Indepth Analysis

King's role key to diffuse crisis?

Kathmandu: By all accounts the Maoists are here. The burning of the vehicles in two private schools in Kathmandu and the absence of the police who were forewarned of the action only shows the virtual paralysis of the law and order machine in Kathmandu valley itself. Talks with the Maoists student movement have only naturally broken down and so the private schools have closed for a week. Occasional corner meets of the Maoists in the Capital are designed to display the presence. It is this gaining strength in the urban areas of the insurgents that must be watched.

The established political parties have their own reactions. The congress insists that their integrated development approach is the sole panacea. They have claimed success in mobilizing the Army for the approach. The Army has moved no doubt. But the insistence is that the movement is not counter-insurgency one. Any attempt at a counter-insurgency role for the Army must be backed by "national consensus"'.

The UML has been caught on the wrong foot. They do not agree with the integrated development actions. They have come public on their stance that they will not allow the forthcoming budget session of parliament to resume business until Prime Minister resigns. The Prime Minister is not resigning. UML street actions in Kathmandu are drawing "less crowds". Most Left parties are threatened by the Maoists attraction of their cadre. Regardless of the fact that the UML anti-government campaign now leads the minor Left outside the ML, the waning strength of the country's largest opposition on the street may provoke a change in strategy. One indication is that a UML "intellectual"' gathering was critical of the party's stance in the winter session of parliament. The other signal comes with the UML recognition that the Maoists are the "fourth force"' in the country.

The RPP, evidently cashing in on UML setbacks has launched its own programs for a "national consensus". Although both congress and the UML appear non-takers, this is unlikely to prevent a change in the party strategy. There is already talk of the RPP sitting in parliament this budget session. Understandably perhaps there are talks of the possibility of the Prime Minister rewarding the RPP with seats in a government that could be formed on grounds of the "national consensus" that is now a near common plea.

 A 'Girija babu-Surya babu-Gajju babu' alignment is no longer an impossibility, observers say. Much will then thus depend on the role of Girija babu rivals in the congress in parliament. If the Maoists can openly host Daman Dhungana in the Butwal congregation last week, the distance between the Girija lobby and the Maoists is further accentuated by the congress rivals.

If the Maoists problem is the government's principal problem, the congress differences become more pressing agenda for the Prime Minister. RPP and Sadhbhavana numbers alone will not suffice to prop Girija babu in power. And so the role of both the UML and the disgruntled congress in parliament becomes key for the success of the business session of the parliament. The PM is assuming an increasingly belligerent role regarding the opposition in his party and his detractors are hardly budging in. It is this stalemate again that must be watched.

At another level, the general consensus now is that both the congress and UML who together refuse to acknowledge it publicly are totally incapable of handling the current crisis. If the RPP now publicly demands along with the ML a role for the monarchy in solving this situation, the congress and the UML workers in private now often voice this viewpoint. The UML for one has not ceased its demand for a constitutional reform. However, they fall short of inviting a role for the monarchy in bringing about this change publicly. As yet the constitutional process will remain incomplete until the privately voiced opinions of the two largest parties in parliament regarding the King's role surface publicly in line with the general perception that the monopoly political organizations are no longer equipped to handle the mounting crisis on their own.

CIAA's stoic silence bodes ill for the Lauda investigation

Kathmandu: By this time it has become almost clear that the Koirala faction of the congress instigated one Lawyer Saroj Kumar Singh to proceed with the writ petition against Surya Nath Upadhyaya- the Chief of the Commission for Investigation of abuse and authority, the CIAA apparently to harass the latter to the extent that he dares not to send "yet another" letter in the name of the Prime Minister regarding the Lauda deal.

Left affiliated newspapers hint of this possibility.

Indeed the very timing of the writ petition against Upadhyaya from a declared congress activist and a lawyer at the moment supports the theory that the whole affair had been accomplished to put pressure on the personality investigating the most infamous Lauda air deal.

However, surprising is the fact that the CIAA which apparently preferred to serve yet another letter in the name of the Prime Minister is keeping a stoic silence on the matter. The new stance acquired by the CIAA coincides with the filing of the writ petition of Mr. Singh against the CIAA Commissioner who is being alleged to have amassed astronomical amount of wealth while finalising some water resources deal with a foreign company while he was secretary at the water resources ministry.

Lay men wish to link the silence of the CIAA to the alleged embezzlement in the said water resources deal. If not then why the CIAA is consuming so much time in "studying" the very wordings and the contents of the letter sent by the Prime Minister in response to the CIAAs first letter.

