I n d e p t h    A n a l y s i s
Monarchy at issue again!

Kathmandu: The congress conflict for election symbol and the parliamentary case for reinstitution remains the dominant source of indecision for Nepal's parliamentary parties. Regardless, the UML appears to be in the forefront in taking up the election challenge, but with condition. Concerned that elections under the current circumstances may not be "free and fair" presupposes another movement in the offing if reversals are met at the polls. This concern is aggravated by none less than Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who, in the bid to win over the congress, predicts a 90% win for himself.

The Deuba utterances become easy meat for those grasping at excuses to hit him. The confidence he must demonstrate in his speeches allow this opportunity. The use and misuse of the government machinery for his purposes give his opponents ample examples. The fact that none other than the security forces are bearing the burden of law and order in the country give Deuba opponents the chance to pervert interpretations regarding Deuba intents.

Approaching election demand that party politics treat Deuba as among the foes by all other parliamentary competitors. In this gambit Deuba's isolation must be wearily watched. As much as opponents would want to drag in the Monarch in Deuba's action and highlight the perennial "democracy under threat" bogey, Deuba appears also to be cashing in on the resurgence of the Monarchy's popularity by coseying up to the Monarch. It is this that is dangerous. The partisan use of the Monarchy may in their own diverse and contradictory ways may benefit party politics. But it is contradictory to the interests of both the constitutional Monarch and democracy.

However, none in the political camp would want to recognize this for their own petty gains. Once more the constitutional Monarchy is at issue in insinuations. It is that is dangerous.

Changed mood of Koirala

Kathmandu: Once again president Girija Prasad Koirala of the Congress-K has hinted in clear terms that he would not step down from the post of the presidency of the splinter group.

He made these utterances in Biratnagar to the utter dismay of those congressmen who had sided with him at times of the recent crisis expecting that Koirala would be kind enough to elevate their ranks in the party hierarchy.

One such unfortunate congressman is considered to be Ram Chandra Poudel who at the last moment left Sher Bahadur Deuba in the cold only to join the Congress-K with the aim that one fine morning his party boss would honor his talents. However, Koirala's Biratnagar remarks amply hints at the fact that unless a catastrophic situation forced Koirala to quit from the chair, he would stick to the already broken chair sine die.

This notwithstanding, president Koirala appears to have received a big political jolt in the recent days which gets reflected from his fresh utterances regarding the Nepali monarchy. To recall, Koirala in the recent weeks had become critical to the role of the monarchy specially after the King dissolved the parliament at the Prime Minister's recommendation.

"I can't imagine a Nepal without monarchy", is what said Koirala to newsmen the other day in Dharan where he visits as and when he feels depressed and submits himself for a thorough medical check-up.

This abrupt change in Koirala's perception regarding the monarchy is mysterious but yet high placed sources wish to conclude that Koirala might have assessed the political achievements bagged by the monarch after his "'highly successful" trips to India and China.

A section of Nepali political scientists too consider on the same line. According to them, both India and China if told to chose one in between the Nepali leaders and the monarch under the present day changed context would unhesitatingly prefer the monarch for obvious reasons.

If it is so then Koirala's changing of his rough and tough stance against the monarchy is timely.

However, it is not yet certain for how long Koirala will stick to his fresh assessment about monarchy in Nepal.

Is the Deuba establishment in touch with the Maoists leaders'?

Kathmandu: The UML is clearly in a mood to face the elections and hopes that it would emerge with flying colors should the congress crisis remain as it is at the moment.

The Koirala congress has yet to decide whether or not to fight the elections. It fears what if the already annoyed Election Commission offered the Tree and the Flag symbol to the Deuba congress in a silver plate.

The Maoists apparently have changed their posture vis-à-vis the elections and have though not made any comments on whether to participate in the upcoming elections or not but at least have given the impression to all and sundry that they would not disturb the election process. This becomes evidently clear from their stepping down from the one point agenda of Republicanism and then to Constituent Assembly and finally offering for talks. At best what they are demanding now is an Interim arrangement that would conduct the elections.

The meager parties such as the RPP too hopes that they could bag a good number of seats in the parliament should the congress fight continued for long. Their hope is not against hope for the sharp division has come in the form of a vertical split in the congress is surely to benefit, politically speaking, either the UML or the RPP. However, the RPP has yet to keep its house in order for the Kathmandu rumor mill suggests that the party is sharply divided over its impending convention. Some say it has got to be convened prior to the elections, others reject for their own explanations.

