Sunday, December 03, 2006

Transparent Party Finances: A Must In Interim Constitution


30 November 2006, Thursday106

1 December 2006, Friday344

2 December 2006, Saturday260

Girija For Republic


I knew this all along. He might dilly dally, but he is going to come around. He knew the monarchy will still be there until the constituent assembly elections, so he thought he had a few months in which to take positions all over the floor.

That the historic House Proclamation did not declare the country a repubic told him the MPs are not there yet. There was still fear. The king might still mess up. He might have allies.

But slowly Girija is opening up.

Girija played it real good. During the peace talks, even the Maoists took him for someone who wants to retain the monarchy in some form.

"Your Majesty, have patience. Time is the best healer," a cunning Girija reportedly told the king not long after the revolution. Now the monarchy is going to be healed out of existence.

Federal Republic Guaranteed

Federal Republic Guaranteed (August 8, 2006)

I don't see any party arguing against federalism either.

Federal Republic: Mantra To Unite The Congress

Now that Koirala has come out more openly for a republic, any ideological roadblock in the unification effort is gone.

But by now I am philosophical about the unification effort. I am fine either way. As I said before, it will be good for the country to have four similar sized large parties. During the 1990s, the Congress was too big. The second largest party should be almost as big as the largest. Otherwise the largest party acts like there was one party rule in the country.

What Shape Federalism?

I trust the people to make the right choice. There are a few different maps on the table. One of them is mine. Mine is designed to give Nepal a double digit economic growth rate.

All the parties are going to be forced to come out with maps before they go to the polls. I am curious as to what they will come up with.

Federalism: Four Layers Or Three Layers
Interim Federalism
Federal Republic Guaranteed
Critiquing Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Federalism: Competing Maps
RPP For Federalism Ahead of UML, NC And NC(D)
My Federalism Is Economic, Scientific, Not Ethnic
Why It Is Important To Me The Congress Takes Up A Federal Republic
UML Inching Towards Federalism
Monarchy, Army, Federalism

I think it would be hard for the Maoists to abandor their map and adopt mine, because they are so invested in it and are wed to it. But none of the other parties have maps. I think they should take a hard look at mine.

Number One Issue Now: Transparent Party Finances

This is the key issue now. If the leaders do not insert this provision, I am going to say they have betrayed the spirit of the April Revolution.

Managing arms is not entirely enough. If you don't also manage money - by making transparency mandatory - the elections are not going to be free and fair in the truest sense of the word.

Riding The Nepal Wave To An Obama Victory

Obama's Weapon On Clinton: Iraq

That is what I intend to do myself.

