Sunday, April 02, 2006

Himal Survey


Himal’s Nepal-wide Political Survey*

*Figures Based entirely on Himal Survey:

http://www.himalkhabar.com/content/view/440/1/

Table 1:

On the King’s Direct Rule since Feb 1st
Not positive (do not support) 65%
Positive (support) 25%
Neutral (no opinion) 10%
Total 100%

Table 2:

On the State of the Nation
bad 57.4%
anarchic/frightening 33.6%
(missing) 8%
Total 91 % (100%)

Table 3:

On the Maoist Insurgency
bad 59%
“It’s ok” 25.2%
don’t know 8%
(Missing) 7.8%
Total 92.2 % (100%)

Table 4:

How to Solve the Maoist Insurgency ?
king-party-maoist talks 60%
king-maoist talks 22.2%
party-maoist talks 7.2%
military defeat of maoists 1.1%
surrender by maoists 3.4%
Total 100%

Table 5:

How to end political conflict/confusion/crisis ?
all party government 47.8%
parliamentary elections 15.1%
constituent assembly 10.9%
house revival 6%
(missing) 20.2%
Total 79.8% (100%)

Table 6:

views/position on the monarchy
constitucional monarchy 46.1%
absolute monarchy .8%
monarchy is not necessary 15%
monarchy is indispensable 24.4%
ceremonial monarchy 5.6%
no comment 7.8%
Total 100%

Table 7:

On the SPAM first round of 12 point agreement
have not heard about it 54%: of which:

58.5% rural

46.2% urban

69% women

have heard about it 44.3%: of which:

72.6% = good thing

20.9% = bad thing

Total 98.3%

Table 8:

Need for Outside help/facilitation to solve crisis ?
No 40.2%
Yes 50.1%: of which:

UN

23.5%

India

35%

USA

20%

China

14.5

(missing) 9.7%
Total 90.3% (100%)

Table 9:

The constitutional question
need new constitution 19.6%: of which:

66% by const. assembly

by some kind of aayog:

28%

amend current constitution 31%
curent constitution is ok 20.4%
no opinion 29%
Total 100%

Table 10:

Awareness of Constituent Assembly
never heard of it 34.4%
heard of it 57.1%: of which:

40.9%

don’t understand it

44.1%

understand it somewhat

14.8%

understand it well

Subtotal = 100%

no answer 8.5%

Total 100%

Table 11:

Opinons/views on the municipal elections
was not good/right 59%
was good/right 25.9%
no answer 14.2%
Total 100%

Table 12:

king-called parliamentary elections possible?
No 61.1%: of which:

45.1 % b/c of maoists

33% b/c polls cannot be free

20.1% b/c parties cannot/will not participate

yes 22.5%
don’t know 16.1%
Total 99.7%

Table 12:

Hypothetically, if elections could be held today who World you vote for?
20.8% Undecided
19.2% UML
18.3% NC
11.5% CPN(M)
7.3% independent
3.7% RPP
2.3% NC(D)
Total for parties = 79.2% (??)

(16.9% of party vote missing

who does this belong to?)

(2.3% for NC(D), less than RPP sounds wrong)




Total 100%


Some remarks I would like to make.

(1) What has been the methodology of this survey? How many people were asked questions? Can the sample be said to be representative of Nepal? What kind of questions were asked? In what settings? What was done to make sure the sample was as representative as possible?

(2) 2/1 is highly unpopular. The two extremes are unpopular. The king's autocracy and the Maoists' violence are both disliked.

(3) There is huge support for the idea of a roundtable conference between the three forces.

(4) The people want an all party government as a next step.

(5) 25% are strongly for a monarchy, 45% are for a constitutional monarchy, 5% for a ceremonial monarchy, and 1% for an absolute monarchy. What this means is if the people were to decide on the fate of the monarchy through a constituent assembly, they will retain it in a strictly constitutional form.

(6) Half the country has not heard of the 12 point agreement. I am not surprised. During Newt Gingrich' 1994 "revolution," the majority of Americans said they had never heard of the Contract With America document. Actually half is a good number to have.

(7) UN, India, US, EU and China should all help the peace process.

(8) The constituent assembly is not a wildly popular idea, but then it is because the people have not been explained the idea. 35% have never heard of the idea. Majority of those who have heard of it don't understand it.

(9) The king's electoral experiments are set to bomb. If the parliamentary elections were to be held, the Maoists would be more crucial to its failure than the seven party alliance.

