Monday, December 31, 2012

Who Should Lead A Unified Madhesi Party


I am not a huge fan of Gachhedar at all. The guy walks in a Kathmandu parade with a mafia don. That is hugely problematic. But he seems to have the numbers for now. And he symbolically does represent the largest ethnic group in the Terai: the Tharus. Yadavs are number two. Going by the current numbers Gachhedar seems to beat Yadav. But, forget Yadav, not even the MJF(D) and TMLP have taken concrete steps towards unification. And the SP has not taken concrete steps either. So far the three have suggested they'd rather be an alliance than a unified party. If they can forge an electoral alliance and not compete against each other, that can also be a positive move.

Chairperson: Mahantha Thakur
President: Bijay Gachhadar
Vice President: Upendra Yadav
Vice President: Rajendra Mahato
Vice President: Sharad Singh Bhandari

But the whole debate is kind of moot. Because the presidency of the party should be decided through a general convention, not through living room negotiations. A unified Madhesi party stands to reap rich dividends electorally. Let Bijay Gachhadar and Upendra Yadav compete and let there be a vote.

Would you rather be the president of a party with 20 MPs or the Vice President of a party with 50 MPs? That is the question.

The State Of Nepali Politics: A Diagram
Socialist Democratic Party: Welcome
The Implications Of The Madhesi Party Unification
Beyond The Three Parties
10 States

Gachhedar (41)
MJF(D) ---- 13
MJF(R) ---- 12
TMLP ------ 11
SP -------- 5

In power, but not part of UDMF (14)
TMLP(N) --- 10
SSP ------- 4

Yadav (27)
MJFN ------ 14
NMSP ------ 13
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The President Must Pass Election Related Ordinances


President Ram Baran Yadav must pass the election related ordinances that was passed on to him by the Baburam led cabinet months ago. That is his constitutional duty. One caretaker government can not be replaced by another caretaker government. It has to be replaced by an elected government. Allowing a caretaker government in power for longer than one year is wrong. Normally, in a democracy, a caretaker government sticks around for six months maximum. But that time frame was breached by the president himself. He refused to pass the election related ordinances. He can not do that.

Reviving the constituent assembly is a problematic proposition. And the Nepali Congress has rejected every single reasonable proposal put forth by Baburam.

Instead of giving deadlines to political parties Ram Baran Yadav should give a deadline to himself and pass the election related ordinances.



