Saturday, July 09, 2005

Monsoon Break


I guess the next few months will be slow politically. Because of the monsoon. Not empty, but rather slow.

This the parties should make use as homework time. To marshall and polish their political positions.

I urge the political leaders to study the South African example of the Constituent Assembly process. The Monarchists are nowhere near as tough as the apartheid people in South Africa. And as long as one stays engaged and respectful, progress is possible.

This document might be of help.

In The News
  • Mao's Doctrine Attractive To Poor and Powerless In Nepal Voice of America .... Baburam Bhattarai ... seems to emulate young Vladimir Lenin .... Nepalese Maoists are offering a vision of a more equitable society, which is most appealing to poor and disenfranchised people..... people who were disempowered not only for a short period of time, but for a long period of time .... more than 80 percent on less than two dollars a day .... Maoists were in the political process. They were in the Parliament until 1995, but a small party. Then they walked out saying that nothing is happening .... land reform, equality for women, equality among caste .... It’s a small country, but imagine disappearances number one in the whole world for two years in a row .... More than 13-thousand village development committees have been destroyed about a dozen district level government offices have been damaged, over seven thousand schools and many factories have closed down. Transport and communication facilities have been destroyed and several multi-national companies have been attacked.... Nepalese people are desperate for peace even if it takes negotiating with terrorists.
  • We are with Nepal: Indian leaders Kathmandu Post, Nepal Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and former prime minister I K Gujaral to Finance Minister P Chidambaram to Janata Dal United leader Nitish Kumar... visiting Nepali Congress (Democratic) leader Gopal Man Shrestha
  • SC warns govt against arbitrary arrests "warned" the government against unlawful and arbitrary preventive detention and arrest of citizens, reminding the latter of its commitment to national and international laws guaranteeing people's civil and political rights.... in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Legal Aid Project of Nepal Bar Association on behalf of Sonam Tamang and Radip Lama, both from Ramechhap.....
  • King is sliding: Krishna Pahadi The king has only negative agendas, which will make him unsuccessful in the days to come. Even Hitler's regime collapsed due to his negative agenda in the past .... some journalists, human rights activists and lawyers, who know their existence is possible only in a democracy, are also being seen supporting autocracy ..... CP Mainali .. The parties have already realized their past mistakes and are moving toward a progressive approach, including restructuring the nation ...... Student leaders Gagan Thapa, Rajendra Rai and Badri Pande also spoke
  • NC Siraha conference revoked revoked the election of district party president that had unanimously elected Sita Devi Yadav to the post .....
  • ‘Monarchy neither constitutional nor autocratic’ Kathmandu Post Giri argued that the county was facing a crisis because of the futile attempt to take monarchy and multi-party democracy together as the two pillars .... charged that political parties are on a mission to defame the monarchy, and are distancing themselves from possible negotiation with the king..... "Somebody might have told Camp there is no democracy in Nepal. I told him that political parties are not banned, the press can write critical news. Do you think there is no democracy in Nepal?" he questioned. Camp then argued there was no freedom in Nepal. "If you think there is no freedom when everybody has enjoyed their rights, then I am sorry," he claimed to have told Camp. "Camp also told me there is no parliament. On this I posed him the question, 'Do you think there was parliament before February 1? Who dissolved the parliament? Camp had no answer to that," he said..... "There are two schools of thought regarding this. The first school says it was good to arrest those people, while the second has an opposite argument. Now, the second argument is getting stronger."


    • Government is sleepwalking Kathmandu Post Ensuing Dr Giri's name in the black list of bank defaulters, the government has remained eerily mum on the subject of the code of conduct due to be announced..... In the eyes of common people the government turns into a laughing stock with its credibility nose-diving...... this government is sleepwalking… hence, does not hear NBL's high decibel alliteration that Dr Giri has defaulted the loan he had taken from the bank for the plastic company twenty years ago..... he not only defaulted with the bank loan but his company has also not paid the taxes since its operation and the salary of the workers remains unpaid till date totaling to millions of rupees .... In a similar instance of defaulting with a bank loan a businessman was arrested recently in Biratnagar. ..... The euphoria of the February 1 move is slowly dying away as people could not see the promised change even after five months..... People simply distaste Dr Giri now. But the King's dilemma is he may not be en-amoured to Dr Giri, but it might be his difficulty getting a replacement that is a political basher and swears fealty too.

