Goal: Federal Republic Of State Funded Parties

Proposed Constitution

That is the goal, and I believe we will get there. When we get there, we become the number one democracy on the planet.

The president of the country has to be directly elected by the people. We can't go for the Indian version of republicanism. And what I am proposing is not the American version either. The president is not directly elected by the people even in America, although a lot of American progressives do want that to happen.

No party will secure an outright majority in the constituent assembly. That is a foregone conclusion. I am confounded beyond belief as to why the UML and the Maoists have not come together around the idea of completely proportional elections to the constituent assembly. If those two come together, it happens, if they don't, it will not happen.

In the assembly, the majority coalition will form the government. It might very well be a UML-Maoist coalition.

The Maoists have been acting irrationally recently. They need to calm down and think through things a little. If they were to formally declare that the final goal is a federal republic of state funded parties, and that there is not going to be another revolution after that, and if there will be, it will always be electoral, through the ballot box, all their confusion and problems will go away. Prachanda is refusing to offer that kind of clarity to his cadres, and so he finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. There are the thinking communists like Baburam Bhattarai, and then there are ideologues who are like a stopped clock, right two times a day.

Once they decide on their ultimate goal as a federal republic of state funded parties, then their big plank is going to be land reform. But that land reform is not going to be carried out by the constituent assembly. It is going to be carried out after we get a new constitution, and we get a new parliament through that new constitution. At that stage, a UML-Maoist unity could do it. All they would have to do is write a detailed land reform proposal and take it to the people before the election to that new parliament, and secure a UML-Maoist majority in that parliament.

But you don't get that new parliament unless you give the country a new constitution, and you don't get a new constitution unless you get a constituent assembly, and you don't get a constituent assembly unless you have elections to that constituent assembly.

There is still time. The UML and the Maoists could seek common ground. The Maoists could agree to drop the republic now demand. The UML could agree to completely proportional elections to the constituent assembly. And the Maoists would promise to not disrupt the peaceful political activities of any other party.

And if they can't do that fast, they should go ahead and participate in the scheduled mixed election polls slated for November 22. They could form a left coalition: only one left candidate from one election constituency. Now that requires political work between the top UML and Maoist leaders that they are not willing to do. Instead Prachanda takes the short cut and sends his cadres to agitate out on the streets. That is fundamental dishonesty on the part of Prachanda.

The Nepali Congress should also be willing to seek common ground.

Set up a land reform commission. The ownership of all the land seized by the Maoists will go to that commission. The final status on ownership of all that land will be decided by the parliament to be elected under the new constitution. It is unhelpful for the Nepali Congress to expect all the land to go back to the original owners. And it is illegitimate for the Maoists to have unilaterally decided on a land reform program of its own. This way the Nepali Congress will have the option to go to the people later with a manifesto saying all the seized land back to its original owners, and the Maoists will have the option to go to the people with a manifesto of radical land reform. It is for the people to make the final decision.

There is another concession the Nepali Congress should make: completely proportional elections to the constituent assembly. That will bring the Maoists and the dissident Madhesi, Janajati and Dalit groups into the fold. Plus, if you accept this one change, you don't have to accept the rest. You can wait on the republic. You can diffuse the agitation the Maoists have promised.

But before the Nepali Congress can come to the idea of completely proportional elections to the constituent assembly, the UML and the Maoists are going to have to. If these two left parties can't find common ground on that issue, there is no point them expecting the Nepali Congress to play ball.

Why can't Madhav Nepal and Prachanda see that their two parties have to form a coalition in the constituent assembly? And they are better off coming together before the polls. That way they are both better off for the polls and what happens after. If they don't come together now, they almost certainly don't get to form the next government.

The beauty of holding completely proportional elections to the constituent assembly is that then all parties will compete with each other. There will be no need for alliances and coalitions.

