Why Prachanda Wants Girija To Lead The Interim Government

Prachanda wants to become Nepal's first president. That is the only reason he wants Girija to be interim prime minister. It is not about him respecting Girija, it is strictly business.

Prachanda knows he himself can not be interim prime minister. But if Sher Bahadur Deuba or Madhav Nepal were to become interim prime minister, both will have a leg up on him for the presidency. He does not want that. I don't blame him.

Prachanda is plotting for his party to emerge the largest party in the constituent assembly. That desire is going to get reflected in the Maoists he will send to the interim parliament and the interim government. He is going to go radical in terms of sending women and ethnics. He is going to send a bunch of them. That is what will help him outshine his rivals in the run up to the constituent assembly elections. Nothing wrong with that.

I have always disapproved of violent politics. But then I have consistently argued for a Truth And Reconciliation Commission. You can punish perhaps a few hundred Maoists and a few hundred Royal Army personnel for the grossest human rights violations during the 10 year civil war. But largely you are looking at general amnesty as the price to be paid for permanent peace.
So, no, I do not begrudge Prachanda his violent past. I think his change of heart is genuine. He truly wants to enter a non-violent, multi-party framework. And in that framework, if he can turn his party into the largest party in Nepal, then so be it. If he can get himself elected president, then so be it. As long he gets there through the ballot box, so be it.

The Sycophants Around Girija Misunderstand

There are all these Congressias talking tall of Girija. Even Prachanda likes him, even Prachanda respects him, even Prachanda accepts him as leader. They are fooling themselves.

I wonder what Girija himself makes of the situation. Is he getting carried away by all this tall talk? Or is he thinking of the future of his party?

Objectively speaking, I consider Girija to be the constitutional monarch of the April Revolution. He opposed the idea of a constituent assembly for as long as he possibly could. That constituent assembly is the centerpiece of the new peace. How can you take credit for an idea that you opposed the loudest for the longest possible time? Girija is still not a republican, and the country is only months away from becoming a republic. No wonder he is not going to be president.

Girija's Failing Health

The guy is 85. Ronald Reagan was in his 70s as president, and people thought him old. I don't think Girija is in a position to campaign for his party. Campaigning is a lot of travel. He just can not do that.

And he is not going to continue to be active for the next seven years. There will be one to two years of the constituent assembly. Then there will be five years of presidency after that. He simply can not do it. It is like me saying I can not run a hundred meters in 10 seconds. I just can not do that. I have my physical limitations.

So Girija could retire now, or he could hang on and watch Prachanda steer his party to emerge the largest. If Prachanda manages to get his party to emerge the largest in the constituent assembly, what will happen next?

On the first day of the first session of the constituent assembly, the country is going to be declared a republic. That is certain. At that point he is going to emerge as a candidate for president. How could you argue against that? If his party is the largest, why not?

That is the future Girija is looking at.

Girija's Best Option

Retire now. Make peace with Deuba. He is your most obvious successor. Unify the two factions. Announce dates for a party convention. Help Deuba become interim prime minister. That is what is in the best interests of your party. That is the only way the Nepali Congress can hope to compete with the Maoists.

For the Maoists it is a choice between emerging the largest or the second largest party. They are not competing with the UML. Their competition is with the Congress. They are not trying to create a Left Front. They want to be the only left party.

The Maoists are within striking distance of becoming the largest party in Nepal.

Prachanda Or Deuba

Girija is not going to be president. But he is in a unique position to decide who will. Is it Prachanda? Or is it Deuba?

Girija can not be forced out. If he decides to stay on as prime minister, he can. He does have that political option. So it is a matter of his free will. How far into the future is he looking? Is he thinking of his party? Or his personal power?

My Bias Against Prachanda

As I said, if he manages to get himself elected president, so be it. I do not mistrust the guy on the idea of multi-party democracy. But I do mistrust him on the market mechanism. Does he get it? Does he understand the role of the basic right to property in the market mechanism?

My fear is Prachanda might get in the way of a double digit economic growth for Nepal. I don't think Deuba is particularly qualified to deliver. But at least he will not get in the way.

Girija

I hope he makes the right choice, and retires. I hope he realizes Deuba is his obvious successor.