In the mean time, I offer Nepal my Muna Madan: प्रस्तािवत संिवधान


In The News

Signing of Comprehensive Peace Accord (Video)
NC won't shoulder king, says PM Koirala Kantipur "In a meeting today, PM Koirala asked all our party organizations to deliver a message to the people that the Nepali Congress doesn’t need to shoulder the king," said Binod Kayastha, president of the NC's youth wing -- Nepal Tarun Dal (NTD). ..... Koirala directed all party cadres to initiate campaigns on the issues of interim legislature, interim government, peace and constitutional assembly in all 75 districts. ..... Koirala's statement came when his party has been facing allegations from other members of the ruling alliance that the NC attempted to give a ceremonial role to the king at a time when republican sentiment is rising among the Nepali people.
UNSC meeting on Dec 1 demonstrates urgency we feel about Nepal: Bolton
PM directs Tarun Dal to prepare for CA
Borrowing Revolution: A tale of two eras
Nepal-US team to do major heart study
NEPSE up by an astounding 22.45 points
87 percent Nepalis favour democratic republic: Survey
विभिन्न जिल्लामा प्रदर्शन र तोडफोड
निजामती विधेयकमा सचिवहरूको आपत्ति
बालबालिकालाई कार्यकर्ता नबनाउन आग्रह
माओवादी र जमिनदारद्वारा धान लुट
जनमोर्चाले नागरिकता विधेयकविरुद्ध आन्दोलन गर्ने केन्द्रीय सदस्य पुनले सीमा व्यस्थापन नभई नागरिकता समस्या समाधान हुँदैन भने । अब मुलकको राष्ट्रियता खतरामा पर्ने भएकोले आन्दोलनमा उत्रने जानकारी सञ्चारकर्मीलाई दिइएको थियो ।
माओवादी कार्यकर्तालाई कारबाही माग
महिला हिंसामुक्त जिल्ला बनाइनेे
निःशुल्क शिक्षा माग
राप्रपा नेपाल राजा जोगाउने अभियानमा भेलामा शाही सत्ताका मनोनीतहरू र नगर निर्वाचनका पदाधिकारीहरूको उल्लेख्य सहभागिता थियो । ... भेलाको उद्घाटन गर्दै अध्यक्ष रवीन्द्रनाथ शर्माले राजसंस्था नभए देशको विखण्डन हुने बताए । .... 'त्यस्तो मोर्चामा कांग्रेसको नेतृत्व स्वीकार्य छ,' शर्माले भने । उनले 'हिजोभन्दा आज' राजतन्त्रको आवश्यकता बढेको विचार व्यक्त गरे । ...... शाही सत्ताद्वारा रोल्पा जिविसमा उपसभापति मनोनीत मोहन परियारले लोकतन्त्रको सत्ता सर्वसत्तावादी र निरंकुश भएको टिप्पणी गर्दै यस्तै रहे सशस्त्र विद्रोह हुनसक्ने बताए । ..... 'संविधानसभाबाट राजतन्त्रको फैसला जनभावनाविपरीत छ । जनमतसंग्रहबाट हुनुपर्छ, त्यो पनि गणतन्त्रवादी आठदलीय सरकारले हैन सर्वपक्षीय सरकारले गराउनुपर्छ ।' राजपरिषद्का पूर्वसदस्य मोहम्मद इकवाल इराकीलगायतका राजावादी पनि भेलामा पुगेका थिए । उपाध्यक्ष पद्मसुन्दर लावती, नेता जगत गौचनलगायतले भेलालाई सम्बोधन गर्दै राजतन्त्र र प्रजातन्त्रका लागि आफ्नो पार्टीले संघर्ष गर्ने बताए ।
'समस्या समाधानको नेपाली मोडल उत्तम'
माओवादीको विरोधमा चक्काजाम
धरापमा परेको राज्यको पुनर्संरचना
चुनावी प्रणाली र मतपत्र
महिलामाथि जारी विभेद

Blast in Nepal Maoist camp, four injured Times of India, India
Nepal should go for federal system: CPN People's Daily Online, China
LeT, JeM use Bangladesh, Nepal for anti-India activities Zee News, India
Nepal's Maoists Morph for 21st Century New California Media, CA
Nepal faces power shortage Hindu, India
Assembly will determine fate of people: Nepal Gorkhapatra, Nepal
Royalists begin 'save King' campaign in Nepal India eNews.com, India
Int’l Press Flayed for 'Distorting' Facts about Nepal Himalayan Times, Nepal "We found the situation of Maoists heartland exactly opposite of what we have heard from the international press," Peter Grant, one of the participants at the brigade, said at a press conference organised by the IRBB. .... The IRBB team comprised individuals from 10 countries, namely the USA, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Chile, Iran, Italy, India and Sri Lanka. Grant also said the people of Rukum and Rolpa had been neglected by the government for the last 240 years..... the international media are portraying Maoists as a small group of terrorists "giving false impression to the people of the world".
Nepal in a mood to discard monarchy DailyIndia.com, FL

