Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Why Federalism Bothers Ram Sharan Mahat


Taking Kanak Mani Dixit To Task

The Pahadi Khas leaders who run the show in the Nepali Congress and the UML denied due process in the constituent assembly, otherwise the federalist forces had enough votes to get federalism already.

A duly set up committee in that assembly had put forth a map that the Madhesis and the Janajatis were happy with. That map had the support of two thirds of the members of the constituent assembly. Madhesis and Janajatis in the Nepali Congress and the UML were ready to disobey their leaders and vote in favor of federalism and give the country the constitution it deserved.

But people like Ram Sharan Mahat would not have any of it. They denied democratic due process. A political crime was committed. And now here he is arguing full force that he is also for federalism, a better kind of federalism, only he has not been understood well enough.

Making Federalism Work: Ram Sharan Mahat: Republica (Part 1, Part 2

Deuba for promulgating revised 1990 constitution
Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has suggested promulgating a revised version of the 1990 constitution sans monarchy .... He recommended making a few changes to the constitution of 1990 like incorporating the clauses defining republic set up, federalism, secularism and presidency. .... The former prime minister said the current coalition will last as long as the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) continues to support the government
Madhesi leaders in NC rue party's apathy to Madhes PM: NC can’t claim unity govt helm
there should be new agreement among the parties to settle all issues in a package, including the formation of national consensus government. “Any party or individual who can garner the support of all the parties will lead the consensus government” ...... the incumbent government is an ‘election government’ responsible for holding the elections
Poll declaring authority vests in Cabinet, PM tells SC
the decision to hold fresh Constituent Assembly (CA) elections was in line with the apex court's verdict on November 25 last year that gave the government a fresh CA poll as one of the options if the assembly failed to come up with a constitution within the deadline of May 27 .... making Nepal an inclusive and secular federal democratic republic
अमेरिकाकी सदनमा जाने रौनियारको अभियान असफल
.....नत्र म प्रधानमन्त्री हुन तयारः ओली
प्रधानमन्त्रीलाई टिपेर फ्याल्ने ओलीको चेतावनी
भट्टराईको गतिविधिबाट भारतीय नेता लाज मानिरहेका छन् : ओली
प्रधानमन्त्रीको राजिनामा आवश्यक छैनः ओली


EC for poll in April
the Election Commission (EC) recently advised the government that it would be best to hold the elections in the second week of April next year
Chose either five-point deal or fresh election, Dahal tells opposition
“But the government to be formed for holding a fresh election won´t necessarily be led by the NC. Any party which can garner support of other parties can lead the new government in case there was no agreement as per the five-point deal,” said Dahal
Nefin's Sherpa says indigenous party soon
senior indigenous leaders from Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML would also be accommodated in the new party
Janajatis to form broader alliance for election
decided to form a new party by indigenous leaders who said they were ´frustrated´ with their mother parties
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Limited Options

English: Leader of CPN U Maoist
English: Leader of CPN U Maoist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Option 1: Revive The Constituent Assembly

I don't think that is an option. The Supreme Court made it clear a long time ago that the assembly will dissolve on its own after it has been around four years. Those four years are over, have been over for months.

Option 2: Elections To A New Constituent Assembly 

There is talk of holding elections to a parliament that works on a new constitution for the first six months or so, and then becomes a parliament after that work is over. The question is who should lead the government that takes the country through those elections. I only see two choices. Either the current government led by Baburam Bhattarai that might or might not include members from the NC and the UML, or a new caretaker government composed entirely of non political technocrats. The bottom line is all parties have to agree as to the outcome. But given the intransigence on the part of the NC and the UML, I think the Bhattarai government's push for change in election laws through ordinance might be the only choice.

थकित प्रधानमन्त्री, सक्रिय राष्ट्रपति
जनजातिको नयाँ पार्टी भोलि घोषणा गरिने
मधेसी मोर्चाको भावी यात्रा
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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Taking Kanak Mani Dixit To Task