Deuba Off To DC
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Deuba At Hotel Pennsylvania
Deuba At Columbia

On The Web

Prachanda - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal
RW ONLINE:Red Flag Flying on the Roof of the World
BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Prachanda interview: Full transcript
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Prachanda - hero or villain?
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TIMEasia Magazine: "We Are Trying to Crush Feudal Autocracy"
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Blogdai: Prachanda: "A Man in Control"
Gary Leupp: the Prachanda Path Towards Urban Insurrection
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Nepalnews.com Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd.
Nepalnews.com Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd.
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Democracy For Nepal (DFN): Prachanda's Transitional Republic
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Toe Nepalese Maoists' line: Prachanda- The Times of India
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Quote from Interview with comrade Prachanda
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The Rising Nepal
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Samudaya.org: Interview with Prachanda
Reporters sans frontières - Nepal
Prachanda, Indian Envoy Discuss Peace Process

Sher Bahadur Deuba - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
TIMEasia Magazine: "Nepal is deteriorating by the day"
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Sher Bahadur Deuba - Wikipedia
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The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - World
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[DOC] Sher Bahadur Deuba

The Virus Of The April Revolution

Some people have described me the virus of the April Revolution. I believe that to be an accurate description.

I surprised myself by the way I reacted to the 2/1 coup. When I moved to New York City a few months later, my express goal was to cultivate my business ideas. Instead I found myself working towards the April Revolution - days, nights, weekends. I did not find the movement. The movement found me. It had me in its grips. I did not have a choice.

Only now after the eight party peace agreement do I feel a sense of relief. I feel like now I can let go. Peace and democracy are here. I still will be following the developments on a daily basis, and I still hope to help shape the constitution. My one point agenda is to end up with state funded political parties. I also have a proposal for federalism. I have a language policy to suggest. I was there for the hard part. I am not going to chicken out for the easy, more important part. I will be there.

What was my motivation? I guess I am a political person. Democracy is the goal. Once it is achieved, that is fulfillment enough. There is nothing more to ask for.

This is the most important work I ever did in my life to date.

I am still very much tied to the social justice agenda. I envision a Madhesi-Janajati coalition, kind of like Laloo's Muslim-Yadav coalition in Bihar. New York City is great for that. There are too few Madhesis in the city. And the few suffer from too much internalized prejudice to be of much political value to me. But the Janajatis are different. They are numerous. And they treat me right, unlike the Bahuns whose idea of getting along is that you do not unruffle the feathers and we are all going to be just fine.

My work towards the April Revolution has been transparent. It has been there for all to see. Nobody put in as much time as I did. Nobody reached the highest echelons of American power as I did on behalf of Nepal. Nobody studied the ground situation in Nepal on a daily basis like I did. Nobody put as much strategic thinking into the April Revolution like I did. I was the one who pushed the idea of a continuous movement for months. I was the one who originally pushed for an alliance with the Maoists.

I functioned within the ecosystem concept. The beauty of that workstyle is that leaves little room for the backstabbing kind of politics. As long as you are for democracy, we are all fine and dandy. Keep working. We will get there.

A lot of people all over the world played a huge role, Nepalis and non-Nepalis alike. The prime credit goes to all those who came out into the streets in April. They are the real heroes. They came with such gusto, even the eight party leaders were blindsided.

The April Revolution more than any other revolution in world history is going to be the role model revolution for the goal of a total, global spread of democracy. I am already more interested in countries like Bhutan and Burma than I am in Nepal. Nepal is done.

It is the April Revolution I cash to make my foray into American politics. It gives me identity.

Nothing like it has ever happened before. In a country of 27 million, the second poorest country, a country that has little in the name of physical infrastructure, eight million people came out into the streets over a period of 19 days to ensure a total shutdown of the country, all towns, all villages. Nobody saw this coming. It was the ultimate flash flood.

During the course of my work, some tools have been generated, like the world's first digital democracy organization, Hamro Nepal. It throws a lot of people off balance. It is not registered. It has no budget. Membership is free. It has members also in Nepal.

The Matrix grows out of that.

Drinking Liberally: Session X
New Orleans: 2008 Democratic Convention
Child Adoptions: My Number One Reason To Be For Gay Marriage
Next Stop: White House
On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama
Tomorrow
Democratic Vision For The 21st Century
The Energy Solution: Nuclear Energy
Obama 2006
The Matrix
Events To November 7 Victory
The Audacity Of Gravitas: Restore Intelligence To The White House
Barack Is A Deaniac
Voting Machines On The Upper West
Barack Obama: This Is A New Century
Barack Obama: New Approaches To Old Problems
DFA Event: A Forum On Voting Machines
Switching To Obama

