This is the democratic way. We talk back and forth.
My stand on democracy has been clear and transparent, and right at this blog. (5 Steps To Democracy)
I think on September 16 we should hold the biggest protests possible. That is not a new position.
But holding dialogue with the king - if possible, which is a big if, there is no indication even they want it - is also one way to help the cause of democracy. We make our point. Even if the worst happens, in that he sorely disappoints, we will have claimed a political victory. That will energize us for our future programs.
I have already made my personal parameters for the dialogue very clear in my email to Sharad Chandra Shaha. (Letter To Sharad Chandra Shaha)
But for me that comes second. I am for genuine dialogue. Where you really try and listen to each other, and understand. My push for dialogue is nothing fake and surface.
If our sole focus is to shun dialogue with the other two camps, and only do things to strengthen our internal group cohesion, we end up with a mentality that we never did any wrong, we will not do any wrong. We have to watch out for that. We have to always be open to reflection and to self-criticism.
Heck, I am a strong proponent of dialogue also with the Maoists. (You Can Always Trust The Democrats To Be About Two Months Behind Schedule)
But having said that, I do mean to extend my empathies to those who have borne direct brunts from this regime. I do not take their pain lightly. It is just that achieving democracy at the earliest is what is good also for them. And so we have to exhaust all possible options.
Paramendra Bhagat
Email From Somnath Ghimire
Dear all,
Who brought up this nonsense and baseless idea to meet with King? Even the President of the United States does not want to meet with the Unconstitutional King of Nepal. Why do we need to bother to meet with him?
We boycott the meeting with King in New York, Why?
---Somnath Ghimire
I) Where in the Constitution of 1990 states that King can be the Chairman?
What king enjoys now as Prime Minister: Some key provisions: (Unacceptable in the eyes of our people)
Article 35 (1): Executive power the Kingdom of Nepal is vested in His Majesty and the Council of Ministers.
Article 36 (1): Constitution of Council of Ministers- King appoints the leader of the party which commands a majority in the House of Representatives as Prime Minister.
Article 36 (3): King appoints deputy prime minister, state ministers and assistant ministers on the recommendation of the prime minister.
Article 36 (4): Prime minister and other ministers to be collectively responsible to the House of Representatives.
Article 36 (7): proviso- If prime minister dies, king appoints deputy prime minister or the senior most minister to act as prime minister until a new prime minister is appointed.
Article 42: If no one party has a clear majority in the Lower House, a member of the House who is able to command a majority there is to be appointed as prime minister.
Article (43): Duty of prime minister to inform the king on decisions of cabinet, Bills and other concerned issues.
Article (117): Prime minister is the Chairperson of the Constitutional Council which has responsibility to recommend names for appointment in constitutional bodies:
Article 87: Appointment of Chief Justice
Article 97 (2): Appointment of Chief Commissioner and Commissioners of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority
Article 99 (1): Appointment of Auditor General
Article 101 (2): Appointment of the Chairperson and members of Public Service Commission
Article 103 (2): Appointment of Chairperson and members of Election Commission
Article 109: Prime Minister recommends to the king for the appointment of Attorney General of Nepal.
Article 115: Prime minister recommends for the imposition of the state of emergency.
Article 118: Prime minister is the chairperson of National Defense Council of Nepal. Same Article incorporates that army operates on the recommendation of the Council. King is now the defense minister of Nepal. Defense minister is also a member of the Council.
II) Militarization in Nepal, Militarism is the antithesis of humanism. It disregards human rights, suppresses freedom and mocks civil liberty. Nepal today is a prime example of such a process of militarization.
III) Authoritarian Rule: Inspiration of Militarization: The King adopted his strategy to make the people forcefully loyal towards him and not to give any opportunity to raise a voice in favor of democracy and against autocratic rule. Such practice made the king more dependent on the military power with a growing threat to the citizens. Hence, the militarization instigated by the Maoist expanded with the royal attitude of militarization. The Royal Nepal Army itself misunderstood its role considering as if it was only to be loyal to the King but not accountable to the rule of law.
IV) Consequences of Militarization:
a) Increase in Defense Budget: Once the democracy started weakening, the Royal Palace has been prone to increase the nation's military strength with new recruitment in the Royal Nepal Army and the Armed Police Force with an explanation to control terror. The total military strength of Nepal is above 85000. The Government of Nepal increased NR 1.20 billion for security to recruit additional 13,000 security personal for the Royal Nepalese Army. The increase in the security budget will divert the money from the basic needs like health, education, drinking water etc for the citizens.
b) Human Rights Violations and Denial of Rule of Law: With the growing violation of human rights basically by the security forces, there appeared impunity and disregard for the rule of law. In the face of Supreme Court orders to respond to habeas corpus petitions, military authorities consistently issued false denials or failed to respond in substance. They also obstructed the NHRC from fulfilling its monitoring and investigative duties. Many people were re-arrested immediately after they had been released by the courts. Six days before King Gyanendra’s 1 February 2005 coup, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour summed up the situation in the following words: “A climate of impunity prevails in this country as a result of which the rule of law, the fundamental glue of any society, is being worryingly eroded.” Immediately after the royal coup, thousands of political as well as human rights leaders were detained without any warrant and show cause. After the pressure from the international community and homegrown protest in Nepal, the royal government was compelled to release many detainees.
c) Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC): Constitutional Fraud: Part 12 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal has a provision of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. Before the Royal coup, this Commission was actively functional. However, after the royal coup, King Gyanendra set up Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) allocating it absolute authority to arrest the suspect, investigate, trial, give verdict and penalize. Such provisions have encroached to the entire jurisdiction of the judiciary of the kingdom of Nepal. "The RCCC is by far the greatest blunder. It may appear to some that it is powerful instrument to check the political forces that have now been allowed to come out in the open.… It is also a glaring reminder to all Nepalese of how easily absolute power can be used against them." (Nepali Times 3-9 June 2005).
d) Encroachment to civil administration: When the tenure of the local governments was expired, no action was taken to activate them. Instead of seeking democratic and decentralized option, the king appointed Regional and Zonal Commissioners in all five-development regions and fourteen zones respectively to replace the local governance. All these Commissioners are pro-royalist and anti-democratic forces who exercise unlimited power. But there is no any provision of such appointment in the Constitution. Moreover, the royal government has also appointed District Monitoring Committees in order to monitor and evaluate the performances of the civil services. This has undermined the role of Public Service Commission as provisioned in the constitution. The government has recently initiated appointment of District Development Committee Presidents and members in such a time when legality of the present government is under public scrutiny.
e) Nationalistic education: Despite a number of faults the multi-party system has brought about many positive changes in the country including in the education sector, privatisation in education has been so much rampant that there has been inter-institutional link locally and globally which assist in sharing the emerging knowledge and skills. But the government has been preparing to introduce new text books in the schools with nationalist flavor basically praising the Nepalese monarchy to appreciate every activity and personality of the members of the royal family. But such nationalistic education will only make the citizens more slavish than ever before and the students will lose the materials that are akin to the globalization and uprising science and technology.
f) Rise in the Royal Expenses: The growing conflict in the country has gradually weakened civil authority and fostered the consolidation of militarization, giving opportunity to the royal institution to grab the executive power in the name of conflict resolution. Once, the king took executive power with a full confidence of military backing, the country's economy has been channeled to the royal palace. It means, there has been a monopoly of the royal institution in misusing the nation's money overtly and covertly. In 1996/97 the budget allocation for the royal palace was Rs. 64.16 million. After the king started maintaining direct rule, the royal expenses increased to Rs.619 million in 2002/2003, almost ten times. Moreover, there has been a tendency of the royal institution to divert budget from other allocations. For instance, since the parliamentary election couldn't take place, the budget allocated for the parliamentary election was diverted to purchase of luxury cars. "The palace needed Rs. 142 million to buy 'one Rolls-Royce limousine, one Jaugar and one yet unnamed luxury car for the comforts of the royal family in a country whose 9 million people do not get two meals a day. Moreover, in the fiscal year 2003/2004 Rs220 million was diverted from emergency relief funds (under the Ministry of Finance, Account No.95-3-901) allocated to provide relief to the victims of natural disasters to expend on 'marriage, gold purchase, travel, generator purchases." (Karki and Kattel2005:140-141).
g) Effect on the Media: The Nepali press media has to suffer greatly by the conflict. Between November 2001 and April 2004, more than 180 journalists have been arrested, 80 of them were mercilessly tortured and more than 8 killed.
The Royal Nepal Army Headquarters, on 2058 Mangsir 12 released a separate communiqué and ordered the press to certify all the news related to the armies from the Department of the Army News located in the Army Headquarters before release. This provision not only harassed the journalists but it also laid a foundation for the army to deliver speeches related to politics.
On 13 Mangsir 2058, a photograph of the armed Maoist insurgent was published in the Mid Week Post from the Kantipur Publication against which the government made a serious objection and confiscated all the issue of this newspaper from the newsagents in Kathmandu. Moreover, the government disappeared three journalists. Fifty-six journalists were extra judicially arrested and imprisoned for more than three months. More than sixty-two journalists had to face illegal arrest, detention and abuse. During that period the Maoists also took life of two journalists. However, the government was unable to investigate and arrest them. There was a grave violation of human rights against the journalists that were abducted by the Maoists. The journalists had to face terror, inhuman torture and unbearable treatment.
"The free media, one of the few legacies of the 1990 People's Movement that was still intact, has been deliberately and methodically torn down. The Ministry of Information and Communication sent a 'secret' and 'urgent' letter to Communication Corner which represents a cynical attempt to chock an FM radio network that was acclaimed the world over for going a voice to Nepal's voiceless." (Nepali Times, 3-9 June 2005). The government recently has made a rumour public that it was going to amend the act related to press through the ordeal where strict measures would be taken against the media. The government is putting its every effort to control all the private print and electronic media and to compel them to follow strict censorship and government's instructions. The media people have been staging street protest against such highhandedness of the government.
h) Appointment of the Human Rights Commission: Constitutional Fraud: On the expiry of the five-year tenure of the Human Rights Commission (NHRC) the government against the spirit of the Constitution and Human Rights Act, appointed the pro-royalist in the commission who are by twenty five national level human rights organizations accused of facilitating to cover up human rights violation by the security forces.
These are the few examples of King Gyanendra's deeds in Nepal and he has no respect for the democratic process and is willing to use whatever means necessary to thwart it. The monarch has shown no aptitude for coalition building or conciliation; the only arrows in his quiver seem to be intimidation and violence. He has alienated even his loyal retainers in recent days with his autocratic style. Attempting to restrain this king with a constitution is like attempting to restrain a large, vicious dog with a thread. 