    • Nepal king fights a losing battle against graft Gulf Times, Qatar Transparency International Nepal, there is hardly any area in the government and private sectors that is free of corruption. .... the Nepalese monarch, despite his assertion, may be losing his battle against corruption. ..... now with increased political heat on King Gyanendra, his pledge to tackle corruption is also behind questioned

    • Nepal Maoists conspired with Al-Queda and Lashkar-e-Toiba or was ... India Daily, NJ these people came through Nepal. They had Chinese made arms, Korean and Chinese clothing and lot of cash ..... this one is an organized covert operation of some sophisticated organization. ..... Lashkar-e-Toiba may have carried the act but were helped by the Maoists through the Al-Queda links.....

    • Gorakhapatra reverts to old name Kantipur Online coincides with the birthday of King Gyanendra..... newspaper used "Gorkha Patra" as its masthead when it began its publication in 1958 B.S. The name was changed to "Gorakhapatra" in 1983 B.S..... will use an image of Lord Ganesha as logo on the top of its front page. The slogan "Committed to the Nation, Nationality, Crown and Democracy" will be placed right below the logo..... Rising Nepal, Madhuparka, Muna and Yuva Manch

    • Nepal's ruler: Despot, democrat or deity? World Peace Herald, DC speculation that the king was considering a formal ban on political parties. .... The king's advisors insist he also wants dialogue with the politicians, but without preconditions and on his own terms..... As for the rebels, his aim seems to be to quash them with military power, though the task is proving extremely difficult. .... after each incident the rebels melt back into the mountains and jungles to regroup for another skirmish. ..... "The situation has not improved since the king took power," said Tara Nath Ranbhat ..... The regular army has no idea how to fight with guerillas. In the armed conflict no side is winning.... he has no intention of restoring democracy to Nepal but, with the backing of Hindu groups in India, intends to establish himself as an absolute monarch and the global leader of the Hindu faithful ..... In 2003 India's Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or VHP party, bestowed upon King Gyanendra the title of World Hindu Emperor. ..... Singhal also proposed that Gyanendra call a world Hindu convention in New York to "project Hindus as a global power." ..... "We cannot imagine Nepal without a monarchy," said Ranbhat. "By tradition the people regard the king as divine. But one man's thinking cannot create a future."

    • Nepal warns soldiers against abuses World Peace Herald, DC the army is investigating what he described as alleged extra-judicial killings and would punish those found guilty. ..... More than a hundred soldiers have been jailed, dismissed or demoted over the past three years.....

    • Nepal warns people to prepare for flooding, landslides Hindustan Times, India

    • Euro 2.8 mn for Maoist cradle in Nepal NewKerala.com, India .... fund is largely meant for the Dalits

    • As the world's rich meet, India's poor struggle on Reuters.uk, UK India joins the G8 table for the first time .... its racing economic growth, among the fastest in the world, often masks the almost unimaginable poverty .... "I see children who have more flies on their bodies than clothes. One meal a day is terrific. Two is unthinkable. But the sense of urgency to fight this is completely lacking." ..... by the global definition of earning a dollar a day, that figure jumps to about half the population -- more than 500 million, larger than the entire population of the European Union..... She earns about 600-700 rupees a week from her two or three regulars -- "all gentlemen" -- including her truckdriver "husband" when he can spare time from his regular family..... The middle class has exploded to more than 300 million, by some estimates, who send their children abroad for an education and are buying second family cars in a country where not so long ago the wait for even just a motor scooter was a few years..... But the gains are unevenly shared and have largely bypassed the rural and urban poor.

    • Let a thousand radios bloom Nepali Times, Nepal ..... since India doesn’t allow news on FM, we shouldn’t either.... The print media is allowed to get away with extremely critical content. Private tv stations are broadcasting news unfettered, Indian news channels are back on cable. And despite the blocking of two popular websites last week, the Internet is totally free.

