The Foreign Powers Need To Come Clean On The Constituent Assembly Question

Time For The Nepali Congress To Take A Stand On The Constituent Assembly Question (March 19)

China is neutral. It will stay that way even after democracy is earned. China is not an anti-democracy, pro-monarchy power. It is at best a benevolent neighbor that wishes Nepal economic success.

India, US and the EU have been vocal on the democracy question. But those three powers have been even more lethargic than the seven party coalition in Nepal in their willingness to get down to basic arithmetic.

If the Nepali Congress had come around to the idea of a Constituent Assembly in 2000, Nepal would have been spared a lot of pain. Folks, the 1990 constitution is the problem. The Congress is still hung up on the idea of House revival, which is big evidence that party has still not ended its puppy love affair with the 1990 constitution.

This Inadequate, Improper, Insufficient 1990 Constitution (April 4)

For the foreign powers singing the democracy tune, I have this message: a country to be a democracy needs a constitution. And Nepal does not have one. The Supreme Court just decided acts of the king can not be questioned even if those acts violate the very constitution that thus "protects" the king.

There are no constitutional forces in Nepal. The king is not one. The 1990 constitution has died a th0usand deaths. So it makes no sense to talk of a reconciliation between the "constitutional forces."

It is lead, follow, or get out of the way time for the foreign powers. Either you just stay out of it, or you do some basic thinking.

The 1990 constitution is dead, and this king is a problem.

This is about Euclidean logic.

Euclid's Elements, Introduction
Euclid's Elements, Table of Contents

Proposition 4: If two triangles have two sides equal to two sides respectively, and have the angles contained by the equal straight lines equal, then they also have the base equal to the base, the triangle equals the triangle, and the remaining angles equal the remaining angles respectively, namely those opposite the equal sides.

Proposition 1: If the 1990 constitution is a democratic constitution, actions taken by any individual within that constitution is democratic. But if actions taken by an individual claiming to be within the purview of that constitution is undemocratic, either that individual is lying or the constitution itself is undemocratic and fundamentally flawed. And if both be the case, as seems to be, so to herald democracy into the country, you get rid of that individual and the constitution, and give the country a new constitution.

Proposition 2: If a country decides upon democracy, and needs a constitution to cement that sentiment, there is no better way to do it than by taking the country through a Constituent Assembly. And so all forces opposed to the idea of a Constituent Assembly are fundamentally undemocratic and have to be seen as such and opposed as such.

Proposition 3: If there is a major insurgency in the country, you either put it down militarily or, if you decide there is no military solution, only a political solution, as seems to be the case in Nepal that even the king acknowledged a few days back, finally, then you engage the insurgents in a respectful dialogue. In this case since it is already known what the rebels want - an interim government and a Constituent Assembly - then you decide if those demands are just. As they are. And once you decide that to be the case, you work to bring all factions to the conflict around to those demands being met. And especially when the one legitimate force in the country - the seven parties - have the same demand, you hang the third force if you have to, for the sake of peace in the country, if they don't come around to it.

Proposition 4: There are three forces inside the country. Two of them already are for an interim government and a Constituent Assembly, and if the third were also to come around to the same, the civil war would end. And the Maoists have already made it very clear they will happily disarm under UN supervision for elections to a Constituent Assembly. So this is not a group trying to play the Lenin game of using a constituent assembly to move on to a communist republic.

Proposition 5: Any and all forces foreign and domestic that seek peace and democracy for the good of the Nepali people need to either pressure the Monarchists to come around to the idea of an interim government and a Constituent Assembly or need to actively assist the other two forces kick the third force out of the scene. Any other attempt is either naivete at best, or cruel at worst.

Proposition 6: The foreign powers need to get ready to recognize the interim government of the seven parties once it is declared after the mass movement for democracy has reached a critical mass. Either you are for democracy, or you are not. There is no in between.