EDITOR'S NOTE

The Prime Minister's delayed talks with the hoteliers and his assurance to resolve their dispute with the labor unions to their satisfaction has failed to prevent the damage to the tourism industry. The prime minister very humbly requested the hoteliers to withdraw their lock out. At the prime minister's request the hoteliers did agree not to continue their lock but the harm was already done and Nepal's prestige in the tourism world has suffered a big blow. Why did the prime minister decide to intervene so late has started generating various doubts and suspicious and even his bone fide has come in question. Had the Prime minister taken the step earlier, the step he took forty eight hours later, the country would have saved its credibility, the hotels would have saved millions of rupees and the hotel guests would have saved a great deal of respect for the management. But that was not be the prime minister must have had something up his sleeves. A politician upto his nails, he never misses any opportunity to play politics, whether it profits the people or the country or not. He is enjoying playing politics with the fate of the students and the education in the country. He is playing politics with the Maoists despite the fact. That they have established parallel administration in same parts of the country. His similar game of politics with his colleague and junior partners has brought his party on the verge of split. Like a drug addict who cannot do without drugs. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is politics addict and cannot survive without playing politics. Politics has become a mania to him, a serious disease. Unless some corrective steps are taken he is sure to succumb to it. Consequently, it would not be wise to get mad at him, what he needs most urgently is pity. Since he is totally obsessed, he does not seem accountable to his actions. As such, it can be easily surmised he was playing politics with the hoteliers and the trade unions also. Before he can do further damage to the country with his obsession, he has to be put aside. The hectic activities being vigorously carried out by his opponents, it seems, has unnerved his to some extent. Even though the Nepali Congress does not have one man who can lead the party in a better way if he is ever displaced, it seems Koirala may not be able to keep both the coveted positions with him for long. May be, a small mouse is born in the Nepali Congress who may be able to bell the big cat. Since very thing comes to an end, Koirala's politicking too cannot go on for ever. The thing to see is how gracious an exit he makes.

* * *

The 2000 Presidential elections in the United States after a prolonged and tortuous wrangling seem to have come to an end. At the time of writing even though a final verdict had not yet been reached, the Republican candidate George W. Bush seemed to be emerging as the winner. Knowledgeable people are saying that the incoming President might have to face a divided Congress and a divided nation and consequently may not have a smooth sailing. Even if that could be true, it would only be a passing phase. The Americans are sure not to harbor the anguish for a long time. But the one important thing that has become evident is the electoral process in that country may need some change. The other thing that has come to us. novices at democracy, as a revaluation is that politicians in the richest democracy also do not hesitate to practise tampering, fraud and extreme partisanship when their interest is at stake. This goes to prove the simple dictum that man in an animal wherever he might be. Indeed, as we all know it is very easy to profess but very difficult to practise. Be that as it may, we would like to take this opportunity to extend our hearty felicitations to the new U.S. President, presumably George W. Bush, and hope he will not forsake his old friend to fulfil the pressing requirements of changing times.

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