    • UML Convention, Baburam In Trouble Nepali Times Mohan Bikram Singh, general secretary of CPN (Unity Centre) has quoted Baburam Bhattarai as saying he and his supporters are at risk of being killed. At a secret meeting with party workers in Kathmandu on Saturday, Singh said that Bhattarai told him during meetings in New Delhi that he was worried about himself and his followers’ security. “They are not safe,” Singh said. Bhattarai told Singh that even through he had been sent by the party to cultivate diplomatic relations with India he had not been reinstated to his earlier position. Bhattarai parted ways with Singh, his political guru, in 1991 and joined the Unity Centre. The meetings between the two communist leaders, who have been sharply critcal of each other, comes at a time when both are in minority within their respective parties. Singh and Bhattarai are said to have met four times in New Delhi. The Maoist leader said that the party took action against him and Dinanath Sharma for contacting Singh........ CPN (UML) cadres have suggested the party leadership go for a decisive agitation without being trapped in what they call “talks ploy of the royal palace”. That was the conclusion of the district and zonal committees of the party. The UML is preparing for its central committee meet beginning 10 July.

    • Yield Samudaya

    • Constituent Assembly Analysis Friends For Peace .... comparative peace processes, security sector reform and international relation specific to conflict..... the people were never involved in the process of constitution making as is the case with other successful democracies of the world...... restive youths and students who are raring to go for republican system of government ..... In Nepal the extraconstitutional tendencies are very strong...... the conceptual and theoretical aspect of constitution-making; experiences and lessons on constitution-making in different parts of the world with special reference to conflict-ridden countries; imperatives of new constitution in Nepal addressing the Maoist insurgency; and operational brief of constituent assembly if the country agrees to adopt a new constitution through an elected constituent assembly...... South Africa is the most recent example in constitution making. It faced a lot of hurdles and deadlocks. But minimum consensus was reached to resolve the differences. Mechanisms like constituent assembly, interim government, multi-party negotiating forums were created to smoothen the various phases for constitutional transition...... Until 1958, the demands for constituent assembly
    were potent. But King Mahendra's announcement of the date for the parliamentary election in 1959 dampened the hopes of the people...... monarchy has suffered massive erosion of trust and the republican agenda put forward by Maoists is getting popularity among the common people, especially the youths...... Federalism has become a part and parcel of restructuring the state .... The constitution can offer only certain principle institution or processes as a framework but it cannot ensure good behaviour among the principal actors...... A constitution that is drawn up without popular participation will have little resonance in the hearts and minds of the people who are its final guardians....... Until recently the Maoists and the ethnic groups were the chief demanders for constituent assembly...... Not only the government, but the entire state is in disarray..... The constitutional political process is no longer in existence..... The King remains the only authority and state affairs depend on him. However, while the image of the monarchy is now at the low ebb, the republican appeal is growing..... what difference it will make as the actors at the political arena remain the same .... Many people even seem to view it as a panacea..... structures of the government, governing processes, separation of power, location of sovereignty, freedom of people, limits of state and government .... since a decade and a half ago when intra-country conflicts began to predominate over conflicts between states, there has been a significant shift in the concerns and focus of the constitution. Ethnic and cultural dimensions have begun to assume more prominence. There is growing international concern and consensus that the values related to ethnicities, languages and cultures, which were long thought of as ‘divisive threats’, are now “an inescapable feature of the landscape of politics in the 21st century” ..... ethnic and cultural constitutional concerns also aim at making democracy more inclusive and participatory..... New constitutions may be the outcome of the emergence of new nations out of old empires or colonies; of the renewal of existing states into new structures; of revolutions that overthrow old regimes. It may also be a negotiated settlement or compromise between prevalent political forces..... There are some countries – notably the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel – that do not have a single written document referred to as ‘the constitution’....... constitutionalism is a stage of constitutional development where there is no requirement for a forceful overthrow of the regime to meet the changing aspirations of the people...... modern constitutionalism, which originated in the eighteenth century and was based on equal treatment of law, all pervasive and centralizing concept of sovereignty and the ‘assumption of homogeneous liberal values’, is now found to be deficient in meeting the diverse cultural aspirations for self-government.’ ...... the political developments of the world over two and a quarter centuries have unequivocally reaffirmed that the constitutional system which contradicts the basic principles of democracy or aims at controlling the genuine will of the people is bound to collapse...... United States, India, South Africa and Kenya .....US .. one of the oldest surviving and well-functioning constitutions of the world..... South Africa presents a success story of transforming violent conflict into a peaceful political process through a new constitution making process....... The most popular way of creating a constitution is by the participation of the people through constituent assembly....... reading through the texts of the constitutions relating to the power of monarchy in countries such as Belgium, Norway, Denmark or Sweden, one may receive the notion that much of the constitutional processes in these countries still rely on the discretion of the king or queen. But in practice this is not the case....... The purpose of a constitution in a democracy is to provide a peaceful and legitimate opportunity for the people’s aspirations for change....... the present constitution of Switzerland was framed and adopted in 1999..... The United States of America is generally referred to as the first country in modern times to frame and adopt a constitution through the