Polls far-off for Dahal, seeks CA rebirth
If in case Dahal fails to sell his CA revival agenda to other parties again, the Maoist party is in favour of holding elections in November next year as against the proposed April-May time. ..... The party has already termed the NC a ‘status quoist force’ and a ‘hindrance’ to its ‘revolutionary ideals’. Maoist leaders have said preparations for both the polls and the party’s convention cannot go on simultaneously. According to sources, the party is ‘not sure’ of the election results after it vertically split in June. .... the party prefers local elections before CA or parliamentary polls
Set election date: Koirala
Consensus a distant dream
The parties shied away from holding any formal or informal talks within the five-day deadline which expired on Saturday. Top leaders of major parties remained busy in their intra-party affairs. .... They seemed ready to postpone the planned April-May election to November but not ready to sacrifice their agenda. ..... The PM and SLMM remain adamant that the NC and the UML should join the current government at least for some period to make their exit dignified. Dahal also recently urged the opposition to join the government even for a single day to ensure his deputy’s dignified exit, only to be rejected outright. Lately, Federal Democratic Republican Alliance, a network of ruling parties, has come up with a new proposal—to raise the agenda of CA revival if consensus is not possible by January 9. The opposition parties have said that a CA revival option is “date expired pills for country’s ills”. .... They have also rejected ruling coalition’s proposal to form a neutral government led by independent people.
Time to step down
PM Bhattarai, who has been insisting that NC join his government before he steps down, needs to promise NC that he will do so within a very short time -- not months but days -- once NC joins the national unity government..... NC joining PM Bhattarai's government, if only for a brief period, will give much-needed assurance that the two major political forces can still work together, without which it's heard see Nepal getting a new constitution.
TIA Migrant Robbery: From a gullible girl to betrayed Sita
Brimming with joy at returning home, Sita landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport on November 19. This was where her troubles would resurface. Stopped at immigration by an official who asked her name, Sita unwittingly gave her real name. Discovering the inconsistency between her name and the passport she was carrying, the official took her into custody. She spent the next day at the immigration office in Kalikasthan. ..... There, Sita was approached by another immigration official, Somnath Khanal, who presented her with another offer: the money she had brought over would be confiscated and she could go free. “He [Khanal] made me sign a blank piece of paper and told me I could go,” she says. “It is not for us, it is for the government,” Khanal told her. ..... Sita never saw her pay, the 8500 riyal (Rs 218,000), again. Taking advantage of the distraught and vulnerable Sita, a police constable, Parsuram Basnet, volunteered to buy her a bus ticket to her village. Despite misgivings, Sita accepted. ..... “He took me to the New Buspark but when we reached there he said that the bus had already left and I would have to take one the next day,” she says. Basnet put her up in a lodge by the buspark and left, saying he would return shortly. When he came back drunk and belligerent, he pounced on her and she screamed. With a hand over her mouth, Basnet threatened to kill her and dispose of her body. Then, he proceeded to rape her. A medical report says she is pregnant. ..... Sita doesn’t remember much of that night. The few riyals that Sita had hidden away in the nooks and crannies of her purse had disappeared overnight. So had the gifts she was taking for her family—the clothes, the watches, all vanished. “I have done so much for you. Do not forget me,” said Basnet before handing her Rs 1,000 for her busfare. “Come and see me again.” However, things, especially the matter of her rape, would have to stay between them. “If you talk to anyone about this, I will kill you,” he said simply.
प्रधानमन्त्रीको राष्ट्रपतिप्रति असन्तुष्टि
बाल मन्दिरमै बलात्कार ?
कांग्रेसलाई सत्ता छाड्दै छाड्दिन : प्रधानमन्त्री
प्रधानमन्त्री बाबुराम भट्टराईले कांग्रेस यथास्थितिवादी शक्ति भएको दावी गर्दै 'अग्रगामी पार्टी वा व्यक्ति' लाई मात्र चुनावी सरकार सुम्पने जिकीर गरेका छन् । चुनाव गराउनु नै आफ्नो एक मात्र अभियान भएको पनि उनले बताएका छन् । त्यसका लागि ढिलोमा जेठ पहिलो साता निर्वाचन हुने ग प्याकेज सहमति भए सरकार छाड्ने जनाएका छन् । .... 'कांग्रेसका कारण संविधानसभा बिघटन भएको हो । उसले सरकार लिए कुनै पनि हालतमा निर्वाचन गराउँदैन' निकटस्थ केहीलाई प्रधानमन्त्रीले आइतबार व्यक्त गरेको धरणा उद्धृत गर्दै स्रोतले भन्यो, 'मेरो एक मात्र मिसन निर्वाचन हो । अग्रगामी शक्तिले मात्र निर्वाचन गराउन सक्ने भएकाले उसैलाई मात्र सरकार सुम्पन तयार छु ।' ..... 'म निर्वाचनकै पक्षमा हो । मैले संविधानसभा पुनःस्थापना गरेर हुदैन भन्दै आएको छु' उनको भनाइ थियो, 'हाम्रो जोड निर्वाचनमै हो ।' .... कांग्रेस सभापति सुशील कोइरालाको नेतृत्वमा सरकार बन्ने संभावना क्षीण हुदै गएकाले राजनीतिक दलको सक्रियतामा स्वतन्त्र ब्यक्तिलाई प्रधानमन्त्रीको रुपमा अघि सारेर भए पनि निर्वाचन गराउनु पर्नेमा समेत उले जोड दिएको स्राेतले जनायो । ..... कांग्रेसले सरकारको नेतृत्व लिए निर्वाचन नगराउने र प्राप्त उपलब्धी पनि संस्थागत नहुने भएकाले उसको सरकार स्वीकार्न नसकिने भट्टराईको बुझाई छ । 'हाम्रो विस्तारित बैठकले कांग्रेसका कारण संविधानसभा बिघटन भएको निश्कर्ष निकालेको थियो' उनले आरोप लगाए, 'उसले सरकारको नेतृत्व लिए निर्वाचन गराउदैन, सरकार मात्र टिकाउने काम गर्छ ।' ..... यसबीचमा भट्टराईले नागरिक समाजका नेता देबन्द्रराज पाण्डेलगायतसंग पनि छलफल गरेका छन् । आफ्नो कारणले निर्वाचन नभएको भनाइप्रति आक्रोश ब्यक्त गर्दै भट्टराईले राष्ट्रपतिले निर्वाचन प्रक्रियालगायत बिषयका अध्यादेश रोकेदेखि नै अप्ठ्यारो पर्दै आएको बताए । 'सरकारले निर्वाचन गराउन राष्ट्रपति समक्ष पठाएका अध्यादेश रोकेपछि म कस बाधक भए ?' उनी भन्छन्, 'अहिले आएर मलाई पो सबै प्रक्रियाको बाधक भनिंदैछ ।'
राष्ट्रपतिले अन्तिम कदम चाल्नुपर्छ : कोइराला
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The State Of Nepali Politics: A Diagram


