NATIONAL 4 - (Spotlight Weekly)

‘Maoist Movement Is Aimed At Discrediting The Communist Movement In The Country’

— Madhav Kumar Nepal

Leader of the main opposition party MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL is known as a gentle leader of the cadet-based party Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (UML). Also the shadow Prime Minister, Nepal, whose party is staging several demonstrations against the corruption in the government, insists that his party and leaders are clean and says he is ready to face any kind of inquiry regarding the accumulation of wealth by illegal means. Nepal spoke to KESHAB POUDEL at his office at the Parliament Secretariat on Monday morning on wide range of issues including the ongoing nation-wide agitation staged by the party. Excerpts:

How do you justify your party's call for violent agitations and political programs?

As the ruling party did not respond to our concerns in the parliament, we have decided to go to the street to show our strength. As a party that believes in democratic practices, it is our right to go to the street. You cannot charge us of being undemocratic simply because we took to the streets. We have kept both the options - parliament and street -- open. Launching street agitation is our compulsion. Had the government responded to our concerns, we would not have gone to the streets. Having said that I want to clarify that our programs are peaceful.

How can you say the programs are peaceful when your party workers are destroying public property and forcing citizens to remain in the house during Bandha?

Our party workers have not used any kind of force. The participation of people in Nepal Bandha was spontaneous. People have shown their support to our programs.

But so many vehicles were damaged and windows of government offices were smashed ....

In an agitation, you cannot rule out the possibility of small scale violence but we oppose any kind of violence.

Yours is the main opposition party and is the government-in-waiting, what prompted you to march to the street instead of pressing the government in parliament?

Majority government of the Nepali Congress completely ignored the sovereign parliament by not fulfilling the demands of the opposition. When it turned deaf ear to us, we were left with no other option than to go to the street. Leading the demonstration in the street does not mean that we have lost the faith on parliamentary democracy. When parliament cannot function properly, street is always open to us.

Then, where is your faith now?

Our faith is always in democracy and democratic system. We have been launching the program to make the parliament more effective and efficient. Our aim is not to destroy the system but to protect it. If parliament is reduced to a place of talking shop, street remains the hot place to demonstrate.

When people see lawmakers themselves breaking the laws, what moral authority will you have to ask them to abide by it?

We are very law abiding party. When the Congress government used the administration to fulfill its interest, we were forced to take some steps. Look, what happen to Rautahat where in presence of state minister, our party workers were hijacked and beaten. The administration completely turned deaf ear to our complaints. When government is breaking the law itself, how can we alone be expected to follow it. There must be tit for tat.

Both the country's major political parties are accusing each other for not respecting the rule of law ...

I have already told you that we are not going against the rule of law. We want to renew our relations with people through the agitation.

As you are known as one of the sober leaders of the main opposition party, what signal do you want to give through the present agitational politics?

We still want cordial relationship with the ruling party but the ruling bench should also show some kind of tolerance towards us. We don't want to be a tail of Congress. When Congress government is taking revenge against our party workers, how can the friendship be possible.

Do you believe that you are fulfilling the role of the responsible opposition?

There is no doubt about that. Even other opposition parties including RPP hailed our recent role. RPP leaders even suggested us to come more aggressively. We are fulfilling the role that responsible opposition needs to play. We are playing the role of a watch dog. We don't want to go Sati (sacrifice ourselves) with the Congress's bad governance.

Why is your party following the advice of other opposition parties which do not have enough strength in the parliament to form the government?

We are not following anybody as we are capable to take decisions on our own. UML is just trying to bring the government in track. UML is acting like a dozer to bring to track the government that has been derailed. Even after Maoists took the responsibility of what happened in Rautahat, Congress took actions against our party workers. What type of justice is that? In the name of Maoists, Congress is oppressing our party workers. UML wants to play a very constructive role but the government sees this as our weakness.

Your party announced agitation programs when Maoists are also doing similar things. Why did you choose this time?

Our programs have already reduced the influence of Maoists. Since the initiation of our street programs, ultra leftists and rightists are scared. Our demands are based on the Constitution. Had there been a prudent political thinking in the Congress, the situation would be not like that of today.

In the overall context, how do you see Maoists movement?

Maoists are following the wrong way and they will never succeed in their mission. How can they be revolutionary by killing innocent people? They have already killed more than two dozens of our party workers. I think this is the turning point for the Maoist movement. Frankly speaking, this is the movement aimed at discrediting the communist movement in the country. Maoists are capturing the districts where communist parties had bigger influence. There are many ways to organize people but Maoists are using the method of terror.

Then, why aren't you supporting the government?

It is the duty of the government to maintain law and order situation and we don't want to interfere with that.

