Friday, June 23, 2006

Okay For Maoists To Join Government Before Arms Management


My personal roadmap never included House revival: it went straight for an interim constitution and an interim government, which is what we are about to get now. So I am very happy with the recent eight point agreement. This is quite a milestone in the global communist movement. Ask the Indian communists: they feel it in their bones. (Not So Fast, Indian Communists)

The one big problem is the committee to draft the interim constitution has no Dalit, Janajati, Mahila representation. That is a big mistake.

And I also do not understand those who want the Maoists to give up arms before they get to join the government. That is fantassy talk. That is not conducive to the peace process. Precisely because we want to manage the arms of the two armies, we want the Maoists in government.

Nobody in the seven party alliance proposed forming eight party governments at the local levels, and so dissolving the House is a fair price to pay to see the Maoist local governments dissolved. (40 Seats For Maoists, 25 For Others)

This will also add pressure upon the people in power to speed up the peace process.

I am not alarmed. The Maoists say they want a democratic republic, and I do believe them. It is the feudal generals in the Nepal Army who have been a nuisance. At times they have acted like an autonomous institution. They have no rights to do that.

If Prachanda is so irresponsible with the weapons of war, how come he is the first person in the eight party alliance to have come out with the idea of an army that is 20,000 strong at the most. A guy who is painted as bloodthirsty wants a small army.

Precisely because we want proper arms management, we want the Maoists to be part of the government. Their participation will ease the process. As a member of the interim cabinet, Prachanda will have indirect oversight over the Nepal Army. As the interim Prime Minister, Girija Koirala will have direct oversight over the Maoist Army. We do want that.

There are additional advantages to having Prachanda in the cabinet. He has been underground for decades. He appears a mythical figure. As a Minister, the myth will dissolve, and the Nepali people will get to see him for who and what he is. The people will get to see his human side. The people will get to see his vulnerabilities, his deficiencies. He will make mistakes, he will get criticized. It is very important to subject Prachanda to a wide scrutiny of the free press long before the constituent assembly elections are held.

So overall I am very positive about the eight point agreement.

International observers routinely say this peace process is destined to succeed because the two warring factions themselves are taking the lead. Peace process is unfolding in Nepal the way it is supposed to. I am so glad Prachanda and Girija had direct talks in an official setting. I have wanted that to happen for a while now. When they met in person, it took them but one day to hash everything out. That is really fast. They could not have done this talking at each other through the media.

Criticizing the eight point agreement is one thing, but opposing it is outright irresponsible.

After the eight party interim government is formed, that government will command both the armies. The interim constitution has to have such a provision. It is the interim government that will do arms management. That is a key project before the constituent assembly elections can take place. And I am confident they will do it right. There might be a few hicuups here and there, but overall I expect the process to sail through just fine.

I am for disbanding both armies. That is the least problematic course of action. (Dismantle The Two Armies)

Bhaat khana lai nai haat dhuna pareko ho. Precisely because arms need to be managed, we need an eight party government.

