The Showdown Begins

By Our Correspondent

Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala announces his candidacy for party presidentship, frustrating second generation leaders.

With the Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, announcing his candidacy for the party presidentship, its General Convention will be a showdown between him and leaders of the younger generation.

Three influential leaders of the Nepali Congress — Koirala, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and former Deputy Prime Minister Shailaja Acharya — will, thus, contest the leadership of the ruling party at its 10th General Convention to be held in Pokhara in January next year.

Earlier, when Koirala had said he would not contest the election, few had believed him. Thus, his announcement last week at a press meet at his residence did not raise many eyebrows.

However, his candidacy has frustrated the second generation hopefuls, given the strong backing Koirala enjoys within the party. Despite all smiles in front of TV cameras, the fissure between Koirala and leaders of the second generation is all too apparent.

Koirala said he is contesting the election for the post of party president since some issues he had raised during the Ninth General Convention have not been addressed. Koirala’s claim is that since then, he has strengthened the party organisation, helping it to form a majority government. It was Koirala who called a snap poll in 1993 that saw his party lose to the CPN (UML).

NC insiders say that Koirala is contesting for the party’s leadership, despite his age, largely due to pressure from his supporters. In a public statement, Koirala supporters recently had openly asked that he stand up for election.

Talking to the press last week, Koirala also said that his arch rival Krishna Prasad Bhattarai had given him word to extend support to him, something that was refuted immediately by Bhattarai.

Bhattarai reiterated his stance that the leadership of the party should go to the young generation. ÒI have been putting forward my views clearly in the parliament and at other public forums that the leadership of the party must be handed over to the second generation,Ó Bhattarai said.

There are strong indications that Bhattarai’s support will go to Deuba during the General Convention of the party.

In support of Deuba, NC stalwarts Khum Bahadur Khadka, Chiranjibi Wagle and Bijay Kumar Gachhadar have been lobbying hard. They have been visiting NC activists and leaders in various parts of the country. Deuba supporters have been accusing Koirala of resorting to unfair means while selecting members for the General Convention. The members alone can cast votes at the convention. Recently, two members of the NC's election committee, formed to conduct elections for the post of president, resigned, citing irregularities while selecting the active members of the party.

The two -- Bimalendra Nidhi and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki -- had complained that the election committee was not allowed to review the list of the active members finalised by the NC central committee. They had demanded that the membership list be published at the central party office and not be circulated in the districts in secrecy.

On the other hand, Shailaja Acharya has sought Koirala’s support during the election. ÒI will not contest the election against Koirala. I will try to gain his support,Ó she said.

It is apparent that the showdown will be between Koirala and Deuba.

As far as the people are concerned, they at large are least concerned about who takes over the mantle of the party’s leadership. After 10 years of chaos at all levels, what they would want to see is good governance and accountability on the part of political leaders. Can Koirala work towards this?

Impasse In US Presidential Elections

By P. Shrestha

Presidential elections in the United States have always been of great importance and interest to the rest of the world. But the recently held US presidential elections 2000 has surpassed all previous elections in cliff hanger suspense, high drama and acrimonious debate.

For the past several months, both the presidential candidates, Governor George W. Bush and Vice-President Al Gore, were neck deep in the campaign race to attract voters. However, the American voters found this year’s campaign dull and listless, as they perceived no outstanding issues or agenda that distinctly separated the two candidates. Many of the voters were undecided towards either of the two main candidates. And the press had all along predicted a pretty tight race between the two candidates with the Republican candidate George W. Bush having a slight edge over his rival.

As the counting of votes were nearing an end throughout America with the final tally tricking in from Florida, major American television networks seized the moment to air the news that Bush, who was leading in the Florida polls, had won the US presidency. There was jubilation in the Republican headquarters in Texas.

Democratic candidate, Al Gore, congratulated the new leader and was all set to announce his concession of defeat in the elections to the American people. Congratulations on the famous victory were soon pouring in from world leaders. Among the first to greet, German President Johannes Rau said Germany saw Bush "as a good friend of our country". In a telegram, he said that the German people were happy about the continuance of the close friendship between the two countries. China, South Korea, India, Indonesia and France hurried with messages of welcome for a Bush victory. French President Chirac said, "I am looking forward to working with (Bush) toward boosting Franco-American ties". Unfortunately however, they proved to be a bit pre-mature.

Quoting Florida election law, election officials in Florida declared that with just over 1,700 votes separating Gore and Bush out of the nearly six million cast, a recount was mandatory. Florida suddenly became the focal point of attention and of immense significance in deciding who would sit in the White House for the next four years. The election tally so far is such that whoever won Florida would be the next president of the United States.

For Al Gore, the loss of his own home state, Tennessee and President Clinton’s state Arkansas proved to be the ultimate undoing in not winning the elections outright without the drama over Florida as these two states would have given him the minimum 13 electoral votes to clinch victory.