Is there any consensus among major political parties to start fresh agitation in the country?

As the main opposition party, we want political stability in the country as it is one of the main factors for the economic development. I don't know about other political parties but CPN-UML is running agitation program on its own. Whenever we take initiatives against corrupt practices and raise the question of national interest, some section of the people harass us. Their intention is to destroy our character.

How do you see the Indian government's claim that Nepal was used as terrorist base to hijack Indian Airlines plane?

At a time when even Indian Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani admitted that hijacking of IC-814 was planned in Mumbai, how can they blame Nepal's security lapse. In the name of security problems, Indian should not be allowed to deploy their security forces at Tribhuwan International Airport. If we allow Indians to deploy their security, what will we reply to other airlines in case they make similar requests?

The Centre for Development and Population Activities

— Christa A. Skerry, Country Director

The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) was established as an INGO in 1975, coinciding with the onset of the UN International Decade for Women. CEDPA's mission is to empower women at all levels of society to become full partners in development. Empowerment is defined as the process by which a woman becomes aware of her own strength and identity and actively seeks to bring about change. CEDPA is working to achieve its mission in nearly 40 countries around the world in partnership with non-governmental organizations and government agencies.

What are the priority areas of CEDPA?

In Nepal, CEDPA's programs advocate adoption and implementation of policies and programs that enable women to exercise choice, access services and participate fully and equally in all development processes. Women's lack of participation in Nepalese society has been a critical constraint to development.

Despite more than 40 years of planned development, womenís potential contribution to accelerating economic growth is only just beginning to be recognized by Nepal's policy makers. CEDPA's current program is designed to take advantage of this momentum, which seeks to actively engage women in the development process.

The program focuses on increasing women's participation in civic society by teaching them about their rights and providing them with skills to act upon those rights; empowering on slowing population growth by addressing the environment in which women and their families make decisions about reproductive health. A strategy that not only supports improvements in services but that also focuses on the needs and capacities of clients to make decisions about the services they seek is key to achieving national health goals.

Do you find any need for change in the government policies?

A particularly welcome development in the health sector is HMG's increasing support for private sector, NGO and community involvement in achieving national reproductive health goals. The Strategy states explicitly that such involvement is essential and further stresses the need for strengthened public-private sector partnerships. Private sector and NGO involvement in the Ministry of Health's Reproductive Health Coordinating Committee has allowed an expanded role for the private sector in defining as well as implementing national programs. HMG should continue to expand opportunities for private sector and NGO participation in the health sector as an important means for increasing community involvement in and support for the national health agenda.

What needs to be done to control the population growth rate?

Slowing population growth requires that women and couples have access to accurate information to enable them to make family planning and reproductive health decisions appropriate to their needs. Quality services must then be made available to ensure that women and couples can act upon their decisions. Further, programs that improve maternal and child health need to be undertaken alongside family planning programs because maternal and child mortality continue to be key obstacles to increased contraceptive prevalence. Successful reproductive health programs must include women in advocating and delivering the services that will best meet their reproductive and other health needs. Increasingly, it is also important to begin addressing the reproductive health needs of Nepal's adolescent population — according to the Nepal Family Health Survey (1996), 24% of adolescent women 15-19 years of age are already mothers or pregnant with their first child.

How successful have the CEDPA's programs to control the population growth rate been?

CEDPA's programs emphasize community-based delivery of gender-sensitive reproductive health information and services to help generate and satisfy demand for quality services that address individual and community needs. Our programs work through NGO partners to mobilize individual and community (stakeholder) participation in demanding, accepting, and delivering a range of services. In partnership with HMG, District and Village Development Committees and NGOs, we are working to increase women's involvement in delivering reproductive health information and services in communities to increase women's knowledge of and use of services to improve their health status. CEDPA's programs have contributed to increased knowledge and increased contraceptive prevalence in its program districts. CEDPA has also been a key supporter of national level advocacy initiatives including Condom Day and the Safe Motherhood Network's activities that have led to increased attention and allocation of resources for improved reproductive health.

As a country director of CEDPA, what do you think are the pressing challenges faced by your organization?

One of our biggest challenges in implementing and sustaining programs continues to be the low female literacy rate. Women's inability to read prevents them from accessing the information they need to make informed decisions to improve their own lives and the lives of their children. This cycle of illiteracy and disempowerment is perpetuated every time a girl is not allowed to attend or complete school.

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges that CEDPA faces as an INGO is to continuously demonstrate to HMG and other stakeholders that our agenda for development is directed at contributing to national policies and goals even though NGOs are our primary vehicles for program implementation. NGOs and INGOs play an important role in innovating ways to involve individuals and communities in contributing to the country's development and in complementing and supplementing government supported programs.