which has wide support amongst the people, says Mr. Nepal, King Gyanendra wanted to prove that the parties were really after the post of Prime Minister.
"What he wants the SPA to accept is the position Sher Bahadur Deuba was in just before he was dismissed as Prime Minister," Mr. Nepal said. "How is it possible? Gyanendra is not even prepared to go back to October 2002 [when he first dismissed the elected Prime Minister] but merely to February 1, 2005 [when he seized power directly]."
Roadmap ignored
In its individual statement, the NC said the King's proclamation totally ignored the seven parties' roadmap for a constituent assembly through reinstatement of the dissolved House of Representatives, and for the establishment of "loktantra."
"The King's "concessions" satisfy neither the people on the streets nor any of the parties," Pradeep Giri of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) told The Hindu.
23 April 2006
The Hindu (and also here)
Gyanendra's offer spurned
Protesters manage to break through the cordon sanitaire that is downtown Kathmandu
Siddharth Varadarajan
Kathmandu: Less than 24 hours after King Gyanendra offered to hand over power to the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), which has been spearheading the campaign for democracy in Nepal, the verdict here is clear: neither the people, who have taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers, nor the political parties, intend to settle for a half-way house in which the sword of royal intervention hangs perpetually over the head of civilian government.Indeed, the popular response to the King's televised offer has been so ferocious that for the first time since the current agitation began on April 6, protesters managed to break through the cordon sanitaire that is downtown Kathmandu.
Spontaneous gatherings
Gathering spontaneously at points along the ring road like Kalanki despite the shoot-at-sight curfew, which was re-imposed again, a crowd that was as large as two or even three lakh slowly converged towards the centre. Their demand: a Constituent Assembly and dialogue with the Maoists. At Tripureshwar, near the Singha Durbar, which is home to the Prime Minister's office, and other points, sporadic clashes erupted between the police and protesters. Tear-gas and rubber bullets were fired and more than two dozen people were injured.
A providential afternoon downpour helped the police as the crowds slowly melted away, but the tension on the faces of soldiers guarding the square mile around the Narayahanhiti Palace was palpable.
By late afternoon, a nervous Gyanendra had ordered the kingdom's cell phone providers to switch off all mobile services in an attempt to frustrate any attempts at organising fresh protests.
"Many more people will come tomorrow," Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the Communist Party (UML) told The Hindu . "The number of protesters is swelling day by day but the King is not paying any attention to the peoples' aspirations."
Out of step
If indeed King Gyanendra's offer was the product of his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy, Karan Singh, then it is evident that the ship of Indian influence in Nepal has run aground on the streets of Kathmandu. Indeed, by welcoming in a fulsome and even hasty manner a royal offer of democratic rule that most Nepalese consider `too little, too late,' India has, for the first time since February 2005, placed itself out of step with the Nepalese parties.
On Saturday, the UML and all other constituents of the SPA issued individual as well as collective statements denouncing King Gyanendra's offer. "The King's proclamation does not address the parties' roadmap and the aspirations of the people ... [I]t does not make any sense to join the government," the SPA said in a statement issued after the meeting.
After a meeting at the Maharajganj residence of Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala, the SPA came up with a four-point formula involving reinstatement of Parliament, formation of an all-party government, talks with the Maoist insurgents and elections to a constituent assembly with the involvement of the rebels.
Diplomatic pressure
Throughout Saturday, diplomatic pressure on the SPA to compromise with King Gyanendra mounted with European Union ambassadors calling on Mr. Koirala and others to select their nominee for Prime Minister. Indian diplomats, too, remained in touch with the party leaders through telephone for much of the day but conceded privately to this reporter that many of the SPA's misgivings about the King's offer were valid.
"At the end of the day, the King has simply not accepted the fact that state authority lies with the people," says Mr. Nepal. Explaining the SPA's roadmap, the UML leader said the starting point for restoration of democracy would be revival of Parliament. "After that, the process may be something like this. At its first meeting, Parliament would take the decision to go for a Constituent Assembly and also begin a roundtable dialogue with the Maoists." Instead of respecting a roadmap for fundamental democratic change which has wide support amongst the people, says Mr. Nepal, King Gyanendra wanted to prove that the parties were really after the post of Prime Minister.
