Sunday, May 08, 2005

Prachanda's Letter Bomb Of 5/1


..... whole leadership of the CPN(M) along with Laldhoj (Baburam Bhattarai) is dedicated to fight until the defeat of autocratic monarchy and establishment of the Republican political System in Nepal.
..... Party central Headquarters all of a sudden received a letter of serious nature from comrade Laldhoj
..... he came, soon after three days, to register through his staff a letter
..... a very irresponsible method to express non-confidence towards the whole party and, in one way or another, influence the plan of counter offensive negatively.
..... showed in fact not only his disgust ..... exhibited an extreme individualist method to create pressure upon the party
..... the only condition of support or opposition to party’s ideology, policy, plan, program and the leadership has been his individual post and position
..... comrade Laldhoj’s individualist thinking, anarchist working style, intellectual arrogance and his factionalist activities against the central HQ were widely criticized in the Central Committee meeting
..... the basic concept “freedom of expression and unity in action” of democratic centralism
..... his metaphysical and anarchist outlook
..... MLM and Prachanda Path are correct until when comrade Laldhoj remains as a chief of the united front or state, development of ideology and development of democracy in the twenty-first century also remain correct; but if his position comes into question then all the things become retreat and regression before his eyes.
..... his main anxiety is not party and revolution but his individual position.
..... at an informal sitting, outside hall ..... that informal sitting (which took place at tea time)
..... his inattention in “listening to, looking at and understanding”
..... till he had some hope or confusion to remain as a chief of the state
...... party decision is not to remove him from the state but it is meant only to say that, in the present situation, it is appropriate to remain all of the standing committee members, including party chairman, unitedly in all the organs of party, army and the state
...... paying attention to the conspiracy the domestic and foreign reactionaries are escalating against the party and revolution, and the necessity of counter-offensive
..... our intellectual comrade Laldhoj
..... he has pretended not to have understood it.
..... the external enemy has been intensifying conspiracy of inner-destruction against the party in a planned way
..... giving reference to a faction inside the party he has tried to portray oneself at the role of defender of that so-called faction
..... all of the decisions in the past 11 years.. have been taken unanimously
..... when the party center ended all the possibilities of his representing a parallel headquarters.... he is now collecting materials to become leader of a faction.
..... extreme self-centered individualism existing within him is working from behind for this kind of serious deviation.
..... explaining and distributing, without any knowledge of party Headquarters, to anybody he meets with, the aforesaid letter
...... is following the footprints of right liguidationists expelled from party in the past that used to demand factional freedom ...... publicized his pluralist and liquidationist thinking
..... Very inferior method of amassing all the positive achievements developed by party the people’s war in one’s personal bag and placing all limitations and weaknesses in other’s shoulder has been used in that documentation.
..... bourgeois individualist intellectual arrogance, which preaches others by granting status of a thinker to own by oneself
..... Laldhoj’s life philosophy seems to have been guided more by Nitchse’s extreme individualist philosophy of subjective arrogance, which thinks oneself as a capable thinker and says that the fittest must rule
..... he will be victimized of bourgeois idealism that is expressed ideologically in the form of individualist anarchism, politically right capitulationism and organizationally liquidationism.
..... Party wishes that comrade Laldhoj, being ruthless against his mistakes and weaknesses, will follow the process of transforming oneself. Party will always remain ready to provide necessary help in that process.