Kanak Mani Dixit: Hindustan Times: Time to mend fences
BP Koirala enjoyed a wide range of contacts with national and regional leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru, JP Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia and LN Mishra. Today, Nepal is reduced to the level of Maoist leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) and Baburam Bhattarai who seem content in their contact with Indian desk officers and handlers.
Comparing Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai to BP Koirala is unfair. That would be like comparing Fareed Zakharia to Kanak Mani Dixit, both are well known journalists, but in two different leagues. But I'd suggest Baburam Bhattarai's friend Prakash Karat is no "desk officer and handler."
Having worked with permutations from absolute monarchy to parliamentary anarchy, the Indian State seems to be on the lookout for whoever will ‘deliver the goods’, viz hydropower; stored water for irrigation, navigation and urban use; security across the frontier; and shared economic growth with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in particular.
The suggestion seems to be that New Delhi should only do business with Nepal when the Nepali Congress is in power. That is wrong thinking. New Delhi should do business with whoever the Nepali people vote into power.
Like the ‘useful idiots’ in Kathmandu, a vocal coterie in India thinks it is chic to ridicule Nepal’s parliamentary parties as retrograde conservatives.
But that is the case. The Nepali Congress and the UML are status quoists that just played a fundamental role in momentarily defeating the just cause of federalism. They disallowed due process because due process was about to get the country federalism.
(New Delhi) helped cobble together the Bhattarai-led Maoist-Madhesbadi coalition in August 2011 and got involved in the federalism debate.
It is the Nepali people who want federalism in Nepal. It is not New Delhi. It is the Nepali people that voted for the Maoists and the Madhesi parties.
Hard to believe, but India was lobbying for one or two Tarai-based provinces, which made little sense from the perspective of devolution of power, regional stability, or dignity and economic well-being of the plains people of Nepal.
This is where Kanak Mani Dixit reveals himself. He is no impartial journalist. The media in Kathmandu is part of the status quo power structure, the kind that runs the show at parties like the Nepali Congress and the UML. Kanak Mani Dixit reminds me of Gagan Thapa. Both are smart, talented people doing well with their respective careers. And I saw one cause with them in 2005 when we were all working for democracy. But now they feel so very distant. Their ethnic prejudice is their one ideology. The Janajatis and the Madhesis need to vacate the Nepali Congress and the UML.

Of course there are going to be "one or two Tarai-based provinces." That is what the people in the Terai want. That is what the Madhesi Movement was all about.
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Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Act Of A Potential President

English: Pushpa Kumar Dahal (also known as Pra...
English: Pushpa Kumar Dahal (also known as Prachanda), prime minister of Nepal, during av visit to Norway in March 2009 ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬: Pushpa Kumar Dahal (også kjent som Prachanda), Nepals statsminister, under et besøk i Norge i mars 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
आफ्नो सबै सम्पत्ति पार्टीलाई बुझाउने प्रचण्डको घोषणा, लाजिम्पाट निवास पनि छाड्ने 

 काठमाडौं

 एकीकृत माओवादीका अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले आफ्नो सम्पत्ति पार्टीलाई बुझाउने घोषणा गर्नुभएको छ । पार्टीको सातौं विस्तारित बैठकको समापन गर्दै अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले आफूसँग रहेका सबै सम्पत्ति पार्टीलाई बुझाउने घोषणा गर्नुभएको हो । माओवादी लडाकूको रकम हिनामिना भएको भन्दै अध्यक्ष प्रचण्ड लगायत पार्टी नेतृत्वको विस्तारित बैठकमा चर्को आलोचना भएपछि अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले यस्तो घोषणा गर्नुभएको हो । उहाँले वैकल्पिक आवासको व्यवस्था हुनासाथ लाजिम्पाट निवास छाड्ने समेत घोषणा गर्नुभयो । अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले यस्तो घोषणा गर्दा बैठकमा सहभागीहरुले लामो समयसम्म ताली बजाएर घोषणाको स्वागत गरेका थिए । अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले केन्द्रमा आर्थिक र लेखा समिति गठन गर्ने समेत जानकारी दिनुभयो । पार्टीभित्रको गूटबन्दी अन्त्य भएको आभाष दिलाउन आफ्नो सचिवालयका कर्मचारी बाबुराम भट्टराईकोमा र भट्टराईको सचिवालयका कर्मचारी आफ्नो सचिवालयमा ल्याउने समेत अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले बताउनुभयो ।
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A Possible Roadmap

English: Composition of the 2011 Tunisian Cons...
English: Composition of the 2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly Français : Composition de l'Assemblée Constituante tunisienne de 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Step 1: Form a non political government of technocrats to hold elections to a new constituent assembly. Amend all laws necessary to that effect. None of the political parties would participate in such a government.

Step 2: Give that assembly six months to come up with a new constitution.

Step 3: Turn that assembly into a parliament that would serve for three and a half more years.

Step 4: Within a year of the assembly coming into shape, hold elections for a new president. The president would be directly elected by all peoples of Nepal.

Step 5: Within a year of the assembly being turned into a parliament, hold elections for local bodies at the village/town/city level and at the state level to form state governments.
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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Upendra Mahato In Town


There was an event at Yak Friday evening. Upendra Mahato was in town with his family. He said this was his first vacation since before he launched his entrepreneurial career in 1989.

BP Koirala is the founder of the Nepali Congress. Upendra Mahato is the founder of the NRN Movement. What Laxmi Mittal is to Indians across the world Upendra Mahato is to the Nepalis across the world. To my saying that in my remarks Ratan Jha added, they even look alike.

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