Nepali Congress 12.5%
UML 10.7%
Maoist 11.2%
Undecided 52%
I think the large parties in the country are underestimating how well the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum will do at the polls. The biggest mistake the Janajati and Dalit movements can make at this point in time is to not launch their political parties. Of course you can launch a Janajati Party. It is called the basic human right to peaceful assembly. It is not true you can't. If you could not, how was the MJF able to do it?
The Janajatis cry hoarse against Bahunbaad but they work to sustain that Bahunbaad by acting like the mantra to their future lies with the Bahuns. Wrong. Janajati nirvana is not with Girija or Madhav. It is among the Janajati voters. You don't go beg with Girija or Ram Chandra Poudel. You go to the people.
What amazes me is that they already have a mass based organization. It is called the Adivasi Janajati Mahasangh. They also have a Dalit Mahasangh. You don't even have to change the names. Just go and register them as parties like the MJF did. You already have central committees, you already have district committees. What else do you need?
You register your two parties, and then you go to the people. You go to the Janajatis, the Dalits. The key to Janajati liberation and empowerment lies with the Janajatis, not with Girija. The key to Dalit liberation and empowerment lies with the Dalits.
Dalits need a political party of their own more than most because they are scattered across the country. Look at Mayawati in Utter Pradesh. Now she is talking of becoming the country's Prime Minister. That is the way to go. She did not beg with the "Manuwadis," her term for Bahuns. She instead organized her own people.
Have faith in your own people. They have what it takes to throw the centuries old sackles of slavery and subjugation.
If you are not going to launch a political party, the Janajati movement is nothing but a drama. Not much will come out of the talks, the protest programs, the agitations. Stop begging with those in power. Instead prepare to go to the people. Work out your agenda. Work out your manifesto.
When I brought this up with Om Gurung in person, he said, but what will be our ideology? Well, what is Mayawati's ideology? Your ideology will be federal republic.
When you add the numbers for the Congress, the UML and the Maoists, they come to around 30%. They are only being able to attract the Bahun-Chhetri voters. The Madhesi, Janajati and the Dalit are not with them. The Madhesi are going to go for the MJF and the Sadbhavana in big numbers. You will see a wave. But the Janajati and the Dalit have nowhere to go right now. There is an urgent need to launch a Janajati Party, there is an urgent need to launch a Dalit Party.
You already got the name, you already got the organizational infrastructure, you already got all the political ideas you need. All you got to do is go register.
3 Layers, 15 States, No Army, 100,000 Bureaucrats Total, Much FDI
Bimalendra Nidhi And Friends
Completely Proportional Elections To The Constituent Assembly
Mayawati Has Lessons For Madhesi, Janajati, Dalit, Mahila
एक मधेशी पार्टी
Three Parties: Congress, Communist, Sadbhavana
Videos
Himalayan Foundation: Himali Saanjh
Global Federation Of Indigenous Peoples Of Nepal: Anniversary 1
Global Federation Of Indigenous Peoples Of Nepal: Anniversary 2
Global Federation Of Indigenous Peoples Of Nepal: Anniversary 3
Global Federation Of Indigenous Peoples Of Nepal: Anniversary 4
Bimalendra Nidhi And Friends 1
Bimalendra Nidhi And Friends 2
Bimalendra Nidhi And Friends 3
Bimalendra Nidhi And Friends 4
New School Madhesi Event 1
New School Madhesi Event 2
New School Madhesi Event 3
The Bahun Version Of Proportional Elections
What the Bahuns want is this. Half the seats will be directly elected. And the other half will be through proportional elections. All those Bahuns who lost when trying to get directly elected will be brought in through the proportional method.
This is bogus. This is political corruption in your face. This is Bahunbaad at its worst. This is an unheard of version of proportional elections. The Bahuns are inventing something utterly new.
What they are proposing is not proportional elections. Rather it has to be called Backdoor Elections. They want to be able to bring in the defeated Bahuns through the backdoor. What they are thinking in terms of is a total travesty to the very idea of proportional elections.
Each competing party must put their list out in front of the voters b-e-f-o-r-e the people go to the polls. They do not get to prepare their lists after the voters have already cast their votes. That they are even thinking along those lines shows the party bosses are in no mood for political reform. They are in no mood to introduce democracy and transparency inside their parties.
The Nepali people's biggest struggle yet might be against the party bosses.