Some conclusions I draw:
  1. The rift between the two is serious. But this does not mean the Maoists as a party are now weaker. The reverse might be true.
  2. It has partly been caused by the fact that the Maoists are facing tough times militarily. So the unity has come under strain. It is also making the two top duos seek a scapegoat, as in, if only you will do as I say, we would not be facing these tough times. They are internalizing the external factors.
  3. Prachanda is not in a position to physically harm Baburam who does seem to have a significant power base of his own. But he is being subjected to "purification," whatever that means.
  4. Prachanda is trying to consolidate his power base. Baburam is opposing that. And Prachanda is using the offense-as-best-defense strategy of accusing Baburam of being power hungry. Look who is talking. Basically the change is that Baburam is no longer "head of state."
  5. This guy Prachanda seriously thinks he is going to take over the country militarily. Or he is feigning it to boost flagging morales. Leaders of dictatorial outfits go down in defeat rather than change their mind. It is only democrats who are known to compromise and create new positions. His enemies might only have the Gonzalo Option left.
  6. Baburam is the moderate. Prachanda is the relative hardliner. Baburam's hand has been weakened for now. From Constituent Assembly the Maoists have now moved on to a Republican State. This is alarming. The democrats have even less common ground with the Maoists now. This increases the tendency toward military confrontation.
  7. Prachanda feels inferior to Baburam intellectually, and does not like it. He feels the need to belittle Baburam's "intellect."
  8. It is very important to realize what strain this virus is. The "realists" might have a point after all.
  9. But it also has to be seen that the Monarchists are not exactly on best behavior. The hardening of the Maoist stance can also be seen as the mirror image of the same. For example, the king's 2/1 move of suspending all fundamental rights has offended the Maoists. That is a dormant democratic spirit. Attempts ought be made to tap that. But for now it is a tussle between the two hardliners.
  10. I guess, in Nepal you have the Maoists, in Sri Lanka the LTTE.
In The News
  • India expects Nepal’s king to take more steps towards democracy Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
  • Nepal parties unite to fight king BBC News
  • Nepal make promising start CricInfo.com, UK
  • Nepal parties warn king of fresh street protests Reuters India, India
  • Nepal parties close to forming a common front Gulf Times, Qatar
  • Nepal parties set common agenda for democratic movement United We Blog
  • Nepali political parties term "emergency lift" as eyewash:- Webindia123 "The Maoist leaders informed us through magazines and even proclaimed that they are willing to not only join hands with the political parties but are also ready to accept our programmes. But after all this they are still targeting our leaders. Nothing much can be done unless they shun violence," Giri said.
  • Maoists threaten to close down two Nepal hotels:- Webindia123, India Nepal's Maoist insurgents Sunday fired a fresh salvo at King Gyanendra by saying they would close down two luxury hotels, owned by members of the royal family, from May 15..... Soaltee Crowne Plaza .... Fishtail Lodge.... The Soaltee, Nepal's first five-star hotel, started by the present king's uncle, the late Prince Himalaya, is widely regarded as being owned by King Gyanendra though the hotel authorities deny it.
  • Nepal's crown prince has an image makeover:- Webindia123 Crown Prince Paras was finally shown up in a different light by the private media this weekend ..... Paras Sunday made front-page news teeing off in a golf tourney and discussing his game with a reporter ..... Known to be fond of fast vehicles and sport, the crown prince's recent engagements however have been more statesmanlike ..... Following in his father's footsteps, Paras Saturday took part in the American Ambassador's Cup golf tourney, making him the first heir to participate in a public competition..... Paras played 18 holes in the company of US ambassador to Nepal James Francis Moriarty and army chief Gen Pyar Jung Thapa...... The Post described the crown prince, who took to golf about two years ago, as having a "pretty decent game although he downplays it" with "some tremendous shots"...... Paras reportedly even handed over his club to the Post reporter and asked him to take a shot...... "The first nine holes were nerve-racking but I am enjoying the last nine," the Post reported him as saying. Then he added in a flash of wit, "I should have started from the last nine.".... "Golf is a very difficult game," he was reported as saying. "But the beauty of it is, one plays against oneself and not others."..... the Post carried a photograph of his wife, crown princess Himani, dressed in trousers in a marked contrast to her usual garb of the traditional sari.... Last week, the royal duo had been seen several times at Kathmandu's Dasharath Stadium, watching football matches in the AFC President's Cup tourney, which Paras inaugurated. ..... The prince, a football buff, reportedly cheered the local Three Star Club..... If Paras succeeds in retaining media attention in the current positive way, he might usher in a new chapter of sports diplomacy.
  • Charting the course back to pluralism Nepali Times Three weeks ago, the United Nations decided in Geneva that the protection of human rights of Nepali citizens vis-à-vis the rebels and the security forces required an international presence of more than 50 international monitors. Ian Martin, the much-heralded head of the Nepal Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is due to arrive on Friday. On Tuesday, the UN system in Nepal, in unprecedented action, called for full respect by the government for the principles of press freedom..... the reported comments of US Ambassador James Moriarty at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC last Friday, including reference to the February First action being popular among ordinary Nepalis, at the very least, does not inspire confidence in the intentions of the super power.
  • Army officer, police inspector killed in Nepal in Maoist attack Press Trust of India, India
  • Maoists murdered captured soldiers, Nepal Army claims Zee News Nepal's Army today accused Maoist rebels of murdering captured soldiers and said it hoped to bring the perpetrators in front of the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
  • Nepal frees student leader, former minister, re-arrests them Zee News
  • Gagan Thapa's Letter From Custody INSN .... lifting of insurgency is not aimed at creating environment for negotiation to solve the political crisis; it was just a concerted action to entrench the autocratic regime.
  • UML Democracy Bulletin 8
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Friday, May 06, 2005