(10) The Maoists would emerge the third largest party in the country. Looks to me like elections will be good for both the extremes, the monarchy survives, the Maoists emerge large.

(11) Deuba Congress is in trouble. Kind of like Bamdev Gautam's breakaway UML faction a few years back. But considering the Congress often wins with narrow margins, the Deuba Congress could really hurt the Koirala Congress. If the numbers here are to be believed, the Deuba Congress will fare worse than the RPP.

(12) It is entirely possible the Maoists might be third in terms of votes, but second equal in terms of seats in a parliament.

(13) Constituent Assembly, Democratic Republic: these are ideas that can be "sold" to the people. These are ideas that give political parties homework. The work is to raise the political consciousness of the people.

The Nepali version seems to be fuller.

यदि अहिले माओवादीले हतियार बिसाएर संसदको चुनाव भयो भने भोट कसलाई दिनुहुन्छ?
एमाले १९.७%
नेपाली काङ्ग्रेस १८.३%
नेकपा (माओवादी) ११.४%
स्वतन्त्र ८.७%
राप्रपा ७.३%
नेपाली काङ्ग्रेस (प्र.) ३.७%
राप्रपा (कमल थापा) २.३%
जनमोर्चा नेपाल ०.९%
नेमकिपा ०.८%
सद्भावना (आनन्दीदेवी) ०.७%
राष्ट्रिय जनशक्ति पार्टी ०.४%
सद्भावना (मण्डल) ०.१%
राजा वा राजाको पार्टी ०.१%
अन्य १.१%
भोटनै दिन्न ३.८%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न २०.८%

अहिले देशको समग्र स्थिति कस्तो छ?
राम्रो ३.१%
पहिले जस्तै ५%
कहालीलाग्दो/अन्यौलपूर्ण ३३.६%
नराम्रो ५७.४%

राम्रो या नराम्रो स्थितिको जिम्मेवारी कसलाई दिनुहुन्छ?
राजा ३२.७%
माओवादी ३२.६%
दलहरू २६.६%
विदेशी शक्ति १.५%
अन्य ०.६%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न ६%

नयाँ संविधान कसरी बनाउनुपर्ला?
राजाबाट आयोग बनाएर १०.१%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न ५.२%
संसदबाट १८.५%
संविधान सभाबाट ६६.३%

दुई महिनाअघिको नगरनिर्वाचन कस्तो लाग्यो?
ठीक लाग्यो २६%
ठीक लागेन ५९%
अन्य १%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न १४%

अहिलेको परिस्थितिमा एक वर्षभित्र संसदीय चुनाव हुनसक्ला?
सक्दैन ६१%
सक्छब २२.५%
अन्य ०.४%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न १६.१%


केही समयअघि भएको माओवादी दलहरूबीचको समझ्ादारीबारे थाहा छ?
थाहा छ ५४%
थाहा छैन ४४.३%
अन्य १.६%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न ०.१%

थाहा भए कस्तो लाग्यो?
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न ६.४ %
ठीक छ ७२.६%
ठीक छैन २१%

अहिले देशमा कसको शासन छ?
राजाको प्रत्यक्ष ६७%
सेनाको भरमा राजाको १३%
राजाका मान्छेको ३%
दलहरूको ७%
माओवादीको ६%
शासन नै छैन २%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न २%

राजाले सरकारमा रहेका दलहरूलाई हटाई आफैँ शासन गरेको कस्तो लाग्छ?
ठीक लागेको छ २४%
ठीक लागेको छैन ६५%
थाहा छैन/भन्न चाहन्न ११%


In The News

Dailekh bombing against the party policy: CPN (M) NepalNews
Seven party alliance seeks support from professional alliances
Entrepreneurs issue 48-hour ultimatum to local administration
Himal opinion poll: Two-thirds reject the direct rule of the king
Media council will be in place within two months: Basnet
Crown Prince and Crown Princess in UAE

Visitors

2 April03:58Pacific Century Matrix, Hong Kong S.A.R.
2 April04:46Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd., Nepal
2 April05:24British Telecommunications plc, United Kingdom
2 April05:49Total Peripherals Group, Australia


2 April05:58KORNET, Korea
2 April06:14Raya Telecom, Egypt
2 April07:36D. E. Shaw & Co., New York, United States
2 April08:16Planet Internet, Netherlands, The
2 April08:21Sympatico HSE, Canada
2 April09:23Deutsche Telekom AG, Germany
2 April09:36JPNIC, Japan


2 April10:06University of York, York, United Kingdom

Saturday, April 01, 2006

April 6,7,8,9, April 16,17,18,19, April 26,27,28,29


Time for movement is passe. Now is revolution time. There is no room left for dialogue, I think. The idea now has to be to get hundreds of thousands of people out into the streets across the country over a period of days to culminate in a unilateral declaration of the establishment of a revolutionary parliament.

