Girija Koirala: Half A Century Of Struggle For Democracy

Washington Post: Nepal Leader Who Helped End King's Rule Dies At 86

Xinhua: Nepali Former PM Passes Away

Sify: Nepal's Peace Architect G.P. Koirala Dies At 85

BBC: Nepalese Ex-Leader Girija Prasad Koirala Dies

Half A Century Of Struggle For Democracy

Girija Koirala spent much of his adult life struggling for democracy in Nepal. Most of that half century was spent in the political wilderness, away from the country. Almost a decade of that was spent in jail. He was in power several times after 1990, most recently leading the government that came into power after the April 2006 revolution.

Much work remains in Nepal. There is the issue of internal democracy in his party, the issue of corruption in Nepali politics at large, the issue of federalism, as yet unachieved, the issue of equality for DaMaJaMa, far from achieved. The country does not have its new constitution yet. But the basics of democracy have been laid out. And Girija Koirala made major contributions to those foundation stones. Within the framework of democracy, work on the rest of the issues can be done.

Personal Moments

I had a phone conversation with Girija Koirala when the king was in power. I blogged about it. And for the past few years this blog was the first result when you googled up his name. I don't know if that is still true since this blog is not as active as it used to be, but I relished that number one status for this blog.

December 17, 2005: Phone Talk With Girija Koirala: Meeting History Itself