constituent assembly....... The US Constitution is the shortest and the most rigid constitution in the world..... After more than half a century of its operation and more than one hundred amendments, voices continue to be raised in India that the constitution in its present form “cannot serve the purposes” and that as even amendments, both major and minor, cannot change its essence, there is “no choice left except to replace it by a new constitution” ..... When the African National Congress under the leadership of Nelson Mandela and the white-minority racist regime led by President F. W. de Klerk agreed to end the protracted violent conflict through negotiation based on mutual reconciliation, a new series of constitutional principles and methods came up....... There were many conflicting groups and voices within each camp..... Today South Africa is widely referred to as an example of a successful conflict resolution which heralded a new compact and amicable relationship between hitherto warring parties. It is also seen to have provided a model of constitutional transition..... transition had two phases: During the first phase from 1993 to April 1994, the multi-party negotiation process drew up and agreed on constitutional principles, the interim constitution, the unity government and defined ‘consensus’ as the principle of decision- making. The MPNP was a most complex and delicate affair, which had to be frequently rescued from almost total breakdown. During the second phase, from the election of the constituent assembly in April 1994 to the final adoption of the constitution in March 1997, not only was the final constitution successfully drawn, but enough opportunities were also provided for people to voice their opinions. This ensured that the people could claim ownership of their constitution. The second phase was much easier than the first because much understanding had been built up during the first-phase negotiations....... the South African negotiations were less between the government and the rebels, than between and among different forces represented by their respective political parties....... a general consensus formula ..... where it was not possible, a pragmatic approach called ‘sufficient consensus’ was adopted as a method of resolving deadlock....... negotiations produced a 34-point list of ‘constitutional principles’ which all the constitution-makers had to abide by ..... The Constitutional Court saw to whether these accords were properly followed in the draft constitution...... an interim constitution was adopted in 1994. This provided for the election of a 490-member Constituent Assembly to frame a new constitution by the elected representatives of the South African people. Both men and women were guaranteed equal representation in the assembly....... South Africans were quite content with ‘non-ethnic regional federation’ ...... The voters’ turn out was quite impressive, about 86 percent. The assembly had to simultaneously function as a national legislature....... the public education campaign of the constitution- making process reached up to 73 percent of the population. ...... Ninety-eight percent of Constituent Assembly members approved the constitution....... hectic and protracted negotiations ...... The job of the Constituent Assembly was relatively easy because basic constitutional principles and structures were already agreed upon...... The South African case thus shows that some basic constitutional principles can be adopted usefully by the Constituent Assembly as binding principles during the process of framing a constitution. This ensures that the constitution-making process is smooth, as many fears of involved parties will already have been addressed....... When the government failed to respond to popular aspirations for changing the constitution, the people of Kenya established the People’s Commission in June 2000 by means of religious communities, professional organizations, civil society and opposition political parties. The government then responded and joined the current constitution-making process....... the review failed to materialize due to the political parties’ intransigent approach to the formation of the review commission...... The constitution-making process in Kenya over the years was so popularized and created so much enthusiasm among the people that it would be virtually impossible for the government to backtrack or delay the draft for long. However, the Kenyan experience suggests that it is easy to draft the constitution through a professional and competent body such as the Commission but extremely difficult to get it through a popular, elected parliament, where political lobbies are more interested in short-term gain than in genuine long-term constitutional considerations....... Another major weakness of the Kenyan exercise is that the whole process lacked political backing and leadership......... political understanding and consensus among the major players is a necessity before a country decides to undertake the creation of a new constitution......... In 1958 King Mahendra, declared that he would hold elections for Parliament based on a new constitution to be framed by a team of experts appointed by him2 and thus ended the debate over the Constituent Assembly....... 1960 ... The King declared that the parliamentary system was fundamentally ‘unsuitable’ to Nepal and so the sovereignty ..... of the country was to be vested in the King and “all powers - executive, legislative and judicial [were to] emanate from Him” ...... The student agitation in 1979 flared up beyond control and King Birendra announced a national referendum ...... The 1990 constitution suffered a crisis of ownership from its very inception...... the 1990 Constitution became a ‘document of mistrust’ among the major political actors, including the monarchy....... The spirit as well as the very foundation of the constitution was shattered when the army failed to comply with the government, when the latter decided to move the army against the Maoist insurgency in July 2001 in order to rescue the abducted police personnel at Hollery, Rolpa....... In July the Maoists insurgents raided the Police Post in Hollery, Rolpa and abducted 70 out of 72 police personnel stationed there, killing one and seriously injuring another. A meeting of the National Defense Council decided to mobilize all security organs and accordingly recommended to the King to deploy the Army to rescue the police personnel. Military personnel were dispatched and the government claimed that the security forces had cordoned the area where the Maoists had kept the abducted police personnel and were “prepared to for advanced action” (Gorkhapatra, July 18, 2001). There were appreciations of the valor of the Royal Nepalese Army as well. But, later on, it was revealed that the Army had reached Hollery, remained there for only a day and returned back, and the Government had