That revolutionary parliament would be the 1999 House, but not bound by the 1990 constitution, and not lead by Taranath Ranabhat. It would declare the formation of a seven party government.

We could do it at the end of the April 6-9 protests, or we could give a second or a third try. The decision is for the seven party alliance to take.

I guess there would be one last chance for dialogue. If the king were to release all political prisoners and then come around to agreeing to a roadmap that would lead to a constituent assembly, then talks could happen. But that depends on the king making sense. He has not made sense since he ascended to the throne. What makes you think he will make an about turn now?

So to have a roadmap that depends on the king making sense is counterproductive. Leave that option open, but plan A should be to cut a roadmap that does not depend on the king at all.

April 6 would launch the movement, curfew or not. Disobey the curfew. Throng into the streets. (यो सडक ितम्र्ो हो) By April 9 the tsunami of people should have completely overtaken the streets. There should be people as far as the eyes can see. All indications are that the parties have learned their lessons from the January 20 clampdown.

Write To Bush, Condi Before Possible Clampdown
Leahy Amendment Says No Arms To Nepal
यो सडक ितम्र्ो हो
Kamal Thapa Is A Nazi
Why The Maoists Should Cease Violence
Hamro Nepal All Set To Be Launched
Kamal Thapa Going Jail, Kamal Thapa Chukkie Pissing
Dinesh Tripathi, Your Worst Nightmare

Likely the Nepali new year will see a new Nepali government of the democrats. If for some reason April 9 does not see the climax we expect, there has to be a plan B. That would be to learn lessons from the latest clampdown, and better organize the next round, to be held within 10 days, or something like that.

(1) Declare A Revolutionary Parliament

(2) Form A Seven Party Government

(3) Declare An Interim Constitution, Abolish The Monarchy, Declare The Interim President the Commander In Chief of the Army, renamed the Nepal Army with immediate effect. Send people like Kamal Thapa and Tulsi Giri to jail.

(4) Purge the army of its top brass and all its unsavory elements. Promote officers from the lower ranks with sound democratic credentials.

(5) Hold formal peace talks with the Maoists.

(6) Partially or fully integrate both armies, or dismantle both.

(7) Hold elections to a Constituent Assembly.

We have to have a concrete roadmap that looks something like this.

This roadmap I have outlined is one that assumes the king is going to keep being nonsensical. But he has the option to make sense, and in that case the 12 point agreement is very clear as to what to do. The monarchy's fate then is not decided by the revolution but by the constituent assembly. The army's restructuring also gets postponed.

ICG: Electing Chaos
Bloody Hell
The King Is Not Even Pretending
Republic Of Nepal Flag
Where Are The Second Generation Leaders?
भूपि शेरचन, गोपालप्रसाद रिमाल, प्रवर जिसी
Repressive Measures Intensify In Nepal Against Democratic Movement
Curfew? What Curfew? Royal Tamasha
Our Options
Curfews Will Not Save The Crown
India, EU, US, Japan, UN Should Be Thinking Economic Sactions
Verdict: Loss Of Crown, Property And Liberty For Gyanendra Shaha
Bamdev Gautam: January 20 On Schedule
Freedom Of Assembly Under Attack In Nepal
Janakpur Rally, Biggest In Nepal Since 1990

My point being we can not have only one roadmap regardless if the fascists in power clamp down hard or not. There has to be tit for tat if they continue with their pig-headedness.

There is this great sense of expectation. This regime should not be allowed a January 20 repeat. That is one certainty. Otherwise a revolution is a dynamic organism, it is hard to plan every detail. You have to play it by the ear, like jazz music.

Proposed Republican Constitution 2006

United We Blog

Patan Meet in the Eve of April Uprising
UWB in USA: Mr. Blogger Goes to Washington
Live From The War Zone. Thokarpa Aerial Attack
Indigenous Nepalis Rally Against Autocracy
Maoist Expects ‘April Revolution’ in Nepal
Nepalis in Europe Deliver Message To Their Prince
In Autocracy, Nepal Economy Goes Down
For the Final Assault: Nepali Democracy Movement

DFN Welcomes Dinesh Wagle To The United States. UWB in USA: Mr. Blogger Goes to Washington