Democracy For Nepal

Friday, May 15, 2009

MJF: That Other Winner Of The April 2008 Election

There were two primary victors to the April 2008 election. One, the Maoists. Two, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. The Maoists ruled for a year. Now it is the MJF's turn.

MJF stakes claim on govt leadership NepalNews

The TMDP and the SP have to now join the MJF bandwagon.

In the early 1990s, Girija Koirala chose to bring down his own party's clear majority government, and split his Nepali Congress party, and decided to take the country to premature midterm elections and went on to sow the seeds of a civil war rather than step down and let a Madhesi Mahendra Narayan Nidhi become Prime Minister.

Both Prachanda and Girija are Bahun, but I get the impression Prachanda is less prejudiced against Madhesis than Girija. Both Bahun also happen to be Teraiwasi. Girija is from Biratnagar, and Prachanda is from Chitwan.

A MJF-TMDP-SP coalition with outside support from the Maoists: that is all it will take to form a government at this juncture. It is called parliamentary arithmetic.

I also want Katuwal to vacate the scene at the earliest. I also want the eight Brigadier Generals retired as soon as possible. Recruiting 3,000 fresh soldiers into the Nepal Army was the peace time Dhoramba. That was a move designed to scuttle the peace process.

The Nepali Congress and the UML were the two biggest losers of the April 2008 election. It would make no sense for them to come into power at this juncture.

I was hoping the Maoist-UML-MJF-SP government would last its full term. But it did not quite work out that way. But I am still for political stability. I am for a directly elected president. We can't have a new government every year.

And if the Maoists play a constructive role in the constitution writing process, there is no reason why they should not do well for the election scheduled for next year.

They have proven they can be a party in power. Now let them prove for a year they can also be a party in the paliament, but not in power.

The Maoists are more enlightened than the Nepali Congress and the UML on federalism. A MJF-TMDP-SP-Maoist alliance will be most needed when it is time to make the final decisions on federalism. This government formation is dress rehearsal.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

News X Interview With Madhav Nepal

Image via Wikipedia

I Am Confident Of Becoming The Next Prime Minister Of Nepal - Madhav Nepal on NewsX

* Madhav Lashes Out At Maoists, Says They Have Lost The Confidence Of The People Of Nepal

Veteran Nepali leader and the undisputed leader of the Communist party for 15 years, Madhav Kumar Nepal has lashed out at the Maoists claiming that they have lost the confidence of the people of Nepal. Speaking exclusively to Indian channel News X reporter Piyush Pushpak in Kathmandu, Madhav Nepal claimed that he may soon be the Prime Minister of Nepal, “I am fully confident of forming the government. We have the support of Nepali Congress and we are hopeful that we will also get the support from the Madheshi front who have 83 seats in the Parliament will also support us. We think that other parties will also come around. So we will have a comfortable majority". Madhav Nepal said that he is meeting with leaders of other parties to convince them to join the next government. If Madhav Nepal succeeds then he will be the first Nepali Prime Minister of Indian origin. However, the support of the Madheshis, broadly speaking the Hindi speaking people of Indian origin will be crucial for him.

On being asked about his views on the Maoists’ allegations that India is meddling in the internal affairs of Nepal, Madhav Nepal said, " I don't have any information if anything may have gone behind the curtains. I feel blaming others, rather than realising their own mistake has landed the Maoists in this position." Madhav Nepal said if you respect the law and the Constitution and work with the cooperation of other parties, then you should let someone else take charge. " There are many complications here. Maoists' actions and behaviour has made the people question whether the Maoists are serious about democracy. The broader part of the population of Nepal feels their intentions are mala fide. If the Maoists are honest, they should try and win the confidence of the people... Since they have not done that, tension has developed between the Maoists, the Prime Minister and the President. This contradiction has developed to such an extent that the Prime Minister had to resign. Due to bad handling of these issues, today the Maoists have become isolated, they are alone but they are charging everybody else."

On The Video tape controversy featuring Prachanda

"The casette episode has increased suspicions about the Maoists intentions. This needs to be discussed seriously in an open and transparent manner."

On the Decision to sack the Army Chief - was it within the perview of the constitution or was it politically motivated?

"I think that the grounds that they have raised are not proper." The Maoists had raised three issues. Our party clearly believes that one of the three points raised by them is not justified. We oppose it. Unlike the Maoists we believe that the new recruitment (done by the sacked Army Chief) is proper and is not against the understanding. On the second issue of " the extention of the eight Generals, we believe that the case was sub-judice. If a case is subjudice, you cannot demand explanation from the concerned people. On the third issue related to the football tournament I think it is not a major issue. In sum, I feel the ground was neither valid nor justified. So I feel the expulsion of the Army Chief does not hold ground."

However, Madhav Nepal said that he would not be happy to form a government minus the maoists, " We don't want Maoists to go out of the equation. Its better that they become part of the government.This is an interim period and in this period we should work together."

On the Maoist Threat to disrupt the activities of the Parliament.

"Nobody asked them to resign. They decided unilaterally. They have gone against the spirit of the constitution so it is they who have created the problem. If their resignation is genuine its their moral responsibilty they should back out and give the space to others. "

"If they can garner the required support they should try and form the government. Otherwise on moral grounds, on all logical grounds they should not disrupt the Parliament" "

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INX News Pvt. Ltd, is wholly owned by Indi Media Company Pvt. Ltd. , a venture co-founded by Vinay Chhajlani, an entrepreneur with interests in IT, new media and regional media, and Jehangir S. Pocha, a senior editor with years of global experience in media and business, and the former Editor of Businessworld magazine. Vinay Chhajlani is also the CEO of NaiDunia Media Pvt Ltd and founder of Webdunia.com

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Madhav Nepal Would Be A Great Choice

Madhav Nepal Needs To Make A Move (2007)
Prachanda, Madhav, Devendra (2006)
Madhav Nepal (2006)
Madhav Nepal Out In Open (2006)
Interim President: Madhav Nepal (2006)
Phone Talk With Madhav Nepal, Hridayesh Tripathy (2005)
Maoist, Moriarty, Madhav, Manmohan: Get Behind The 3 Point Program (2005)
Madhav Nepal, Commander Of The Movement (2005)
Email From Madhav Kumar Nepal (2005)

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Gurung carries out Katawal’s duty

"I came across your blog while conducting an online search for blogs on issues related to Nepal. I thought you and the readers of your blog might be interested in a transcript of last night’s exclusive interview of Madhav Nepal on the NewsX channel on his hopes and belief on becoming the next Prime Minister of Nepal."

Pages

Friday, May 15, 2009

MJF: That Other Winner Of The April 2008 Election

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

News X Interview With Madhav Nepal