PM not in favor of shouldering monarchy against people's wishes, says Tarun Dal leader NepalNews Nepali Congress (NC) youth wing Nepal Tarun Dal ..... Binod Kayastha, president of the Dal ..... He said there is no need for Congress to shoulder the monarchy against people's desire
Mid-term report on civil service's 10-year vision paper submitted
Maoist violate pact, manhandle a hotel union leader
Property worth Rs 7m looted from businessman's house in Kathmandu
Interim constitution will be ready within a few days, says Gyawali
The Zero Hour: Wolf, Shepherd and the Missing Sheep
Far-western women demand end to discrimination
Secretaries against provision of new Civil Service Bill
Women leaders to launch agitation if 33 percent reservation is not implemented
UML will be in majority in constituent assembly, claims Nepal The UML had secured 37 percent votes in the last general elections even when the party had just witnessed split. ..... there would be strong majority of left parties in the CA if they stood united in the polls to be held by mid-June 2007.... the 425-member constituent assembly ... Oli said that the parties should not yet assume that monarchy was in its death bed
UNSC adopts plan to assist Nepal
Students continue protests against govt decision on temporary teachers against the decision of the government to given permanent status to all temporary schoolteachers..... open competition should be held for recruitment of qualified teachers in public schools.
Majority of people are in favour of democratic republican set up: survey only a negligible number of respondents backed ceremonial monarchy and constitutional monarchy. .... "About 88 percent of the people surveyed by the INSEC in fifty-six districts opted for a democratic republican set-up," said chairman of INSEC Subodh Raj Pyakurel. ..... 88 percent of the interviewees were for inclusive democracy .... about 92 percent were for bringing the human rights violators to book, thereby giving justice to the victims of the decade-long conflict. .... Arjun Narsingh KC said that INSEC's survey would help the government and political parties in their efforts to draft new constitution and restructuring the state.
Asian Games starts in Doha, Nepal taking part in 14 events

Property Worth Rs 30m Damaged in Birgunj Factory Fire Himalayan Times
At Least 15 Hurt as Students Clash with Cops
Gang Loots Property Worth Rs 10m from Lainchaur House
Students Obstruct Prithvi Highway in Dhading
Koirala Highlights Youths' Role in CA Poll
Autonomy, Federalism Main Issues Now: Prachanda autonomy, federalism and right to self-determination should be the crucial issues in restructuring of the state. ...... The federal democratic republican system in Nepal would be one of its kind and not a replication of any system. ....... we defeated all regressive and reactionary forces by showing flexibility ...... there would be 40 per cent women representation from his party in the upcoming interim legislature ..... "Ethnic issues are the real issues to be addressed at the moment. We will propose addressing these issues in the interim constitution because these were the issues we raised while launching people's war" .... a programme organised by National Forum Against Ethnic Discrimination to hand over to him a draft of 'Federal Democratic Republic Constitution 2006'. The draft was prepared by an alliance of 12 different ethnic organisations.
Int’l Press Flayed for 'Distorting' Facts about Nepal
Education Bill Draws Flak; TU Panel Warns of Strike
Work Resumes at Mid-Marsyangdi Hydel Project
Sushil Koirala Calls Maoists to End Atrocities
UML men vandalise NC leader’s house after the Parliamentary Probe Committee investigating the MP Hem Narayan Yadav murder case gave his name and that of Jay Prasad Upadhyay of Siraha as ‘informants of the army’ in the case. ...... Property worth around Rs 1 million was damaged ..... a civil society committee was formed under the coordination of Abhay Chandra Jha to seek immediate action against Yadav and Upadhyay.
Nepal’s call to form republican alliance as “plots are afoot” to give continuity to the monarchy .... the UML itself would lead the republican front ..... “If all parties join in a republican front and go for election to the constituent assembly (CA), it would lead to the establishment of a republic in the country” ...... form a new Nepal, end impunities, eliminate corruption and address the problems of the indigenous and Janajati communities ..... “UML will get the majority of the votes in the CA election.”


Published on Saturday, December 2, 2006 by the Guardian/UK
Nepal's Farmers on the Front Line of Global Climate Change
Himalayan communities face catastrophic floods as weather patterns alter
by John Vidal in Kathmandu

Schoolteacher Sherbahadur Tamang walks through the southern Nepalese village of Khetbari and describes what happened on September 9: "During the night there was light rain but when we woke, its intensity increased. In an hour or so, the rain became so heavy that we could not see more than a foot or two in front of us. It was like a wall of water and it sounded like 10,000 lorries. It went on like that until midday. Then all the land started moving like a river."

When it stopped raining Mr Tamang and the village barely recognised their valley in the Chitwan hills. In just six hours the Jugedi river, which normally flows for only a few months of the year and is at most about 50 metres wide in Khetbari, had scoured a 300 metre-wide path down the valley, leaving a three metre-deep rockscape of giant boulders, trees and rubble in its path. Hundreds of fields and terraces had been swept away. The irrigation systems built by generations of farmers had gone and houses were demolished or were now uninhabitable. Mr Tamang's house was left on a newly formed island.