A rumor is still alive and kicking in Kathmandu intellectual circle that suggests that the Lauda investigating authority apparently is not happy with Koirala's response and plan to serve yet another "strong worded" letter demanding some more clarifications from the latter.

High placed sources claim that Commissioner Upadhyaya is determined even to summon the Prime Minister in person for "interrogation" purposes.

Speculations abound in Kathmandu which hints towards a "compromise" formulae in between the Prime Minister and the Commissioner.

The end result, if that happens, then is very much understandable.

This notwithstanding, constitutional experts maintain that the CIAA possess the authority to grill the Prime Minister. "Since the Cabinet has finally approved the foreign currency for the procurement of the Lauda air, the Prime Minister as the chief of the cabinet can't escape from interrogation under the constitutional cover that he enjoys at the moment", said Basu Dev Sharma, a former Commissioner of the CIAA.

Be that as it may, much will now depend on how the CIAA Commissioner has taken the writ petition filed against him and what measures he will devise to defend himself from the onslaught will perhaps goad his future actions against the Prime Minister. Undoubtedly, if the Commissioner trembles with fear then the whole Lauda affair and the investigation accomplished so far will all go to the dogs and this is what his detractors, mainly those close to the Koirala congress, wish at the moment.

Unconfirmed reports say that the entire members of the congressmen close to Koirala curse defense minister Mahesh Acharya whose " recommendation" remained instrumental in installing Commissioner Upadhyaya to the current post at the CIAA.

One can understand the Prime Minister's mental agony caused by a person picked up by him. It is perhaps too late now.

Opposition plans three-day Nepal bundh this month: country's 'privatization' imminent

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala remains undeterred. So were his detractors from within and without.

In the process the nation is being jointly pushed to the brink.

The crusade initiated some three months back by the UML and its allies for the forced ouster of Prime Minister Koirala continues. The Prime Minister is adamant and will perhaps not yield to the dictates of his opposition within his own party and without come what may.

Though the Prime Minister got a mild jolt and felt a tremor in and around his chair when the Lauda investigating authority sent a letter demanding some clarifications from him.

A nervous Koirala would have resigned. However, thanks the coterie around him that brushed aside the letter of the CIAA dubbing the whole affair as to have been "designed" by some "reactionaries" to "destabilize" his regime and the "system" as well.

An emboldened Koirala not only rejected the idea of resignation, rather has now been sounding his detractors that he would "see" to their future program of actions aimed at against him in a more bold manner.

While, on the one hand, this explains the mood of the Prime Minister regarding resignation as demanded by his near and distant rivals, the opposition led by the UML, on the other, still appears to be full of energy and vigor.

An indication to this effect gets reflected from the almost dangerous program ever charted by the opposition that now waits to plague the nation for three days in series.

As per the declared schedule of the entire-rock-solid opposition led by the UML, the nation will be forced to observe a three days complete BUNDH beginning May 27 till the 29 th, this month.

Add to this the already declared Nepal Bundh on May 31 st by the conglomerate of various ethnic groupings who wish to call this day as a "black day" in the history for it was this day some three years back that the Supreme Court ruled that Nepali language could only be the official language in the nation. All put together, the fag end of May, 2000 will write its own history for having such chaotic and dangerous four days Bundh in this already tormented country.

Apparently, the 30 th May has been left without any program, thanks the Almighty.

What colossal impact it would have on a declared poor, donor driven-beggar and corrupt and less developed country like Nepal is every body's guess.

The whole nation will understandably be paralyzed indeed. Rumors have it that the organizers will approach government officials even seeking their tacit support in not attending their offices on those "ill-fated" days.

The UML and its allies hope that this deadliest of all protest programs observed so far will definitely bow Koirala and the latter would resign.

However, the opposition must understand that Koirala is made up of steel. He is a different stuff.

If pressed hard, he might opt to go in for yet another mid term polls which is a tactic that still remains under his sleeve rather than yielding to opposition's demands.

Whether Koirala resigns or not is now immaterial. Whether the UML and its allies succeed in their mission or not is also immaterial. However, what is for sure is that a Nepal freshly emerged after four days consecutive Bundhs will have to submit herself for a grand "privatization". Understandably the already crumbling economy and the dwindling industries here with this impending Bundh will further go down to an unimaginable level the recovery of which perhaps will take years and years.

This perhaps explains the rest.

NAES honors Dr. Shrestha

Kathmandu: Dr. Badri Prasad Shrestha, 69, a Nepali economist of international standing, received the prestigious award entitled "DISTINGUISHED AWARD IN ECONOMICS - 2001" for the first time for his outstanding contributions, both in theory and practice to the field of Development Economics in Nepal.

Dr. Shrestha has rendered his valuable contributions to the Nepalese economy for about four and a half decades.