There are two broad camps: there are the federalists, and there are the anti-federalists. Within the federal camp there are frictions. The CPN(M) competes with the UCPN(M). The FDF competes with the UDMF. But then the federalist Social Democratic Party competes with the Nepali Congress, and the Federal Socialist Party competes with the UML. Perhaps it is unrealistic to seek complete unity among federalists.
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Mohan Baidya Has A Point


When all is said and done Nepal will have ended up like India, not China. India does not have a monarchy. India has federalism. The Indian democracy is not my idea of an attempt at classlessness. (China is not my idea of a democracy, but that is another topic.)

So far the Baidya-Badal group has used the party split as a pressure tactic upon the mother party. If you correct your ways we will reunite is the message.

Consolidating the achievements made so far - republic, secularism, federalism - is a sound strategy on the parts of the likes of Baburam Bhattarai. A Maoist return to an armed insurgency will simply undo the concrete achievements without bringing forth the classic Maoist dictatorship.

If an armed insurgency is not an option and if becoming India-like is not enough, what is to be done? I believe that option is non-violent. And it turns Nepal into a democracy unlike India, and gives Nepal a political system different from China.

The goal has to be to write a constitution in which Nepal is a multi-party democracy in which human rights, as defined by the UN Charter on the same, are guaranteed, but one where political parties are 100% funded by the state according to a formula that is democratic, the obvious one being you get funds in proportion to the number of votes you collect in an election.

When you take money out of politics like that you turn Nepal into a one person, one vote democracy. That makes the poor actively participate, that makes politicians want to invest lavishly in human capital, in education, in health and in credit availability.

In such a democracy the market forces will be given plenty of play. But there will also be options for the state to become part or majority shareholders in companies/corporations. You will not have nationalized industries, but you can have industries the state participates in. The state owning 5% or 10% or 20% of a company might be an interesting experiment in people power without muzzling the market forces. China will tell you the market is the best way to create wealth there ever was.

So I do think Mohan Baidya has a point. But another armed insurgency - "urban revolt" - is not a good option. The best option is in the constitution writing itself. A Nepal that is a multi-party democracy of completely state funded parties is a democracy better than what exists in India, in Britain, in America. And it will be a much better political system than China. China is only now gearing for political reform. That will mean more openness in its political system. Baidya should learn from China.

Where Mohan Baidya does not have a point is in thinking xenophobia is nationalism. His thinking equality for the Madhesis of Nepal is an Indian agenda is racist thinking. He should also learn from China about foreign direct investment (FDI). The more the merrier, China would tell Baidya. Baidya's stance on BIPPA, frankly, is stupid, it is ignorant. Politicians like Baidya would rather send young Nepali women to brothels in Mumbai than bring in FDI so jobs can be created for those women right there in Nepal.



