The dismissal of Sher Bahadur
Deuba government some eighteen months ago has pushed King Gyanendra towards the epicenter
of the political earth quake that has been menacing to engulf this tiny landlocked
underdeveloped country in a devastating catastrophe. Although King Gyanendra has never
expressed any desire to become an authoritarian monarch, the persons he chose to rule the
country and solve the gargantuan problems have totally let him down — one by his
absolute incompetence and the other by his unrelenting venality. This situation has only
contributed to generating misgivings in the minds of simple and poor Nepalis about the
intentions of the monarch by the baseless accusations of a small group of
self-righteous corrupt politicians. King Gyanendra, who is very shrewd knows well how to
move with the changed time. He is fully aware that the old order has always to yield to
the new. So, his firm commitments, time and again, to stay a constitutional monarch in a
pure democratic set up should keep no body in any kind of doubt. Aggravating the already
most fragile situation, the agitation started by the frustrated politicians in the pursuit
of their unsatiable hunger for power, is not in keeping with the patriotic behavior of
honest politicians. But those who are directing the present agitation are neither honest
nor patriotic. And that is exactly why the movement has failed to attract any popular
sympathy and support even in four weeks. Since no malaise, howsoever small and
insignificant should be taken lightly, King Gyanendra must not delay in taking appropriate
steps to nullify the uncalled for movement. He need not be pressurized by a band of
discredited politicians who have no legitimacy to call themselves parliamentary parties
any more. But the exigency of the situation demands precipitous action. Dilatory behavior
is sure to worsen the volatile situation. Realizing this King Gyanendra has started
parleys with peoples from various sections of the society. And this has given rise to hot
rumors and speculations. Since his two former experiments have failed to come up to the
expectations, only embarrassing the monarch, he has to take extra precaution this time. We
are presuming that the Thapa government is on the way out and a new government, that will
be able to start a dialogue with the Maoists so that normalcy might be restored and
conducive atmosphere for holding the general elections generated will be formed. Since
this has to be the government that will conduct the elections, the man to lead it must be
generally acceptable to most, even to the agitating politicians. He must not have a shady
past, he must be very loyal to national institutions and quite noncontroversial. Keeping
all these factors in consideration, the man who comes to our mind as most eligible, in the
present circumstances, is Speaker Taranath Ranabhat. If Ranabhat can form a widely
representative government, can stay above board and dedicate himself to the one priority
of conducting a free and fair elections, he should be able to take the country towards the
desired goal of restoration of democracy and normalcy. Whether Ranabhat does meet the
King's guidelines we don't know. Since he belongs to the biggest political party, he
should be quite acceptable. Even other political parties and the Maoists also should have
no objection to his nomination. Whether the country needs a totally new constitution or
amendments in the present one, should be left to the newly elected parliament to think
about. For all patriotic forces and the King too, the need of the hour, is a strong,
honest and non-partisan government that can cater to the urgent needs of the country
— peace, normalcy and democracy. We do trust King Gyanendra will give due
consideration to our humble suggestion. |