The Sadbhavana-a regional party in essence, is apparently bogged down in its own leadership struggle. Whether the acting president Badri Mandal should be elevated to the ranks of the President or some one else more influential than Mandal should be searched for the presidency is what is causing concern in the party which has become a source of trouble in the party.

The Deuba congress is reaping the harvest alone and that too uninterruptedly and thus has speeded up its election campaign through the "use" and the "misuse" of the government authority, resources and the "state owned, controlled, dictated, maneuvered and managed" media.

At times it appears that the government under Deuba has exceeded the limits in the abuse of its authority at time of the election. Poor Election Commission stands like a silent spectator. This is the general allegation labeled by most of the opposition parties understandably including Koirala congress. This has not deterred the Deuba congress because it is in the government. Not very surprisingly, this Koirala did when he was the Prime Minister. For the lay men the exceeding of the "'election limits-ethics" make no difference.

Though unconfirmed, however, sources in government say that the Maoists were being lured by the establishment to participate in the elections. The tone of the government apparently has changed of late vis-à-vis the Maoists leaders and their insurgency. For example' the Home Minister recently said that "after all what is blocking the way of Prachanda from participating in the impending elections".

Going a bit more further, the minister also said that should the insurgency laid down their arms and ammunitions, a general amnesty could be brought into effect.

This means that some "mediatory" efforts were underway though clandestinely for obvious reasons.

One Human Rights activist told this scribe last week that he was in full knowledge of the government being in "touch" with the leaders of the insurgency through the use of the good offices of some noted Human Rights activists.

Nevertheless, what has been the Nepali experience is that a few self proclaimed HR Activists who more often than not exhibit their clear preference for the Maoists. However, this does not mean that they were Maoists friendly activists.

The Maoists stepping down from their fiery agenda in a stepwise manner and the establishment also ventilating "not so rough and tough" words against the former gives an impression that some positive developments were in the offing.

Intellectuals opine that Deuba government would benefit much if it manages the Maoists to take part in the elections.

Not very surprisingly then, a newspaper affiliated to the Deuba congress reveals that the Maoists have already registered a new political party at the election commission whose details are not yet known.

If it is true then the national politics might take a different turn.

Be that as it may, what the government and the Maoists have in their minds and what strategies they have both for each other under their sleeves is not known to us but yet what the people wish at large is the resumption of the peace process so that the already declared elections take place on time.

Equally true is that the national politics will take a dramatic turn if the apex court reinstitutes the parliament. If that happens then it would be more easy(?) for the parliamentary parties to take up the Maoists issue and proceed for its long awaited solution.

A fresh statement from the Maoists insurgency has sought the support of the informed citizenry to find out the whereabouts of its activists Mr. Khadka and Ms. Rekha Sharma whom the government arrested recently. The insurgency believes that Ms. Sharma is still alive but in a very bad shape.

Worker’s rights in the SAARC Social Charter discussed

Kathmandu: A one day seminar on the inclusion of the worker’s rights in the SAARC Social Charter was organized in Kathmandu by Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies in cooperation with FES of Germany last week.

The draft social charter is being prepared at the moment by the Marga Institute of Sri Lanka and it is reported that the worker has not even been mentioned by it, although other social issues have been comprehensively taken up.

To recall, this was the second time the worker’s rights was being discussed in Kathmandu with regard to the South Asian regional organization. The select gathering of about forty people concerned with labor unions, Industrial Relations Forum, regional cooperation, political scientists, economists, government officials, ILO representative and university teachers discussed the plight of the laborers in South Asia in general and Nepal in particular and suggested some ways to minimize the problem in question.

After Ananda Srestha welcomed the participants and presented some highlights of the seminar, Yadav Kant Silwal, the former SAARC secretary general, who also chaired the seminar said that the holding of the meeting was timely. "The Council of Ministers are meeting in August where the Social charter draft is expected to be presented," he said.

Discussing the preparatory stage of the draft charter, Mr. Silwal said that a clear perception has not yet emerged as to what the charter should contain, although SAARC has taken up many social programs in the past fifteen years. "The perception differs among the different countries. All the countries feel that it needs to be discussed at the macro level. But the problem is that trade unions are heavily politicized. They need to evolve a common platform devoid of politics and color which is dedicated to the worker. That has not yet happened. We need to evolve a culture to make that happen," he said.

He also pointed out the need to create a power lobby to impress upon the seven governments that there is a real need to include the worker’s rights in the social charter. "Today, the charter has been drafted and although all the social sectors have been included, the worker has been left out," he said.

After the opening remarks by the NEFAS executive director and the chairman of the session, Dev Raj Dahal made a presentation outlining the state of social commitments of regional organizations throughout the world.