not even been informed of this properly. It was also reported that the Army and the rebels had exchanged letters and reached an agreement not to attack each other (Space Time, July 20, 2001). As a result, Prime Minister G.P. Koirala resigned in a helpless condition (Nepal Press Digest, July 19 and 26, 2001)...... The constitution does not anticipate a government without the parliament .... The exercise of article 127 of the constitution had thus become the inevitable result of the constitutional deadlock....... The premature dissolution of the House of Representatives in May 2002, failure to hold elections as scheduled, King Gyanendra’s takeover of executive power, the dismissal of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on October 4, 2002 and the King’s wish to play a ‘constructive role’ are all interrelated and form part of the sequence of events that suggest that Nepal’s experiment with the 1990 constitution has come to a dead end........ the monarchy has exposed itself as being against the constitutional system and prefers to deal directly with the other extreme – republicanism, taking advantage of the international collaboration against ‘terrorism.’ ....... The October 4 step and subsequent actions and expressions by King Gyanendra have once again intensified the fear of the revival of absolute monarchy....... he also made it explicit that he would exercise the “maximum role that the King can play” ...... the politics and democratic experiment in Nepal have reached a very complex and conflicting situation...... His dismissal of party politics and the desire to prevail politically has been expressed on several occasions......... . the entrenched organizational presence of the Maoists all over the country ...... the direct confrontation between major political parties and the assertive monarchy....... The Manifesto of Nepali Congress (1950) declared for the first time: After the present regime has been ended, the Nepali Congress will call a council or an assembly of the people’s representatives elected on the basis of adult franchise. The same council or assembly will be given full responsibility to frame the constitution of the democratic state of Nepal or any law related to the state affairs..... .King Tribhuvan proclaimed on February 18, 1951 the formation of an interim government. The Interim Constitution promulgated on April 11, 1951 stated: The aim of Interim Government shall be to create conditions, as early as possible, for holding elections for the constituent assembly which will frame a constitution for Nepal...... In 1958, when four major political parties were engaged in a civil disobedience movement demanding the declaration of an election date, King Mahendra cleverly manipulated them by announcing the date of election for February 18, 1959 without specifying whether it would be for the constituent assembly or the parliament, and brought the movement to an end....... According to an understanding between the government and the opposition parties, which had occurred before the voting on the endorsement of emergency proposal took place in Parliament in 2002, the government was to initiate the constitution amendment process...... By the time the major political parties such as the Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) had prepared their agenda for constitutional amendment, and were about to initiate the amendment process, the House of Representatives was dissolved. ........ due to the complacent attitude of the established political leadership and the growing assertive role of the King ....... the stand of the top leaders of these parties continues to be ambiguous. It seems they are avoiding a clear stand and commitment towards constituent assembly....... If we take the opinion page of the national dailies as an indicator, we find that these pages are full of writings pleading for constituent assembly....... ethnic autonomy, right to self-determination, federalism, proportional representation, reservation, multilingual policy ........ Everybody, including the government, the major political parties, the Maoists and ethnic groups concede that the present structure of Nepali state is highly deficient in reflecting the socio-cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity of the
    nation........ Decentralization, proportional representation, reservation of quotas, regional autonomy and federal structures ........ each of the monarchs of this period projected himself as the ultimate savior of the nation. ........ The mainstream political parties are pressed by their youth wings to adopt the republican agenda....... The Nepal Sadbhavana Party and Janjati parties, along with various ethnic groups, have opposed the unitary political structure and demanded a federal system since the beginning of 1990 ....... The major political parties are not even open to debate on the idea of federalism in Nepal. They rule out the idea as divisive, disintegrationist and totally unwanted........ . they have come with regional autonomy as an alternative....... The major thrust of the ethnic movement in Nepal is to redesign the Nepali state in a way that would bring down the dominant high caste groups to their size and allow the ethnic groups a rightful place in the national political mainstream........... Ethnic demands in Nepal are not separatist and secessionist........ Federalist lobbies seemed to have increased in the mainstream political parties. Central level leaders of these parties belonging to various ethnic groups, are now publicly advocating for federal political structures in Nepal ........ As an alternative to federal structures, mainstream political parties stress the necessity of ending discrimination based on religion, language and culture, and advocate equal access to government through alternative regional structures with decentralization, without explaining what its principle and modus operandi would be........ The major political parties are thus very vague about ethnic issues, and avoid any specific commitment to autonomy......... the hill high caste groups, which constitute about 30 percent of the population, occupy more than 60 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives, whereas hill dalits, who consist of more than 7 percent of population, except one seat in the 1991 Parliament, have no representation at all........ the First-Past-the-Post system ..... even a candidate scoring less than 20 percent of votes had chances to be elected....... various ethnic and cultural groups are now raising voices for the right to self-determination. They consider that the present state is an imposition on them....... since the country is rapidly ‘drifting towards republicanism’ the possibility that the future constituent assembly will have a republican majority cannot be ruled out........ Reports from the Maoist-controlled areas also suggest that they have no tolerance towards dissent.......