Khetbari expects a small flood every decade or so, but what shocked the village was that the two largest have taken place in the last three years. According to Mr Tamang, a pattern is emerging. "The floods are coming more severely more frequently. Not only is the rainfall far heavier these days than anyone has ever experienced, it is also coming at different times of the year."

Nepal is on the front line of climate change and variations on Khetbari's experience are now being recorded in communities from the freezing Himalayas of the north to the hot lowland plains of the south. For some people the changes are catastrophic.

"The rains are increasingly unpredictable. We always used to have a little rain each month, but now when there is rain it's very different. It's more concentrated and intense. It means that crop yields are going down," says Tekmadur Majsi, whose lands have been progressively washed away by the Tirshuli river. He now lives with 200 other environmental change refugees in tents in a small grove of trees by a highway. In the south villagers are full of minute observations of a changing climate. One notes that wild pigs in the forest now have their young earlier, another that certain types of rice and cucumber will no longer grow where they used to, a third that the days are hotter and that some trees now flower twice a year.

Anecdotal observations are backed by scientists who are recording in Nepal some of the fastest long-term increases in temperatures and rainfall anywhere in the world. At least 44 of Nepal's and neighbouring Bhutan's Himalayan lakes, which collect glacier meltwater, are said by the UN to be growing so rapidly they they could burst their banks within a decade. Any climate change in Nepal is reflected throughout the region. Nearly 400 million people in northern India and Bangladesh also depend on rainfall and rivers that rise there.

"Unless the country learns to adapt then people will suffer greatly," says Gehendra Gurung, a team leader with Practical Action in Nepal, which is trying to help people prepare for change. In projects around the country the organisation is working with vulnerable villages, helping them build dykes and set up early warning systems. It is also teaching people to grow new crops, introducing drip irrigation and water storage schemes, trying to minimise deforestation which can lead to landslides and introducing renewable energy.

Some people are learning fast and are benefiting. Davandrod Kardigardi, a farmer in the Chitwan village of Bharlang, was taught to grow fruit and, against his father's advice, planted many banana trees. It has paid off handsomely. As other farmers have struggled he has increased his income.

But Nepal as a country needs help adapting to climate change, says Mr Gurung. Its emissions of damaging greenhouse gases are negligible, yet it finds itself on the front line of change.

"Western countries can control their emissions but to mitigate the effects will take a long time. Until then they can help countries like Nepal to adapt. But it means everyone must question the way they live," he says.

· The average Briton produces 126 times more carbon dioxide than someone living in Nepal

· CO2 emissions from using an electric kettle for one year in the UK are equivalent to average person's total annual CO2 emissions in Nepal

Friday, December 01, 2006

Contents 2006 (2)