CA demise deepens crisis
The 601-member Assembly, that was hailed as one of the most representative elected body ever in Nepali history saw its unceremonious demise at midnight on May 27 without producing the new constitution. ..... federalism is the major cause of CA´s dissolution .... With the emergence of caucuses comprise of cross-party lawmakers, these groups at times even challenged the whips of their respective parties on crucial issues such as determining a federal model...... leaders from ´traditional´ political parties mainly Nepali Congress and CPN-UML played negative role in the CA. ..... Congress President Sushil Koirala was the one who had for the first time lobbied against CA term extension by holding press conference immediately after then Law Minister Krishna Sitaula, from his own party, registered a bill to extend the CA at parliament. ..... In the absence of parliament, the country has been trapped in a quagmire. The political parties have neither a proper place to form new government nor a House to amend constitution to pave the way for new elections.
Year of dysphoria
Where did one of the most unemotional people on the planet find the energy to pursue the path leading towards freedom, equality and justice in the Spring Uprising 2006 and the Madhesh Uprisings 2007? ..... “Nobody would have a federal constitution if he could possibly avoid it.” His acolytes in Nepal are busy exploring all avenues of avoiding federalism and limiting it to decentralization as a concession. Devolution without recognition of identity can be termed de-concentration or decentralization, but not federalism. .... inclusion is the second most hated word in contemporary Nepal after federalism. ..... The legislature failed to resolve contradictions inherent in its composition and meekly accepted the supremacy of the judiciary. The judiciary in turn decided that the legislature had outlived its utility and declared that it must commit hara-kiri on a designated date. The executive ignored the wishes of the legislature, honored the directives of the court, and killed the mother that had birthed it. .... On every issue of concern of the marginalized and externalized population—democracy, federalism, inclusion, secularism and welfare economy—by and large the Nepali media stood solidly behind traditional forces. .... After his cooptation by banker, builder and business house nexus, the performance of Baburam Bhattarai has been extremely underwhelming. The tragedy is that all his likely successors appear equally uninspiring.
Social Democratic Party unveiled
The newly formed party has a 63-member central committee, including a seven-member presidium. The presidium accommodates Chaitanya Subba, Kumar Rai, Bam Kumari Budha Magar, Pasang Sherpa, Dalmardan Kami, Jyoti Danuwar and Nima Gyaljen Sherpa ..... SDP´s manifesto has four parts. In the introductory part of the manifesto, it has been claimed that the party has adopted the principle of federalism, social democracy, indigenism and pluri-nationalism. ..... The party has claimed that the characteristic of the state power has remained unchanged to date, with a particular class and race dominating the state power and politics. ...... It has stated that political parties, bureaucracy, civil society, media and intellectual society, which are dominated by elite and high caste, have stood against ethnicity-based federalism, right to self-determination, ethnic and regional autonomy.
Major parties seek five more days to form unity govt
राष्ट्रपतिसंग थप समय माग्ने संकेत
एकीकृत माओवादीका प्रवक्ता अग्नि सापकोटाले छैठौं म्याद पनि गुज्रिएपछि राष्ट्रपतिलाई के भन्ने त्यसबारे आफ्नो पार्टीको धारणा प्रष्ट भइनसकेको स्वीकारे। .... पुष २५ गतेसम्ममा सहमति नजुटे संविधानसभा पुनर्स्थापना गर्नु पर्ने विकल्प सत्तारुढ दलका नेताहरुले यसै साता अघि सारे।
KC comes down heavily upon UCPN (M)
Neutral government won’t deliver May election
political parties to sort out and recommend an agreeable government to take the country to elections. He has, until now, played a constructive role and has wide popularity so I don’t think he’d do anything that is not recommended by political parties. Second, those who are arguing in favour of a neutral government have a misguided perception.
भारतीय बिदेशमन्त्रीले राष्ट्रपतिलाई पाँच पटक भेटे
भारतले मिलाउँदैन, आफैं मिल्नुपर्छः राष्ट्रपति
राष्ट्रपतिको सवारीले दिउँसो दुई बजेदेखि ४ बजेसम्म राजधानीको ट्राफिक अस्तव्यस्त भएको थियो । राष्ट्रपति भारत जाँदा पनि सडकमा 'अघोषित कर्फ्यु' लगाउँदा दिनभर सडक अस्तव्यस्त भएको थियो ।
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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Socialist Democratic Party: Welcome



Adivasi Janajati Awakening
The Janajati Party
Finally A Janajati Party
10 States

New Janajati party announced
The new party has Chaitanya Subba, Jyoti Dunuwar, Bal Kumari Budamagar, Pasang Sherpa, Dalmardan Karki, Nima Gyanzen Lhyolmo,and Kumar Rai as its top leaders.
Ethnic leaders, activists unveil new party
The leaders who failed to join earlier announced Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party, citing their ideological difference with them, announced new party amidst a function in the capital today, a month after the establishment of Rai-led party. ....... Chaitanya Subba, Pasang Sherpa, Krishna Bhattachan .. Kumar Rai .... a 7-member presidium and 52-member working committee. In the presidium Chaitanya Subba, Pasang Sherpa, Bamkumari Budhamagar, Dalmardan Karmi, Nimagyaljon Hyalmo, Jyoti Danuwar are the members
Janajati to declare new party
The new Janajati party which is reported to have 53-member ad-hoc committee, is reported to be led by leader Chaitanya Subba.
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