"What he wants the SPA to accept is the position Sher Bahadur Deuba was in just before he was dismissed as Prime Minister," Mr. Nepal said. "How is it possible? Gyanendra is not even prepared to go back to October 2002 [when he first dismissed the elected Prime Minister] but merely to February 1, 2005 [when he seized power directly]."
Roadmap ignored
In its individual statement, the NC said the King's proclamation totally ignored the seven parties' roadmap for a constituent assembly through reinstatement of the dissolved House of Representatives, and for the establishment of "loktantra."
"The King's "concessions" satisfy neither the people on the streets nor any of the parties," Pradeep Giri of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) told The Hindu.
22 April 2006
In Nepal, only the beginning of the end
People power has forced Gyanendra to cede executive power. But only a democratically elected Constituent Assembly can bring the people true power. Revolutions done in half-measure inevitably fail. The parties must learn well the lessons of Nepal's recent history and not rest till the Nepalese people have wrested full sovereignty for themselves.
22 April 2006
The Hindu
In Nepal, the beginning of the end
Siddharth Varadarajan
IN THE fullness of time, King Gyanendra — like other monarchs and ex-monarchs who litter the pages of history — will also realise that revolutions have a horology of their own and do not respect the neat rhythms that kings and generals try to impose on them.
For more than a year, the people of Nepal have been demanding that King Gyanendra end his illegal seizure of power and return executive authority to an elected government. After first subverting the Nepalese Parliament in 2002, Gyanendra staged a putsch-within-a-coup on February 1, 2005, arrogating all powers to himself and declaring an end to even the `three-fifths democracy' that the 1990 Constitution embodied. But today, when the moment finally arrived for the monarch grumpily to announce his surrender on national television, the relentless clock of popular expectation and revolt could well end up robbing this kingly concession of its power to send the masses back into their homes.
Monumental folly
Today, the genie of constitutional change is out of the bottle, liberated from its confines by a monumental act of folly on the part of the King. From here, it will not be easy for either Gyanendra or the parties or the people who have come on the streets to merely return to the status quo ante as it prevailed on February 1, 2005.
The Ancient Greeks had a term to describe Gyanendra's sickness — akrasia, or the state of acting against one's better interests. Socrates saw akrasia as the manifestation of ignorance, Aristotle of weakness. In both cases, full-fledged reason is overwhelmed by impetuosity and bathos, qualities the Nepalese monarch surely possesses in abundance.
Four years ago, when he embarked on his misadventure, the demand for a Constituent Assembly was largely confined to the Maoists and to the student wings of the Nepali Congress and UML parties. If at all the subject came up for discussion in "polite company," advocates for constitutional change were quick to add apologetically that any elected assembly need not necessarily be empowered to do away with the system of monarchy itself. What Gyanendra has done is turn the slogan for a Constituent Assembly into a democratic totem for the majority of his people. Most Nepalese today correctly consider constitutional change as essential to strengthen popular sovereignty, institute democratic control over the armed forces, and achieve a fairer deal for the country's diverse and unequal ethnic groups, for the janajatis and the Dalits. Above all, a new and genuinely democratic and inconclusive Constitution will allow Nepal to transcend the violence and bloodshed that has marred the better part of the past decade. It will offer the prospects for a new and more just social compact in which there will be no room for insurgency and counter-insurgency.
It took one maharaja who no longer has a kingdom — Karan Singh — to rekindle the fading instincts for self-preservation in Gyanendra that hubris had all but extinguished. Each hour of every passing day was pushing the kingdom closer and closer to that crucial point at which kings and ex-kings, politicians and army chiefs suddenly discover they no longer have the capacity to control or even influence the flow of events. General Pyar Jung Thapa could always be counted upon to order his men to open fire on the gathering thousands but his soldiers' fingers may have baulked at traversing those crucial few inches that stand between mutiny and genocide. India and the United States knew that time had already run out. And that a delay of even one more day would have meant there would be nobody out there to accept an offer of compromise from Gyanendra.