In The News
Still undecided Nepali Times Support for monarchy is at an all-time low and more than 60 percent oppose secularism which may mean we are headed for a Hindu republic. ...... Nepalis are proud to be Nepalis, but increasingly identify with their ethnicity or religion. A clear majority support quotas for the excluded. Most Nepalis believe that a constituent assembly will deliver peace and development. ...... Close to three-quarters of those polled feel no closeness to any political party. ....... deep-seated distrust of those who inhabit the political sphere ..... Mostly sure elections will be free and fair
The state of Nepali democracy Two-thirds of the republican respondents wanted a government ‘ruled by the people’ or believed ‘monarchy is not necessary in the modern era’. ..... Only 7 percent of those surveyed consider the Maoists as a source of insecurity, compared with 42 percent in 2004. ...... Respondents were on board with the Maoist proposals to integrate the two armies (74 percent) and impose a land ceiling (61 percent). ......only 15 percent named the CPN-M, while 34 percent allied themselves with the NC and 32 percent with the UML. Over half said they would either decide later for whom they would vote ...... The janajati and madhesi movements appear to be genuinely mass-based. Respondents identifying with just national identity dropped sharply to 43 percent ..... a shift in favour of equal weight to both national and ethnic or regional identity, from 19 percent in 2004 to 31.5 percent ...... madhesis favoured an ethnic or regional identity (30 percent on average) over a national identity (18 percent). The figures were reversed in 2004. But identity politics do not threaten national integration—over 90 percent of respondents, including madhesis, said they ‘are proud’ to belong of their own community and also Nepali. ........ A bi/multi-language policy, however, is endorsed by over half the respondents. ..... Hill origin respondents wanted a status quo on language and the nature of government, while most madhesis wanted alternatives. Hill ethnic groups and Muslims wanted a secular state, in contrast to a majority of caste and dalit hill and tarai groups. ....... 84 percent said international supervision would ensure free and fair elections.
Big questions
What we think The popularity of various political entities in ‘thermometer ratings’ showed the seven-party alliance scoring highest with +45, followed by the UML with +13, and the NC with +10 respectively. The Maoists scored -2 and the NC-D -39. This was corroborated with popularity ratings for personalities in which Sher Bahadur Deuba scored -39 with only King Gyanendra more unpopular than him at -59. Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhab Nepal tied at -1 and Girija Koirala came out with +4. ..... Whereas 89 percent of the people felt the country was going in the wrong direction in June 2004, only 7 percent think so now. And while in October 2004 74 percent thought elections couldn’t happen in the next year , only 18 percent think so today. ...... when asked to name two of their main concerns most respondents said lack of jobs, followed by education and cost of living. Maoist violence came seventh, after health care and above corruption.
Vox populi
Playing with matches CK Lal Travelling by day through the tarai these days is fraught with uncertainty. Things weren’t this bad even during the conflict. ..... the tense ambience relaxed somewhat only when the bus crossed the Chure and neared Hetauda. A passenger sitting in the driver’s cabin whispered to an acquaintance, “We are only four Nepalis in the bus. All the rest are Forum.” ...... To begin with, the Maoists didn’t have much of a base in the madhes. Second, their core supporters among the marginalised communities have been left ‘untouched’. ...... the NC’s madhesi lawmakers have lost their legitimacy in the eastern tarai. The UML has been exposed as a party of pahadi priests. No mainstream party can truly claim to represent the people of the tarai today
NFIN calls off two-day bandh NepalNews
PM avoiding regular engagements after health problem Few months earlier, he had had been hospitalised for nine days after complaints of chest infection
Prachanda says YCL will continue to hunt down corrupt people Prachanda has also announced his plan to double the YCL strength from the current 250,000 members
Congress VP spits venom at YCL He said that although the Maoists would not return to jungle anymore, he doubted they would abandon tactics of intimidation.
CJ complains civil society of being prejudiced
Strike affects Kapilvastu life
Deuba wants both Congress to actively work for unity
Carter will meet with Maoist leaders the Center has advised the political leaders to reconsider the issue of ranked candidate lists in the proportional representation system. "The system presently being discussed would allow parties to give elected seats to any candidate within their proportional representation candidate list after the election result has been declared, rather than allocating the seats starting from an already ranked candidate list," the statement reads. It adds, "As both systems will allow for quotas for marginalized groups presently being discussed to be preserved, the Center encourages the political leadership to select the process which will be most transparent for voters." ..... the Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) persist with activities that violate the May 2006 Code of Conduct
Still undecided
Sadbhavana party unites NepalNews will be known as NSP-Anandidevi. Its chairperson will be Anandidevi Singh and senior vice chairperson will be Laxman Lal Karna ...... a 63-member working committee will be formed within 15 days ..... a united general convention within three months and will amend its statute, and manifesto. ....... Karna and Rajendra Mahato said their party stands in favour of federal democratic system ..... vice chairperson of NSP-Anandidevi Bharat Bimal Yadav issued a statement expressing his dissatisfaction over the unity. He said NSP-A should not have united with NSP 'which had sided with regression in the past.' Yadav said the unity has betrayed the integrity and undermined the credentials of NSP-Anandidevi.
India visit highly successful: Nepal
Bandh affects Pokhara and Janakpur
Unidentified group murders NC cadre in Mahottari
Nepal bandh affects normal life
NFIN to continue with their protest programme
Home minister’s resignation Kantipur
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