 On this occasion, Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala presented a cash prize of Rs.75, 000, a memento and the citation to Dr. B. P. Shrestha amidst a galaxy of Nepali literati and the economists at a special function organized by the recently founded "Nepal Academy of Economic Studies (NAES).

Nepal Academy of Economic Studies (NAES) has constituted 'The Distinguished Award in Economics', an emerging organization set up primarily with a view to honor and award the economists for their contributions to the field of Nepalese economy.

NAES is currently headed by a senior economist Prof. Bishwambher Pyakuryal, who is concurrently the Chairman of NIDC-Nepal Industrial Development Corporation.

 Other prominent members of the NAES Governing Council include among others, Prof. V. R. Panchamukhi, Director, RIS, New Delhi; Prof. Binayak Bhadra, Deputy Director, ICIMOD; Dr. Bimal Koirala, Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Prof. Madan K. Dahal, Chairman, NEFAS; Prof. Parashar Koirala, Chairman, Gorkhapatra Sansthan, a government owned media organization.
Telegraph adds: What factors pressed the governing board of the NAES to include an Indian senior economist namely V.R.Panchmukhi alone in their organization is very hard to contemplate. If the NAES wished to give their organization an outlook of a regional body then they could have invited equally competent authorities of economic discipline from the rest of the SAARC countries. However, the NAES on this count remains silent.

Nepali intellectuals suggest the NAES to include members from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Bangladesh at the earliest to avoid undesirable speculations regarding the very motive behind the formation of the NAES.

Who is the real villain for the current mess in educational sector?

Kathmandu: It appears now the turn of the educational institutions to suffer. However, it is the students who have enrolled themselves there were the hard hit.

The question arises now as to who is to be blamed for this chaotic situation that has already gripped this sector? The educational institutions or the men in the society or even the Revolutionary students whose threat has forced the private schools to close their institutions for seven days in series.

The involved parties to this sad event must accept their shares for the present mess seen in the educational sector of the country.

Firstly, the private schools too admit the fact that their tuition fees are as exorbitant as any thing that closes its doors for the less privileged and poor students of this country.

Secondly, the society is also responsible for this chaos. For, a corrupt minister, bureaucrat or for that matter any other high placed individual manages to bear the high cost of the school fees whereas a poor individual belonging to the same society for obvious reasons fails to send his or her kids to the same school as mentioned above. It is this ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, in essence, that too apparently has contributed to this unwarranted event.

Thirdly, the revolutionary students must admit their faults as well. For, forwarding pleas or demands for the consideration of the authorities in government is one thing, any hastened violent action against the educational institutions without waiting for the decision to come from the concerned authorities is another. Their adventure shown at the two private schools and that the manner they treated the school management authorities who were Indians can in no way be called an act of bravery. For they should know that violence breeds hatred and hatred breeds unnecessary enmity.

For the revolutionary students should think that if they press the well to do guardians further, they can manage their kids schooling in neighboring India or even some where else. This will put a pressure on the foreign exchange here.

The main villain in this whole episode is the government more so the home minister Ram Chandra Poudel who summarily ordered arrests of two students belonging to the revolutionary camp right from the room where the negotiation was going on in between them and the government and the PABSON men.

An arrogant Poudel even rejected the Prime Ministerial orders to release the two students from custody.

A furious revolutionary students grouping if pressed to the wall might paralyze the whole educational system ad infinitum which is what has got to be averted at any cost.

A serious dialogue in between the government, the revolutionary students and the authorities of the PABSON must be resumed at the earliest. Any delay in releasing the two students from custody would mean inviting "evan the terrible" in the nation's educational panorama.

Let us hope wisdom guides all those involved in this sad incident.

Maoists (Mongol), Nepal party formed in Sirha

Kathmandu: Some enthusiasts in Sirha district, according to news reports, have formed a new communist party entitled "Maoists ( Mongloids), Nepal".

Sources claim that this new radical communist grouping has already come into operation.

The initiators of this grouping accept that they were encouraged by the unprecedented successes bagged by the Maoists party for the formation of their new party.

A press release issued by the new Maoists(Mongloid), Nepal party says in part: "We contributed our mite to the NCP (Maoists) while being in that party. However, we felt discouraged by the "hegemony" seen in the party of some of the higher-ups commanding the reigns of the party. Such impressions prompted us to give birth to our own separate party, which of late has been penalizing the exorbitant interest rate seekers in the villages and the anti-social elements in the society".

The new party favors a "federal structure" in the country.

However, the initiators of this new communist grouping have yet to announce formally the formation of their party.

CULTURAL ATTRACTION

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