In the event, the King has stepped back from the edge but it is not clear his opponents are ready to accept the wares he is holding out. Gyanendra will not admit it but the whole of Nepal and the world already knows that he has lost his kingdom. Is his offer of returning executive power to the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) on behalf of the people under Article 35 of the Constitution, then, an admission on his part that the old order is over? The old order with all its constitutional ambiguities that allowed not just his palace putsch but also his unquestioned (and very disastrous) leadership over the army? Clearly not, since the text of the King's televised speech makes explicit reference to the need for the country to be governed in accordance with "the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990." All Gyanendra is offering, really, is a quick turn of the clock back to February 2005.
As the seven-party alliance ponders over its next move, its leaders should resist the temptation to give up the popular leverage that has made this remarkable turn of events possible.
Any acceptance of the King's latest offer must be prefaced by a clear and transparent statement of purpose that respects the sentiments of the Nepalese people for fundamental constitutional change and a negotiated end to the Maoist insurgency in the country. It must also respect the basic principles of the two understandings reached between the SPA and the Maoists in November 2005 and March 2006.
The modalities of a transitional government, including the revival of parliament, the nature of the negotiations with the Maoists, and the manner in which a Constituent Assembly is to be elected, can all be worked out once the SPA takes charge, but this goal can and must be explicitly spelt out by the alliance leadership if the unprecedented popular uprising of the past few weeks is to have any meaning at all. In addition, the SPA must announce that their first act in power will be the release of all political prisoners, the scrapping of the draconian Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (TADO), and the laws restricting media freedom. The SPA must also stress its understanding that the assumption of executive power includes taking charge of the Royal Nepal Army and that if at all there is any ambiguity, all the more reason to push for constitutional changes at the earliest possible opportunity.
At stake is not just popular sentiment but the parties' own need for some guarantee against King Gyanendra making another grab for power once he feels the heat is off. Revolutions done in half-measure inevitably fail. The parties must learn well the lessons of Nepal's recent history and not rest till the Nepalese people have wrested true sovereignty for themselves.
22 April 2006
The Hindu
In Nepal, the beginning of the end
Siddharth Varadarajan
IN THE fullness of time, King Gyanendra — like other monarchs and ex-monarchs who litter the pages of history — will also realise that revolutions have a horology of their own and do not respect the neat rhythms that kings and generals try to impose on them.
For more than a year, the people of Nepal have been demanding that King Gyanendra end his illegal seizure of power and return executive authority to an elected government. After first subverting the Nepalese Parliament in 2002, Gyanendra staged a putsch-within-a-coup on February 1, 2005, arrogating all powers to himself and declaring an end to even the `three-fifths democracy' that the 1990 Constitution embodied. But today, when the moment finally arrived for the monarch grumpily to announce his surrender on national television, the relentless clock of popular expectation and revolt could well end up robbing this kingly concession of its power to send the masses back into their homes.
Monumental folly
Today, the genie of constitutional change is out of the bottle, liberated from its confines by a monumental act of folly on the part of the King. From here, it will not be easy for either Gyanendra or the parties or the people who have come on the streets to merely return to the status quo ante as it prevailed on February 1, 2005.
The Ancient Greeks had a term to describe Gyanendra's sickness — akrasia, or the state of acting against one's better interests. Socrates saw akrasia as the manifestation of ignorance, Aristotle of weakness. In both cases, full-fledged reason is overwhelmed by impetuosity and bathos, qualities the Nepalese monarch surely possesses in abundance.
Four years ago, when he embarked on his misadventure, the demand for a Constituent Assembly was largely confined to the Maoists and to the student wings of the Nepali Congress and UML parties. If at all the subject came up for discussion in "polite company," advocates for constitutional change were quick to add apologetically that any elected assembly need not necessarily be empowered to do away with the system of monarchy itself. What Gyanendra has done is turn the slogan for a Constituent Assembly into a democratic totem for the majority of his people. Most Nepalese today correctly consider constitutional change as essential to strengthen popular sovereignty, institute democratic control over the armed forces, and achieve a fairer deal for the country's diverse and unequal ethnic groups, for the janajatis and the Dalits. Above all, a new and genuinely democratic and inconclusive Constitution will allow Nepal to transcend the violence and bloodshed that has marred the better part of the past decade. It will offer the prospects for a new and more just social compact in which there will be no room for insurgency and counter-insurgency.