Proposed Constitution

MJF Is For Republic, Land Reform, Dalit, Muslim, Janajati, Mahila Rights, And Small Or No Army
The MJF Must Stay Intact
The MJF Dispute: Got To Seek Middle Ground

Not UML-Maoist Unification Or Unity, But A One Point Agreement On PR Election
Baburam Bhattarai Is Right About UML-Maoist Unity
एक मात्र िमलनिवन्दु: पुर्ण समानुपाितक िनर्वाचन

The Maoist Confusion Is Unnecessary
Madhav Nepal Needs To Make A Move

In The News

Nepal royals dealt new blow on top of prince's heart attack AFP Nepal's biggest political party landed a potentially knock-out blow to the embattled monarchy on Friday by declaring it wanted the kingdom to become a republic. .... "The central working committee of Nepali Congress has decided, in principle, to vouch for a federal republic," Nepali Congress chief whip Ananda Prasad Dhungana told AFP. ..... "The Nepali Congress party was the last hope for the king and his hopes must have been dashed now," he said. .... Veteran Congress leader and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had said in the past that some space should be left for the monarchy in Nepal, including the suggestion that Paras's four-year-old son Hridayendra be declared king. ..... Acharya said now "the Nepali Congress, UML and the Maoists have all now taken a republican stance." .... On Thursday, Gyanendra's only son suffered what doctors said was a "major" heart attack -- a common occurrence in Nepal's royal family and apparently aggravated by the 36-year-old Paras' playboy lifestyle. ..... "Prince Paras is under regular observation and he is recovering well," Shyam Bahadur Pandey, one of the doctors treating the prince, said Friday. ..... "He had high levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, so we are going to advise him to control his diet once he gets better," Pandey said.

Koirala-Deuba talks ends inconclusively NepalNews "Both the party presidents had serious meeting. They have assigned the taskforces to settle the remaining matters," Bimalendra Nidhi, general secretary of NC-Democratic, who attended the meeting
CEC demands acceleration of polls campaign
Sitaula says struggle between monarchy and democracy at final stages
Parliamentary sub-committee undecided over Giri
NA to support APF during polls
Maoists to resume land seizure campaign Violating the agreement to return the properties and lands seized during the period of insurgency, the Maoists have decided to resume the process of confiscating the land of the 'landlords' which they said would be distributed to the landless people. ..... The campaign will continue from mid-September to mid-October. .... The organisation said it will organise various protest programmes across the country and claimed the constituent assembly polls will not happen in the present circumstances.
Communist leaders discuss republican model On the very day Nepali Congress (NC) braced up to go for democratic republicanism, two biggest communist parties – Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) and Maoists – engaged in discussion about the model of the republic Nepal ..... Maoist chairman Prachanda and Unity Center (Masal) general secretary Narayankaji Shrestha 'Prakash' met with UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal at his Koteshwor residence ..... Concluding that NC wanted a "Bihari brand" republican set up, the leaders who participated in the discussion said that they had reached agreement to immediately forge a leftist unity or form a front. ...... the three leaders also discussed their joint future strategy and mulled at questions like how should communist powers come together to forge unity and what kind of ties they should develop with other parties sharing similar views with them
MJF on election mood The MJF has formed a five-member Central Election Board led by Sitanandan Raya to prepare for the polls. The central committee meeting, earlier, expelled four dissident leaders from all positions of the party. The four dissident leaders include Kishore Kumar Bishwas, Bhagyanath Gupta, Ram Kumar Sharma and Jitendra Sonal. The dissidents have formed a separate organisation by rejecting the 22-point deal.
Nepali Congress is now a pro-republic party: Situala

NA's strategic meet begins the NA is drafting security strategy ahead of planned agitation in the form of urban revolt by the Maoists.
MJF-dissidents spat deepens, stand for and against election has instructed party district committees to prepare list of candidates for the election. ..... Bishwas ... reiterated demands for republic declaration and fully proportional representation based election system before CA can take place ..... Bishwas said his organisation will make efforts for a joint agitation with other groups active in Terai.

Proposed Constitution