One Communist Party, One Congress Party, Total Two Parties
िफर से कह दो एक बार इन्िकलाब
The Idea Of One Communist Party In Nepal
पहाडी मधेशी दंगा, मधेशी जनजाित गठबंधन, र िनर्णायक, अिहंसात्मक अन्ितम अान्दोलनको खाँचो
सद्भावना रोडम्याप
नेपालमा दमजम अान्दोलनको अावश्यकता
Hamro Nepal: 50 Members
नेपालमा संसारको नम्बर एक लोकतन्त्रको स्थापना हुन सक्छ
Moriarty Should Take His Offer Directly To The Bhutani Refugees
Brian Cobb: An Illusion Of Peace
ICG Report: Making Peace Work In Nepal
SEBS Online Forum: Hate Speech On Madhesi Issue
Hisila Yami For President
राजतन्त्र, बाहुनवाद र भर्ष्टाचार समाप्त पारौं
राजतन्त्र, बाहुनवाद र भर्ष्टाचार समाप्त पारौं
Nepali Convention: Calling It Off
Devendra Raj Panday, Sunday, December 10, 7 PM, Satya Narayan Mandir
Transparent Party Finances: A Must In Interim Constitution
Interim Speaker: Chitra Lekha Yadav
National Anthem
Nepali Organizations In New York City
Management Of Arms And Armies Accord
Tackling Bahunbaad
Tek Nath Rizal And The Bhutani Hostage Crisis
Some Of The Latest Videos
Peace
Nabin Bhattarai
प्रस्तािवत संिवधान
Prachanda's Shiva Sena
If Congress Does Not Go For Republic, Left Front Will Win
वीपी र िगिरजाको कहानी
Proposed Constitution
Defense And Home Stay With The Congress
Kul Chandra Gautam: Message From Gulmi
ANONYC: Proposed Constitution
September 23 Helicopter Crash Memorial Service
Why Prachanda Wants Girija To Lead The Interim Government
The Virus Of The April Revolution
Nepali Congress Needs A Convention
Language Policy And University Of Pennsylvania
Kul Chandra Gautam: Home Trip
Nepali Mandir Meeting
Madhesi Movement: Online Resources
Human Rights Community Memo To Eight Parties
The 1950 Treaty
Madhu Acharya Of Asia Calling: The Need For A Truth Commission
50-50, 30-30-30-10
िगिरजा, माधव, प्रचण्ड सब एक जैसे हैं
Breakthrough
UML Regression On The Madhesi Question
The Maoists And The Mafia
Playing Hardball With The Maoists: Negotiating From A Position Of Strength
Langhali Association: Govind Thapa Magar
Dinesh Tripathi In Austin
Solve The Bhutani Refugee Crisis: Send Them West
Federalism: Four Layers Or Three Layers
Girija: A Ceremonial Monarch Wannabe
BK Rana: Paper On Kusundas
March And Rally For Full Immigrant Rights
Hamro Nepal Constitution
Maoist Transformation From Parallel State To Political Party: An Essential Precondition
Seven Party Delegation
Rename The Mahendra Highway After BP Koirala
Email To All Madhesis From Rajendra Mahto
Summit Talks And Obstinate Congressias
Summit Talks And Maoist Nonsense
Summit Talks: Four Heads Talking
Mero Sansar Videos
Televise The Summit Talks
The Summit Talks Will Succeed
Loktantrik Madhesi Samaj: Corrections To Interim Constitution
ANONYC: Association of Nepali Organizations in New York City
Pramukh Dar
Bye Bye Biplav
Nepali Faces 3
Don't Drag Your Feet: Not A Chicken Egg Situation
Nepal: Maps
DaMaJaMa Coalition: The Morcha Concept
Biplav's Satya Narayan Pooja
Nepali Convention Leadership Weekly Meeting
Interim Parliament: 300 Sounds Fine
The Revolutionary Parliament Should Bring Forth An Interim Judiciary
The KP Oli Event
Phirangee 2
Peace Roadmap: An Appeal To The Leadership Of The Eight Parties
CSC: Arms Management: A Part Of Politics
Raj Pandey: Poverty Report
KP Oli, September 24
BK Rana: Death Of A Democracy
Madhesi Rights
Peace Talks
Three Emerging Poles
If The Monarch Gets Restive, Dump Him Now
Anti Musharraf Rally
Sushil Koirala 2
Nepali Faces 2
Kamala Prasain Picnic
Sushil Koirala
Janajati, Madhesi: Too Vague, Dalit: Not Assertive Enough
Nepal In 2006 Is Not Russia In 1917
Parallel Governments Of Maoists And Moriarty
Conflict Study Center
Rajendra Mahto: नागरिकता विधेयक खोतल्दा
Phirangee
Baburam Bhattarai On The Impending Peace Talks
October 1: Sonam Sherpa Event: Movie
Nepali Convention: Management
Public Scholarships In Private Schools