It took one maharaja who no longer has a kingdom — Karan Singh — to rekindle the fading instincts for self-preservation in Gyanendra that hubris had all but extinguished. Each hour of every passing day was pushing the kingdom closer and closer to that crucial point at which kings and ex-kings, politicians and army chiefs suddenly discover they no longer have the capacity to control or even influence the flow of events. General Pyar Jung Thapa could always be counted upon to order his men to open fire on the gathering thousands but his soldiers' fingers may have baulked at traversing those crucial few inches that stand between mutiny and genocide. India and the United States knew that time had already run out. And that a delay of even one more day would have meant there would be nobody out there to accept an offer of compromise from Gyanendra.
In the event, the King has stepped back from the edge but it is not clear his opponents are ready to accept the wares he is holding out. Gyanendra will not admit it but the whole of Nepal and the world already knows that he has lost his kingdom. Is his offer of returning executive power to the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) on behalf of the people under Article 35 of the Constitution, then, an admission on his part that the old order is over? The old order with all its constitutional ambiguities that allowed not just his palace putsch but also his unquestioned (and very disastrous) leadership over the army? Clearly not, since the text of the King's televised speech makes explicit reference to the need for the country to be governed in accordance with "the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990." All Gyanendra is offering, really, is a quick turn of the clock back to February 2005.
As the seven-party alliance ponders over its next move, its leaders should resist the temptation to give up the popular leverage that has made this remarkable turn of events possible.
Any acceptance of the King's latest offer must be prefaced by a clear and transparent statement of purpose that respects the sentiments of the Nepalese people for fundamental constitutional change and a negotiated end to the Maoist insurgency in the country. It must also respect the basic principles of the two understandings reached between the SPA and the Maoists in November 2005 and March 2006.
The modalities of a transitional government, including the revival of parliament, the nature of the negotiations with the Maoists, and the manner in which a Constituent Assembly is to be elected, can all be worked out once the SPA takes charge, but this goal can and must be explicitly spelt out by the alliance leadership if the unprecedented popular uprising of the past few weeks is to have any meaning at all. In addition, the SPA must announce that their first act in power will be the release of all political prisoners, the scrapping of the draconian Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (TADO), and the laws restricting media freedom. The SPA must also stress its understanding that the assumption of executive power includes taking charge of the Royal Nepal Army and that if at all there is any ambiguity, all the more reason to push for constitutional changes at the earliest possible opportunity.
At stake is not just popular sentiment but the parties' own need for some guarantee against King Gyanendra making another grab for power once he feels the heat is off. Revolutions done in half-measure inevitably fail. The parties must learn well the lessons of Nepal's recent history and not rest till the Nepalese people have wrested true sovereignty for themselves.
11 April 2006
Review: More at stake than the monarchy
With the partnership between Nepal's parliamentary parties and Maoists having brought the Himalayan kingdom to a historic turning point, the reconfiguration of Nepalese politics, social relations and foreign policy is a question that can no longer be evaded. King Gyanendra and his principal international backer, the United States, may be determined to hold on to power and even try and turn the clock back to an earlier era. But when the dust from the new wave of popular protest eventually settles, it is unlikely that either he or the monarchy — or the military commanders and businessmen who support him — will be able to continue in the old way. A novice in politics and statecraft, Gyanendra is all tactics and no strategy. In Nepal, then, the question is no longer `whether' but `when'. The `kingdom' will move in the direction of genuine democracy and popular sovereignty, with or without its king, and this can only have a salutary impact on the Nepalese state's relations with its citizens and with the wider world, including India.
Though the arrival of a clutch of books on Nepal at a time the country is in the throes of political turmoil might ordinarily be grounds for suspecting their quality, the three books under review are anything but "quickies". Each the product of solid research and analysis by leading scholars, the volumes provide the necessary historical, sociological and regional contexts to the ongoing struggle for popular sovereignty.
11 April 2006
The Hindu
Nepal beyond the monarchy
After years of upheaval, Nepal is on the brink of a major political change. What will a country of citizens — and not subjects — look like? Three new books provide some of the answers.
SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN
DYNAMICS OF FOREIGN POLICY AND LAW — A Study of Indo-Nepal Relations: Surya P. Subedi; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 595.
TOWARDS A DEMOCRATIC NEPAL — Inclusive Political Institutions for a Multicultural Society: Mahendra Lawoti; Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., B-42, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 395.
A HISTORY OF NEPAL: John Whelpton; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, distributed by Foundation Books Pvt. Ltd., 438/4, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 375.
With the partnership between Nepal's parliamentary parties and Maoists having brought the Himalayan kingdom to a historic turning point, the reconfiguration of Nepalese politics, social relations and foreign policy is a question that can no longer be evaded. King Gyanendra and his principal international backer, the United States, may be determined to hold on to power and even try and turn the clock back to an earlier era. But when the dust from the new wave of popular protest eventually settles, it is unlikely that either he or the monarchy — or the military commanders and businessmen who support him — will be able to continue in the old way.
A novice in politics and statecraft, Gyanendra is all tactics and no strategy. In Nepal, then, the question is no longer `whether' but `when'. The `kingdom' will move in the direction of genuine democracy and popular sovereignty, with or without its king, and this can only have a salutary impact on the Nepalese state's relations with its citizens and with the wider world, including India.
Though the arrival of a clutch of books on Nepal at a time the country is in the throes of political turmoil might ordinarily be grounds for suspecting their quality, the three books under review are anything but "quickies". Each the product of solid research and analysis by leading scholars, the volumes provide the necessary historical, sociological and regional contexts to the ongoing struggle for popular sovereignty.
While none deals at length with the Maoist movement - for that, interested readers can do no better than turn to S.D. Muni's Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: The Challenge and the Response (Rupa, New Delhi) - they do render more intelligible the wider processes and problems that any search for a democratic, inclusive future must come to terms with.
In his book, John Whelpton provides a detailed, yet, highly accessible account of the history of modern Nepal that is also full of contemporary political and social insights.
Tracing the evolution of the monarchy and the Nepalese state from Prithvi Narayan Shah in the 18th century to the ascendancy of the Ranas and the eventual return to full-blown monarchy, Whelpton describes the process of unification and `Sanskritisation' which enabled the gradual expansion of Gorkhali power across the length and breadth of Nepal. Ethnicity remains a potent factor in Nepalese society, he argues, but so does the notion of `Nepaleseness' which is not necessarily contingent on the monarchy as a unifying factor. Whelpton's chapters on Nepal's development experience and on the social changes brought about by the expansion of education as well as migration add an important dimension to the contemporary narrative which is often lost in the tumult of politics.
Exclusion
In Towards a Democratic Nepal, Mahendra Lawoti sees the Maoist insurgency in Nepal as an outgrowth of fundamental inequalities within the Himalayan kingdom. He provides a devastating account of the systematic exclusion of Nepal's ethnic and minority groups from the political and economic mainstream of the country — the adibasis, janajatis, dalits, Madhesis and Muslims — and pitches for a Constituent Assembly as a means of effecting fundamental reforms in the polity. Though Lawoti's emphasis on constitutional change suggests an overlap with what the Maoists and parties are saying, his proposed project is a far richer and complex one aimed not just at renegotiating the monarchy's position but also at bridging fundamental inequalities between Nepal's regions and ethnic groups.
Lawoti argues that the dominant group in Nepal today is the CHEEM, or Caste Hill Hindu Elite Male, who constitutes less than 31 per cent of the population but whose hold over all spheres of the state, society and market "is overwhelming." The author favours proportional representation as well as affirmative action policies aimed at raising the socio-economic level of Nepal's underprivileged communities. But for some of Nepal's communities, such as the Limbus, for example, the principle of proportionality may not be enough. Apart from the constitutional protection of minority rights, therefore, Lawoti argues for a federal structure in which a "House of Nationalities" would give voice to the country's diverse ethnicities. Though he concedes that the Maoists and even the monarchy have done more than the parliamentary parties to address concerns of socio-cultural exclusion, Lawoti says that "the institutions proposed in this book are not compatible with an autocratic monarchy or with the Maoists's Peoples' Democracy." A constitutional monarchy or a Maoist movement without violence, however, would be a different matter.