In The News

Rayamajhi Commission to quiz perpetrators of April Movement soon NepalNews 13 former ministers and King’s advisors ..... vice-chairman of the erstwhile royal regime Dr Tulsi Giri, who are under the surveillance of the government ...... has completed preliminary study in 24 districts across the country where casualties took place ....... 13 individuals: then vice chairman Giri, former home minister Kamal Thapa and ministers Niranjan Thapa, Badri Mandal, Tanka Dhakal, Salim Miya Ansari, Shrish SJB Rana, Senate Shrestha, Jagat Gauchan, Nikshya SJB Rana, King’s advisor and former member of the Raj Parishad Standing Committee, Sacchit SJB Rana, King’s honorary ADC, Bharat Keshar Simha, and Sharad Chandra Shah ...... Sharad Chandra Shah, managed to catch a flight to Bangkok from Kathmandu airport on Wednesday....... Shah, who arrived at the airport five minutes before the plane took off, managed to escape before the officials at the Airport informed and received orders from the Home Ministry to stop him.
Army trying to sabotage the peace process: Minister Thakur the Nepali Army had issued a press statement on Thursday-- expressing reservations over Maoist leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda's last week's public statement regarding the Army-- only after the Defense Ministry refused to issue a similar statement. ...... since the Nepali Army could not fight with India, China or the US, it should be reduced to around 20,000 from its present strength of 90,000....... Minister Thakur said the proposed election to the constituent assembly should not leave any form of monarchy, which he said was a source of conspiracy....... Thakur said, “As our party had removed the provision of constitutional monarchy from the party statute, there was no reason for us to stand in favour of ceremonial King.” ........ He even claimed that "democratic republic" was the agenda of his centrist party....... The eight point agreement has helped end the underground politics of Maoists and also to dissolve the parallel government of the Maoists (in the districts)
Arms management will take time : UN Assistant Secretary-General his two-hour long meeting with Deputy Prime Minster .....
Nepali Army refutes Prachanda’s allegations the NA top brass were unhappy to note that none of the senior leaders of the SPA refuted serious allegations leveled by the Maoist leader during the press meet.
SC asks government to follow its verdict
50 textile industries closed in Birjung for an indefinite period due to the dispute between management and trade unions.
Upcoming Budget: Meeting People's Expectations By Shiv Raj Bhatt
Beginning Of The Great Game - By Keshab Poudel Madhav Kumar Nepal .... who was instrumental to prepare a highly controversial proclamation of the House of Representatives ........ “The important issues like the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the formation of a committee to draft the interim constitution were taken without any prior discussions among the seven party alliance” ...... Ram Chandra Poudel and Arjun Narshing K.C. were unaware about the new development ....... Home Minister Krishna Sitaula and NC leader and nephew of PM Koirala, Shekhar Koirala were the main players behind the latest roadmap........ hastily formed interim constitution drafting committee does not have representation of women, Dalits and Janajati ....... “Destabilization of the previous order appears spontaneous and uncontrolled. An unseen power is the real determinant of the present situation of Nepal than the seen powers in the street and the parliament,” said the analyst........Supreme Court judge Laxman Prasad Aryal. .. Sambhu Thapa, president of Nepal Bar Association, advocate Harihar Dahal, advocate Mahadev Yadav, senior advocate Sindhunath Pyakurel and advocate Khim Lal Devkota...... All these events unfolded in such a dramatic manner that nobody believed the rebel leaders .. could agree in such a magical mood. ........ Soon after the reinstatement of House of Representatives, a new roadmap suddenly appeared as CPN-UML leader Subash Chandra Nembang was elected as the Speaker but he did not take oath in accordance with the constitution ...... The house before the dissolution had a division of treasury and opposition benches. After its reinstatement, people suddenly found that the demarcation between the two was erased and there was not a single voice of dissent......... The next phase of politics from HoR started with an amazing concept of constitutional law. Nobody knew where and by whom the declaration of the HoR was drafted......... When it was suddenly read out by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Subash Chandra Nembang, some prominent constitutional lawyers talked about unlearning their previous knowledge of constitutional law......... And soon afterwards, there came out another roadmap suddenly and out of the blue. ...... India.. reportedly backed the latest deal......... “Yet, the charge that India played the mid-wife in bringing together the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the seven parties suggests just this. India has no permanent friends in the landlocked Himalayan Kingdom . It has interests and limited options.”.......

Nepal king gets the blues Daily News & Analysis Stripped of his powers and facing the possibility of losing his crown, Nepal’s King Gyanendra has fallen prey to acute depression ..... The king, virtually confined to the palace since April, when mass protests forced him to surrender the absolute power he had seized, is being treated for melancholia and depression ...... the king now prefers to remain solitary, sitting in the same place for long periods and staring into space blankly....... Sometimes, he is heard muttering to himself: “What did I do wrong? I was only trying to do people good.” ...... and making himself immensely unpopular after his authoritarian reign, the king is yet to accept responsibility for the debacle. He still tends to blame others. His blood pressure is not normal and he is said to have cut down on his drinking.......
Nepal Grapples With Issue of Rebel Disarmament Voice of America Across Nepal, there is widespread euphoria that an agreement between the government and Maoist rebels to establish an interim administration has put peace within the grasp ........
Did palace plot against Indian JV in Nepal? India eNews.com, India Raj Bahadur Singh, the king’s son-in-law. .... Singh was chairman of Spice Nepal, which became the first private mobile telephone service provider in Nepal. He held 18 percent shares while Delta Trading, headed by non-resident Nepali Upendra Mahato, owned 17 percent and India’s Modi Group five percent. Visor Holding, a Kazakhstan company, owned the remaining 60 percent. ..... Currently, Aidan Karibzhanov is the new chairman of Spice Nepal. ‘We hope the government will act fairly,’ Karibzhanov told a local daily.

8-point deal a continuation of 12-point understanding: Prachanda Kantipur Publications
Adhikari opts out of hearing committee, says 'give women a chance'
SC orders govt to furnish commission's recommendation against army chief The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the government to produce the recommendation report by the high-level judicial probe commission led by former SC justice Krishna Jung Raymajhi to take action against Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Pyar Jung Thapa....... If they are not suspended immediately, they may tamper with the evidence needed by the High-level Probe Commission.....
Bharat Keshar episode: Angadawa receives death threat
Prachanda warns of conspiracies
SPA meeting criticizes leaders, picks at eight-point deal almost all the leaders of the alliance were of the view that the June 16 agreement with the rebels was a historic one but contained some procedural errors....... "The June 16 deal with the Maoists is a landmark step but it should be fully implemented," said Bohora. ...... The UML, too, is unhappy over the ICDC for it does not have a party representative...... the 8-point deal, putting the country decisively on the road to a constituent assembly, said to be held by mid-April next year.......

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