A 10 Party Government In Baburam Bhattarai's Leadership

The way out of the ongoing political paralysis in Nepal is a 10-party government under Dr. Baburam Bhattarai's leadership. Of course the Madhav Nepal led government has to be duly ousted by a no confidence motion in the parliament. That is the only way. And the 10 largest parties have to cobble a new coalition.

Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has exceptional personal qualities. He has intellectual heft that Prachanda does not. He has a clean image that he maintained as Finance Minister. A 10 party coalition will not coalesce around Prachanda, but it will around Bhattarai.

The 10 party participation will keep the Maoist excesses in check. A government with a two third majority in the parliament will be able to more fruitfully work on the new constitution.

Giving the constituent assembly another six months to complete its work might be a good idea.

Girija Koirala: Half A Century Of Struggle For Democracy

Washington Post: Nepal Leader Who Helped End King's Rule Dies At 86

Xinhua: Nepali Former PM Passes Away

Sify: Nepal's Peace Architect G.P. Koirala Dies At 85

BBC: Nepalese Ex-Leader Girija Prasad Koirala Dies

Half A Century Of Struggle For Democracy

Girija Koirala spent much of his adult life struggling for democracy in Nepal. Most of that half century was spent in the political wilderness, away from the country. Almost a decade of that was spent in jail. He was in power several times after 1990, most recently leading the government that came into power after the April 2006 revolution.

Much work remains in Nepal. There is the issue of internal democracy in his party, the issue of corruption in Nepali politics at large, the issue of federalism, as yet unachieved, the issue of equality for DaMaJaMa, far from achieved. The country does not have its new constitution yet. But the basics of democracy have been laid out. And Girija Koirala made major contributions to those foundation stones. Within the framework of democracy, work on the rest of the issues can be done.

Personal Moments

I had a phone conversation with Girija Koirala when the king was in power. I blogged about it. And for the past few years this blog was the first result when you googled up his name. I don't know if that is still true since this blog is not as active as it used to be, but I relished that number one status for this blog.

December 17, 2005: Phone Talk With Girija Koirala: Meeting History Itself