Monday, June 20, 2005

Full Democracy Soon?


Looks like the threat of a Maoist-Democrat alliance is already working. We have a top Indian minister claiming Nepal is on the verge of restoring full democracy, although I would like to know where he got his information from. On the other hand we have a senior Nepali minister threatening the democrats, that they will be treated like the Maoists should they form an alliance. Carrot and stick? Empty threat? So if the Maoist-Democrat alliance comes together on the issue of Constituent Assembly, you are going to send the army after the democrats? Come on.

Isn't this minister guy the same one that routinely gets into trouble with the Supreme Court? Looks like he is speaking out of his back pocket. Isn't this the guy that imposes imaginative sackles on the press, and when the press asks the king about it, his reply is that such decisions have yet to reach his desk? I mean, this minister guy, does he think he is the modern day Jung Bahadur or what! He sure is going on a tangent on a routine basis.

As for a restoration of full democracy, I will see it when it happens. Frankly, I don't see it in the cards. Although it would be wise of the regime to head that way.

The Maoists have taken their attacks to a whole new level. They are now targeting district headquarters, it seems. If only a few of those were to fall, that would be a major blow to the regime. The war is psychological.

The Maoists are not pretending they have given up on their original goal. And that is why engaging them is the better route to go. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer, as the saying goes. If you engage them, you stand a chance to tame them. If you stay away, they run amok. Besides, if the consensus is for a political solution to the civil war, that translates into engaging them. So do what you say you will.

If the Monarchists keep digging their heels, the foreign powers will continue to stay away. And I am not sure the recent RNA stunt of trying to buy arms and ammunition from private global markets is exactly a great move on their part. First, the US routinely passes laws prohibiting American companies from doing business with regimes it disapproves of. I would think other democracies do something similar, or are capable of the same. Second, India-US-EU holding back military supplies is not a military move, it is a political move. If the Monarchists see it purely in military terms, they stand to challenge powers like India into changing gears.

Monarchists Invited To The Maoist-Democrat Alliance

The Monarchists have been alarmed by the gelling Maoist-Democrat alliance around the idea of a Constituent Assembly. They need not feel excluded. They are very much welcome to the same alliance. It is not some exclusive club.

Peter Pan Giri and company, stop whining and instead turn the Maoist-Democrat alliance into a Monarchist-Maoist-Democrat Grand Alliance. Seize the moment. It's called Constituent Assembly. It is called going to the people.

E-Mail From Gagan Thapa

I received an email from Gagan Thapa earlier today. I am thrilled. He got arrested when Dinesh (Prasain) was on his US speaking tour, and we all took it very personally. It is good to know Thapa now is beyond arrest, and is politicking freely.

Thapa's point is the four point agenda of the seven parties is a great starting point, but not entirely enough. And that as the movement chugs along, more progress is to be made.

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