India-Nepal relations
In contrast to Whelpton and Lawoti, Surya Subedi's book is closely focussed on the relationship between India and Nepal over the past 55 years.
Taking as his starting point the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship that was signed when Mohan Shumsher and the Rana regime of which he was Prime Minister was about to be overthrown, Subedi argues that India has always concluded treaties with Nepal dealing with security matters "when the government in Nepal... was weak." As a landlocked country, "one of the first and foremost provisions in a peace and friendship treaty with India should be to guarantee Nepal's freedom of transit and right of free access to and from the sea," writes Subedi. "However, the 1950 treaty contains no such provision."
Subedi's arguments are strengthened by their firm grounding in international practice on the question of trade and transit rights of landlocked countries. His discussion about the marine fishery rights of landlocked countries, especially in the exclusive economic zones of their neighbours, is also fascinating.
Bilateral issues
While there may be some `nationalists' in India who will dispute Subedi's analysis of the security, transit and water issues which have bedevilled the bilateral relationship, especially the Mahakali and Tanakpur controversies, there can surely be no argument about his conclusion that all outstanding problems must be resolved on the basis of equality, openness, mutual respect and trust.
Arguing that the provisions of the 1950 treaty and the 1965 Arms Assistance Agreement on security matters "are very similar, [and] even identical to those of the 1923 treaty concluded by Nepal with British India," Subedi stresses that "antiquated colonial style treaties" need to be democratised. Democratisation of relations between the two countries would be in India's interest, he says, since "it would then be difficult for Nepalese political parties to win elections on the basis of an anti-India policy." Subedi doesn't say so but the key to that democratisation lies today with the Nepalese democratic forces, whose struggle against authoritarian monarchy will eventually open the door to more fundamental changes on every front.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
Though the arrival of a clutch of books on Nepal at a time the country is in the throes of political turmoil might ordinarily be grounds for suspecting their quality, the three books under review are anything but "quickies". Each the product of solid research and analysis by leading scholars, the volumes provide the necessary historical, sociological and regional contexts to the ongoing struggle for popular sovereignty.
11 April 2006
The Hindu
Nepal beyond the monarchy
After years of upheaval, Nepal is on the brink of a major political change. What will a country of citizens — and not subjects — look like? Three new books provide some of the answers.
SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN
DYNAMICS OF FOREIGN POLICY AND LAW — A Study of Indo-Nepal Relations: Surya P. Subedi; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 595.
TOWARDS A DEMOCRATIC NEPAL — Inclusive Political Institutions for a Multicultural Society: Mahendra Lawoti; Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., B-42, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 395.
A HISTORY OF NEPAL: John Whelpton; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, distributed by Foundation Books Pvt. Ltd., 438/4, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 375.
With the partnership between Nepal's parliamentary parties and Maoists having brought the Himalayan kingdom to a historic turning point, the reconfiguration of Nepalese politics, social relations and foreign policy is a question that can no longer be evaded. King Gyanendra and his principal international backer, the United States, may be determined to hold on to power and even try and turn the clock back to an earlier era. But when the dust from the new wave of popular protest eventually settles, it is unlikely that either he or the monarchy — or the military commanders and businessmen who support him — will be able to continue in the old way.
A novice in politics and statecraft, Gyanendra is all tactics and no strategy. In Nepal, then, the question is no longer `whether' but `when'. The `kingdom' will move in the direction of genuine democracy and popular sovereignty, with or without its king, and this can only have a salutary impact on the Nepalese state's relations with its citizens and with the wider world, including India.
Though the arrival of a clutch of books on Nepal at a time the country is in the throes of political turmoil might ordinarily be grounds for suspecting their quality, the three books under review are anything but "quickies". Each the product of solid research and analysis by leading scholars, the volumes provide the necessary historical, sociological and regional contexts to the ongoing struggle for popular sovereignty.
While none deals at length with the Maoist movement - for that, interested readers can do no better than turn to S.D. Muni's Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: The Challenge and the Response (Rupa, New Delhi) - they do render more intelligible the wider processes and problems that any search for a democratic, inclusive future must come to terms with.