The Seven Dwarfs


Seven political parties have come up with what they are calling a Common Minimum Program. The dialogue held was for days, but none of the discussions were made public. If they ended up saying the same thing they have been saying for a few years now, I wonder what it is they spent days talking about. Why could they not have done it in a minute? I believe they could have just nodded at each other, used some sign language, and put out a simple press statement: Same Old, Same Old. But no, they talked for days.

Their CMP: Revive The Parliament.

A parliament whose term has expired is a dead parliament. A sick parliament could have been revived, a dissolved parliament could have been revived, if there were such a provision in the constitution. But the parliament is dead. So is the constitution.

2005 is like 1990. This is not an election year like 1991, or 1994, or 1999. An interim government is the only option.

You can not accuse the king of dictatorial tendencies, and then turn around and threaten him with street protests if he were to not act dictatorial. Only a dictator could revive the dead parliament by playing god, because there is nothing in the 1990 constitution that allows the king to revive the parliament.

Basically you are asking him to repeat the extra-constitutional step of forming the Royal Commission to Control Corruption. I guess he could do that: revive the parliament. Supposedly he is above the law. So he could do just about anything. So you could ask. But you can not ask and then accuse him of being above the law.

So when you are asking him to revive the parliament, you are asking him to function above the law, beyond the constitution. I guess he could do that, if he really wanted to. But why would he want to? If he does not have to, if he can not according to the constitution. Let’s assume the king is someone trying to expand his personal power base. Then it makes no sense for him to revive the parliament. It is like Girija were telling him, Your Majesty, chop off your head and give it to me, please.

Another segment of the CMP: peace talks with the Maoists.

So these seven dwarfs want peace talks with the Maoists? They make it sound like when and finally the Maoists come to peace talks, something astounding will be revealed. The Maoists will propose Nepal go to the moon, and the seven dwarfs will ponder upon it.

Forget the Maoists, call me up, I will tell you what the Maoists will tell you. The Maoists want an all-party interim government that will hold elections to a Constituent Assembly. Is that news to you? Is this the first time you are hearing this? I am glad to be of service.

So a CMP can not possibly have reviving parliament and peace talks on the same page. Why? Because they are contradictory. If your sole focus is to revive the parliament, then you are sending a very clear signal to the Maoists that you are not interested in any kind of talks with them. And if they are not going to come to talks, Nepal will still have a civil war. The parliament will not bring the civil war to an end. It will give 205 individuals monthly salaries, it will give Girija a major ego boost, but it will not solve the number one problem in the country right now: civil war. Girija’s insistence on a revived parliament is like a stopped clock that is right about two times a day.

In case you have not noticed, Nepal is the number one hot spot on the planet right now. It is not Kashmir, it is not Palestine, not Chechnya, not inner city Chicago. The house has been burning. Desperate times ask for bold measures. Reviving parliament is not a bold measure.

The question is not if the Maoists will come into the mainstream. The question is will the political parties come into the mainstream.

When you go onto the soccer field, if the only thing you see is the ball and one goal post, you are not going to be able to make head or tail of the game. You have to see there are 21 other players, and another goal post, and a referee. Similarly the political parties will have to recognize all the players. They are still excluding a few parties. That is a no no. Invite all parties. And then recognize the two 800 pound gorillas in the room: the Maoists, and the king.

I used to think in terms of a Constituent Assembly. But I have revised my position. Such an assembly is like telling the king you might be asked to leave. That is like cornering him. What does a cornered cat do?

I think all political parties should come around to this proposal. The goal should be a co-existence for all the three players. All I ask for all players is that they make their opinions public on my proposal. Come participate in a public dialogue. We will talk back and forth until we reach common ground.

Wake up, Seven Dwarfs.

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