In The News

PM, Prachanda discuss SPA-Maoist deal, its implementation NepalNews
Blast kills three minors in Tehrahum
Deuba says interim cabinet leader not chosen yet
Maoist organize victory meeting in capital; leaders caution against reactionary forces
Leaders commit to press freedom
Workers demanding pay rise lock up managers of Surya Nepal
Nepal's HDI goes down
EU, Australia and China hail SPA-Maoist agreement
Truth and Reconciliation Commission most of the truth commissions around the world have been established as non-judicial investigative bodies with certain mandate for the statement taking, investigations, research and public hearings. ..... The truth commissions are designed to offer same form of accounting for the past in situations where prosecutions for gross violation or massive crimes are impossible or unlikely due to lack of capacity of the judicial system or amnesty. In the past, more than 30 truth commissions around the world have various structure, mandate and proceedings. ....... the atmosphere where victims or witnesses can freely express their experiences about the details of violations or atrocities with their full protection from intimidation or harassment from any side
SPA, Maoist agreement: Challenges lie ahead Implementing the agreements is an uphill task as Maoists not abiding by most of the agreements signed in the past and are continuing their excesses despite their commitment not to do so. ...... The recent acts of the Maoists to continue extortion and intimidation despite their commitment not to do also raises questions about the implementation of the agreements reached on Tuesday. ..... Nilambar Acharya said that the future of the agreement depends on the cultural and structural reforms of the Maoists and bureaucratic and military reform of the Nepal government. ....... reach into other agreements as mentioned ...... all the past accords reached between the ruling SPA and Maoists are publicity oriented ....... “Recent activities of the Maoists in the capital and their compulsion to stop the proposed mass meeting is a case in point.” ....... Minister for Local Development Rajendra Pandey, said that he did not believe that the Maoists would implement the agreement sincerely. ......... Minister Pandey said, “Lets see if their cadres follow them or not. ........ Maoist militia might create fear during the election of the constituent assembly as the agreement only talked about the Maoist armies.
Constitution of 1990 will continue to guide future constitutions, says Acharya if the 1990 constitution had been a little more flexible on amendment issues, there might not have been the need to go for a new one ..... five constitutions in last six decades.

Sitaula directs security agencies to stem criminal activities Sitaula also asked the district administrators of the central region to start works to update the electoral list of voters who are eligible for exercising their adult franchise in the constituent assembly polls. He further said the district administration should also begin preparations for distribution of citizenship to Nepalis who have not received it before the election to constituent assembly polls are held as per the agreement reached among the eight parties.

Maoists force school students to participate in victory rallies
Government formally appoints two ECs
US and EU delegations to visit Nepal

Indigenous communities cautiously welcome SPA-Maoists agreement the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) said the agreement did not adequately address the issues raised by indigenous communities like establishment of a federal republic with ethnic guarantee of self-determination, inclusive state mechanism, proportional representation in the constituent assembly and restructuring of the state. .... The organisation has accused that major four constituents of the alliance of trying to ignore the issues of the indigenous communities as they failed to mention janajatis in the agreement.
PM stresses unity among all for sustainable peace
Maoist leaders, Martin discuss technicalities of arms management
Government approves SPA-Maoist agreement
UK, Denmark welcome SPA- Maoist agreement
UN intends to respond promptly; Annan calls all sides to maintain the momentum of peace process
Various organizations hail SPA, Maoist agreement
ANNFSU warns of retaliation against ANNISU (R)
NRNA New Zealand welcomes the pact

Leaders speaking on the recent political development

Dinesh Tripathi

Dear Bhagat Ji:

Thanks for your service to Madheshi cause.

After about a month long trip to Nepal I reached home on October 22. While in Nepal, I met with several political leaders, professionals, and people representing various organizations of Madhesh.

In Janakpur, I met with organizations involved in Madheshi rights and Madheshi citizen issue in Nepal and attended one of their meetings where I was asked to express my views on Madheshi issues in Nepal. In Kathmandu, I attended the annual day meeting of NRN and the award ceremony for National Personality Award where I received National Personality Award for which I was nominated earlier. I also started an exploratory discussion about possible World Terai Convention 2007 in Janakpur for which there was a lot support in Janakpur as well as in Kathmandu.

In Kathmandu I met Deputy Speaker of the House Mrs. Chitralekha Yadav, Nepali Congress Party Gen Secretary Mr. Bimlendra Nidhi, Agric. Minister Mr. Mahath Shah, Sadbhavna Party leader Dr. Damber Narayan Yadav, and members of the Federation of Madheshi organizations led by Dr. Ram Prakash Yadav among many others. Mr. Mukesh Singh, Jay Mandal and I also gave an interview about Madhesh issues with Nepal FM. At the end of my trip I met with the people of political division of US Embassy in Nepal where briefed them about my observation of US strategic interests in Madhesh. I will soon prepare my report about my trip to Nepal.

Happy Chhath.

--Ram N. Shah
ANTA Ex Comm Member
California
October 24