    • Maoist Trade Union Press Statement

    • Tigers training Nepal's Maoists Hindustan Times, India French trainers are providing training to Nepalese rebels in Uttaranchal, in districts like Tanakpur, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar....... the Maoist leader admitted that Nepal's rebels had joined hands with the Indian outlaws to attack a police station and two state-owned banks in Bihar last month

    • Tamil Tigers training Nepal's Maoists: Report NewKerala.com

    • Tamil Tigers training Nepal's Maoists: Report PeaceJournalism.com, Nepa

    • Madhav Nepal Challenges Royalists Himalayan Times, Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal today said the seven-party alliance would stop talking about constitutional monarchy if the royalists, insist on choosing either "democracy" or "active monarchy"...... "The conflict between monarchy and democracy can be resolved in peaceful manner through a referendum"

    • Maoist suicide squad member captured, camp busted Outlook (subscription), India ollowing which a militant training camp deep inside forest was raided and a huge cache of firearms, explosives and detonators were seized ..... Several landmines, detonators, naxal literature, computers, army uniforms, television sets and compact disks were seized from the camp

    • Bihar to keep an eye on doctors treating Maoists Kantipur Online, Nepal reports that Nepali Maoists have been crossing the border regularly for medical treatment..... Bihar police arrested eight Maoists from a private nursing home in Muzaffarpur ..... The eight were injured during gun-battle with security forces in Udaypur in eastern Nepal last month, according to rebels’ accounts given to the Bihar police..... we have decided to keep a watch on the medical institutions

    • Verdict on Melamchi scam likely tomorrow The royal anti-graft body said that the investigations regarding the Melamchi scam has already been completed..... The commission, in its preliminary investigation report had stated that approximately Rs.380 million has been misappropriated in the awarding of the contract for the construction of road in the project.
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