Hands Off The Madhesi Activists
Girija Prachanda Brinkmanship
Neelam
Nepali Convention 2007: Venue Options: Flushing
Nepali Faces 1
Sushil Koirala In Jackson Heights
ANTA NYC Gathering In Prospect Park
No To Royal Dictatorship, No To Maoist Dictatorship
Bindeshwar Yadav: Restructuring Of The State
Arguing With The Maoists
Need To Revive The 12 Point Agreement Spirit
Citizenship Acquiring Process Eased
Sushil Koirala, September 9
The Maoists Have A Right To Peaceful Assembly, Peacefully Protest
Nepali Convention 2007 Shifted To Last Weekend In May
Deciding Now On Monarchy And Army
Bindeshwar Prasad Yadav: Prachanda On Madhesi
Sumit Pokharel: Maps
All Members To The Constituent Assembly Must Be Directly Elected
Prachanda, Madhav, Devendra
100,000 Maoist Militia Must Disarm
50-30-10-10: Four Layers Of Government
Dalit Diaspora Calls For 20 Percent Reservation
China
Media Can Distort Democracy
Google Books: Nepal
Hamas, Hezbollah, Maoist
How To Avoid An October Revolution
Janadesh: Rumblings Of An October Revolution?
Madhesi Self Hate
Hari Bansh Jha: Inclusion Of The Excluded Madhesis
Arms Management, Money Management
Voting Rights For Immigrants In New York City
How To Conduct A Meeting
Reform Is Hard To Push Through
Time For A New Nepali Congress
Madhesi Mahila (MaMa) Gathering In Ridgewood, NY
Teej Photos 5
Teej Photos 4
Teej Photos 3
Teej Photos 2
Teej Photos 1
Prachanda: Not In Tune With The April Revolution
नेपालको अन्तरिम संविधान
Critiquing The Interim Constitution
Text Of The Interim Constitution
Prachanda: Frank Or Scary?
Interim Federalism
Between The Maoists And The Congress
Hridayesh Tripathy's August Revolution
April Convention Venue Options 1
April Convention Market Research 1
Interim Parliament: 101 Members Total
Interim Bureaucracy
Bindeshwar Prasad Yadav: Human Rights For Half Of Nepal
1000 House Parties
Nepali Convention: Venue Options, Website, Core 200
Shobhakar Budhathoki: Imperatives Of Effective DDR
Community Center Idea: A Few Options
Shailesh Shrestha Recognized
My Work In The Ideas Department Is Complete
Gurung Not Katawal For Army Chief
Bindeshwar Prasad Yadav: Is Madhes A Colony?
Nepali Community Center
Who Will Tie The Bell Round The Cat's Neck
Language Policy
5 Weeks, 4 Weeks
Alliance, GFIPN: Audio, Video
Global Federation Of Indigenous People Of Nepal
Alliance Picnic 2
Alliance Picnic
The Next Revolution Will Be At The Ballot Box
Political Synthesis Nepali Style
Business Ideas
Janakpur Gherao
Indigenous People Kathmandu Declaration
Masterful Political Work: Compromise Takes Guts
Federal Republic Guaranteed
Mainstream Jay Krishna Goit Also
Memo For Transparency In Interrogations
Dr. Ram Prakash Yadav: Facts And Figures On Madhesi Marginalization
Mahendra Lawoti: Constituent Assembly
NIPF: Talk Program In Boston
Brikhesh Chandra Lal: Inclusive Democracy
Arms Management: Break It Down Into Smaller Pieces
Chandra Prakash Sharma 2
Chandra Prakash Sharma
Madhesi Caucus In Interim Parliament Needed
Nepal Vista Site Of The Month
UML Thoughts On Interim Constitution
Paying For Democracy
Hindi Is At The Core Of The Madhesi Identity
The UML Can Break The Deadlock
Critiquing The Nepali Congress Proposed Constitution
नेपाली कांग्रेसको संविधान मस्यौदा
April Convention: Creating A Glowing Core
Critiquing The Maoist Proposed Constitution
माओवादीको संविधान मस्यौदा
Critiquing Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Baburam Bhattarai, Janadesh Article
What Is The SPA Report On The Maoists?
Fire Some Generals
Micro Investment
April Convention: Emerging Picture
Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Girija, Resign
Interim Monarchy, Interim Army, Interim Parliament
Hridayesh
Chicago Convention September 2-4
Stop Arresting The Disabled
April Revolution, April Convention