In his book, John Whelpton provides a detailed, yet, highly accessible account of the history of modern Nepal that is also full of contemporary political and social insights.
Tracing the evolution of the monarchy and the Nepalese state from Prithvi Narayan Shah in the 18th century to the ascendancy of the Ranas and the eventual return to full-blown monarchy, Whelpton describes the process of unification and `Sanskritisation' which enabled the gradual expansion of Gorkhali power across the length and breadth of Nepal. Ethnicity remains a potent factor in Nepalese society, he argues, but so does the notion of `Nepaleseness' which is not necessarily contingent on the monarchy as a unifying factor. Whelpton's chapters on Nepal's development experience and on the social changes brought about by the expansion of education as well as migration add an important dimension to the contemporary narrative which is often lost in the tumult of politics.
Exclusion
In Towards a Democratic Nepal, Mahendra Lawoti sees the Maoist insurgency in Nepal as an outgrowth of fundamental inequalities within the Himalayan kingdom. He provides a devastating account of the systematic exclusion of Nepal's ethnic and minority groups from the political and economic mainstream of the country — the adibasis, janajatis, dalits, Madhesis and Muslims — and pitches for a Constituent Assembly as a means of effecting fundamental reforms in the polity. Though Lawoti's emphasis on constitutional change suggests an overlap with what the Maoists and parties are saying, his proposed project is a far richer and complex one aimed not just at renegotiating the monarchy's position but also at bridging fundamental inequalities between Nepal's regions and ethnic groups.
Lawoti argues that the dominant group in Nepal today is the CHEEM, or Caste Hill Hindu Elite Male, who constitutes less than 31 per cent of the population but whose hold over all spheres of the state, society and market "is overwhelming." The author favours proportional representation as well as affirmative action policies aimed at raising the socio-economic level of Nepal's underprivileged communities. But for some of Nepal's communities, such as the Limbus, for example, the principle of proportionality may not be enough. Apart from the constitutional protection of minority rights, therefore, Lawoti argues for a federal structure in which a "House of Nationalities" would give voice to the country's diverse ethnicities. Though he concedes that the Maoists and even the monarchy have done more than the parliamentary parties to address concerns of socio-cultural exclusion, Lawoti says that "the institutions proposed in this book are not compatible with an autocratic monarchy or with the Maoists's Peoples' Democracy." A constitutional monarchy or a Maoist movement without violence, however, would be a different matter.
India-Nepal relations
In contrast to Whelpton and Lawoti, Surya Subedi's book is closely focussed on the relationship between India and Nepal over the past 55 years.
Taking as his starting point the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship that was signed when Mohan Shumsher and the Rana regime of which he was Prime Minister was about to be overthrown, Subedi argues that India has always concluded treaties with Nepal dealing with security matters "when the government in Nepal... was weak." As a landlocked country, "one of the first and foremost provisions in a peace and friendship treaty with India should be to guarantee Nepal's freedom of transit and right of free access to and from the sea," writes Subedi. "However, the 1950 treaty contains no such provision."
Subedi's arguments are strengthened by their firm grounding in international practice on the question of trade and transit rights of landlocked countries. His discussion about the marine fishery rights of landlocked countries, especially in the exclusive economic zones of their neighbours, is also fascinating.
Bilateral issues
While there may be some `nationalists' in India who will dispute Subedi's analysis of the security, transit and water issues which have bedevilled the bilateral relationship, especially the Mahakali and Tanakpur controversies, there can surely be no argument about his conclusion that all outstanding problems must be resolved on the basis of equality, openness, mutual respect and trust.
Arguing that the provisions of the 1950 treaty and the 1965 Arms Assistance Agreement on security matters "are very similar, [and] even identical to those of the 1923 treaty concluded by Nepal with British India," Subedi stresses that "antiquated colonial style treaties" need to be democratised. Democratisation of relations between the two countries would be in India's interest, he says, since "it would then be difficult for Nepalese political parties to win elections on the basis of an anti-India policy." Subedi doesn't say so but the key to that democratisation lies today with the Nepalese democratic forces, whose struggle against authoritarian monarchy will eventually open the door to more fundamental changes on every front.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
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