In the vote recount in Florida, the gap between two candidates narrowed down to 327 votes — 2,909,661 for Bush and 2,907,877 votes for Al Gore, necessitating the counting of overseas ballots. This meant that the official result from Florida would not be announced before November 17.

The razor thin margin between the two candidates has given rise to mutual acrimony between the contending campaign staff though the candidates had maintained a silent dignity over the controversy. With over 19,000 votes in Palm Beach County, which was considered a solid Gore territory, being invalidated for double punching ( voting) , voters there have come up in arms claiming irregularities in the ballot paper. The spectre of legal battles to validate these votes and a call for re-poll in these counties is looming, and this issue has led to ugly mud slinging between the two camps already. Things were not helped when presidential candidate Buchanan said that the substantial votes, which he received in these counties, actually were cast for Al Gore, because the voters were confused with the ballot paper.

The Bush campaign has seriously challenged the call for re-voting, claiming that the ballot was available even before the election day for all to see and said that there were no complaints on it then and there was no provision for continuing with recounting until one arrived at the outcome of one’s liking.

The Gore campaign is now demanding the recount of ballots by hand, as the margin is so razor thin. With the presidency of the only superpower in the world at stake being decided by a puny few hundred or even fewer votes, never in history have the stakes been so high. For those Americans, who stayed home indifferent to their voting rights, President Clinton had a message. He said that there was a lesson to be learned from this historical vote. To quote his memorable words "If ever there was a doubt about the importance of exercising democracy’s most fundamental right — the right to vote — yesterday put if to rest. No American will ever be able to seriously say again, ‘My vote doesn’t count.

Notwithstanding the legal rambles and campaign rhetoric over the ensuing results, America will have a new president by January 20 next. But the enduring question in the heart of 240 million Americans for a long time will be: did the results actually justify the rightful candidate?

It all boils down to a simple rustic truth. Things go well as long as it goes well. But when things go wrong, even the most powerful country in the world with the ability to send a man to the moon ends up with egg on the face and a legacy to rue and brood over as to where things had actually gone wrong.

Nepalese Women Pilots Unite

By Rashila Tamrakar

"I have a dream, a dream where every girl can think that she too can fly". Thus ended the three-day workshop of the international organization of women pilots by sowing its seed of hope in Nepal.

Extending a hand to expand, The Ninety-Nines, Inc. -- an international organization of women pilots — has built up a Nepali Ninety-Nines section here in the capital. During the 3rd World Aviation Education and Safety Congress, they formally declared the formation of the Nepalese Section on Nov 8.

This could turn out to be a pioneering move representing the effort of Nepalese women pilots to improve aviation education, encourage Nepalese women in this field and work for safer flights in the Nepalese skies.

A five-member Nepali 99s, comprising of the first five Nepalese women pilots — Sony Rana, Niru Shrestha, Sabina Shrestha, Prasanna Shrestha and Bhawana Pant, has been formed. Of the total 10 Nepalese women pilots, only six of them fly.

"The Nepali 99’s will help children learn about flying by visiting schools, improve the current sociological concept and motivate girls to enter the aviation field and, if possible, provide scholarships too," said Niru Shrestha, a former Miss Nepal. "We are now gaining popularity and are appreciated. Now people say ‘thanks god, it’s a woman pilot’ and not, ‘oh! God it’s woman pilot".

And supporting her version, former president of The Ninety-Nines Inc. USA, Ms. Barbara Sharp claimed that women in Nepalese aviation are so enthusiastic that they feel they can work smoothly.

During the session, Nivedita Bhasin, an Air India captain, said that women possess no less responsibility than men do. "This we have seen from earlier experiences in various aspects of life. And women are proving themselves by working hard. So we have decided to allocate different educative and innovative types of work for the encouragement of aviation study," she said.

Nepal has very few pilots, a reason why an increasing number of airlines are hiring pilots from the neighboring countries. This is mainly due to lack of motivation, guidance to take up this career and the gender discrimination that is still deep-rooted in the Nepalese society.

"When we can do it ourselves, why not spend the money on encouraging our own people?" asks Sabina. "Though we were encouraged by our families, other women are not that fortunate," she said.

Times have not been easy for women pilots. Prasanna and Bhawana had to wait for three years before they could land up a job. Prasanna is the first Nepalese woman to fly a helicopter.

The other important achievement of the unison of Nepalese women pilots is the involvement of women right from the planning stage in encouraging women to take to aviation. ÒThere are two aspects of this affiliation — encourage women pilots and flight safety through the exchange of technology built with human factors as its pivot,Ó said Linda, a flying instructor and a participant.

This congress has no-doubt empowered Nepalese women pilots to be proactive. Hopefully this section is just the beginning of many such activities that will encourage Nepalese women in the field of aviation.