Contents 2006
Contents 2005
Audio Video Archive

Interim Speaker: Chitra Lekha Yadav

Interim Speaker: Chitra Lekha Yadav

Chitralekha Yadav: Speaker

Chitra Lekha Yadav was good enough to be Speaker during the long months of the democracy movement, but not after. That was wrong. Now is the time to make up for it. I am glad a Janajati person served, but now is the time of the backward caste Terai woman.

These symbolisms matter.

Everything else was decided by the House on consensus. But a vote was threatened on the Speaker issue. That was wrong. Let's make up for it now.

Republic Now

I am alarmed with reports the king has become politically active again. He has been busy holding meetings. The guy does not get it, does he?

The choice during the constituent assembly was to be between a strictly ceremonial monarch and a republic. But this guy does not get the concept. He does not seem to understand he may not hold political meetings.

If he tries to influence the election in any way at all, he should be shown the door right away. The interim parliament may declare the country a republic through eight party consensus.

The people should not have to struggle with the monarchy question during the elections to the constituent assembly. If we declare the country a republic right away, that will be good. Otherwise the monachy as an issue will be a diversion to the real issues of the people, primarily to do with state restructuring.

Okay If The Two Congress Factions Stay Separate

Girija is almost always the last to come to the table. Look at the republic question. The people are ahead of his cadres and leaders. And he is behind them all.

It might be healthy for democracy in the country if the two Congress factions stay separate. You can have one large, unified party with two internal factions, or you can have two separate parties. It is cleaner to have two separate parties.

The Congress acted like it were two parties for much of the 1990s. That is nobody's fault. When the largest party is too much larger than the second largest party, part of it becomes its own opposition.

So I do not see the two factions coming together. Actually the whole farcical unification talk by Girija might be his way to make sure Deuba does not spend too much time expanding his organization on the ground.

Congress (D) Can Grow Fast

It is not a given that the Nepali Congress will stay larger than its rival faction. If the Congress (D) can take the lead on the idea of a federal republic, it might grow fast. Even a party like the Nepali Congress perhaps has 100,000 members in a country of 27 million. That is a drop in the ocean. Voter loyalty can shift fast.

Congress (I) used to rule in Bihar. And then it got pretty much wiped out.

Bahunbaad Hampering UML Growth

The UML would have been in a much better position, but I don't think it is capable of shedding its overwhelmingly Bahun composition at the top.

What Shape The Constituent Assembly

205 seats by direct elections, and roughly another 200 through proportional representation.

One scenario could be a reflection of what we have. Congress 73, Maoist 73, UML 68, Congress (D) 40, and the rest to others among the 205, and Congress 60, Maoist 55, UML, 50, Congress (D) 35, and the rest to others.

You are looking at an all party government again, or a government run by the majority coalition. If somehow the Maoists were to emerge the largest party, it would be hard to argue how Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal may not become Nepal's first president. I love the idea of Nepal's first president being Janajati.

On the other hand, the Congress, UML and the Congress (D) could always gang up and show the Maoists they do not have the numbers. That polarization might rob the Maoists of the presidency, but that will give them a huge boost for the subsequent parliamentary and presidential elections.

Maoists: Largest Party?

That is extremely possible. A scenario where the two Congress factions do not unite, and where the Maoists send a whole bunch of women and ethnics into the interim parliament is like a Space Shuttle about to take off. I am surprised though that they are ceding ground to the Congress parties and to the UML in the Terai. What about Madhesi representation?

Maybe their strategy is to consolidate parts of the country where they are strong. They are not seeking to expand right away, and hence the Madhesi blindspot. If I were the Maoists, I would not write off the Terai so easily.

I would advise the Maoists to work towards acceptance by other parties should they emerge the largest party. If they emerge the largest party, and the other three big cats gang up against them, I would consider that a failure on the part of the Maoist leadership.

They should be able to get hold of the UML easy, by creating a Left Front of sorts. And they should be able to exploit the animus between the two Congress factions. This is not an ideological struggle. This is just plain bad blood and hence easier to exploit.

I guess I like the idea of seeing a Janajati president. The heck with the Bahuns.

Tackling Bahunbaad
Prachanda's Shiva Sena
If Congress Does Not Go For Republic, Left Front Will Win
Why Prachanda Wants Girija To Lead The Interim Government

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