He discussed the labor problems in South Asia and also provided recommendations and the difficulties of implementing those recommendations. The floor discussions began after the presentation. (9See five questions column as well-editor.

At the end of the discussion Dev Raj Dahal replied by saying that he would incorporate the suggestions and take them to the concerned place. He also said that the state remains unbiased between capital and labor. "It should have the capability to mediate between the two and find out an equilibrium," he said.

After the reply by the author, the chairman of the session, Yadav Kant Silwal made his final remarks: There is no "mandate" even with the Secretary General to include the worker’s rights in the charter. That is why you will not find it in the draft. But it is important that we include them as the discussions have shown. In August, Nepal can propose that the issue be debated at the national level (about the inclusion of the worker’s rights in the charter) in all the capital of South Asia. FES and NEFAS can do more work through regional networking developed from this particular event. Several of us can go to the Prime Minister and ask him to get the August meet to agree on national debates so that all the countries can come out with their own concerns on the labor issue.

US donation to CRC

Kathmandu: United States Ambassador Michael Malinowski on 26 July presented a check for US$6,000 to the Director of the Community Recovery Center, CRC, to continue a program to provide skills training to former drug abusers.

The CRC programs help rehabilitate inmates of Kathmandu's Nakhu prison by providing them with the basis skills they need to reintegrate into society. CRC is an NGO supported by HMG/N Home Ministry.

This year's grant was coordinated through the Drug Advisory Program of the Colombo Plan Secretariat for Co-operative Economic and Social Development in Asia and Pacific, located in Colombo, it is learnt from the American center.

Tuborg Excellence award to SLC toppers

Kathmandu: Keeping the tradition of encouraging the toppers of the annual School Leaving Certificate Examinations intact, the Gorkha Brewery-the producers of Tuborg Beer, has given away the "Tuborg Excellence Award" to top ten students of the SLC this year on July 28.

Suyog Bhandari and others who managed to enter into the top-ten list were provided medals and cash prizes as well by the Brewery.

Noted Industrialist of the country and the chairman of the Gorkha Brewery opined that the award had been institutionalized only to bring about an increased healthy competition among the Nepali students.

Khetan also revealed that the members of the Nepali cricket team which only recently made the country proud will be awarded 10,000 each by his Brewery.

Former Prime Minister K.N.Bista also spoke on the occasion.

Nepal-Info Database-2002 launched

Kathmandu: The first ever United Nations Database 'Nepal-Info' has been launched.

The database-2002 is a common UN database which will henceforth track the development situation of this Himalayan Kingdom.

The purpose of Nepal Info, according to Mr. J. Bill Musoke, the Acting Resident Cordinator of the UN System in Nepal, is to assist the HMG/N and the UN agencies based in Kathmandu in the use of information technology to accelerate sustainable human Development in Nepal.

"This task is based on the use of information technology to promote and encourage informed, inclusive, democratic dialogues among decision-makers and among development partners", Musoke added.

The database software tool features a comprehensive set of Social Development Indicators (98) selected to monitor the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, the UN Common Country Assessment, CCA, and other key development parameters.

With this new technology in vogue, Nepal's intellectuals can now get all the useful data pertaining to Nepal's development gains through the supply of authentic figures and statistics and maps as well.

The UN system is planning to reproduce up to 800 CD-ROMs for distribution to its HMG counterparts throughout the country all the way to district and village level authorities.

The CD-ROM will be bilingual one: English and Nepali.

Mr. Kris Oswalt of the Technical Support Team, CSF, briefed the use of the Nepal-Info Database-2002.

RF-US Working Group on Counter-terrorism

Kathmandu: A joint press statement by the RF-US working group on Counter-terrorism held its eighth session on July 26 in the US which says among others that " First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Trubnikov and US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage co-chaired the Working Group session.

This was the first session of the Group with a broadened mandate, which was endorsed by President Putin and President Bush during the Russia-US Summit in May in Moscow. The delegations discussed a range of key regional issues, including recent developments in Afghanistan, in Central Asia, in relations between India and Pakistan, in Southeast Asia, and Yemen. They underscored the need to cut off sources of terrorist financing. They also discussed certain issues regarding Iraq and Iran.

Both sides assessed positively the developments in Afghanistan, the progress made in implementation of the Bonn Agreements, and the outcome of the extraordinary Loya Jirga. They expressed their strong support for the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA) and for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in implementing its mandate. The sides support further development of the political reconstruction process, the social and economic revival of Afghanistan, the eradication of terrorism, and the establishment of a lasting peace and stability.

Both sides agreed that a regrouping of the Taliban movement and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, in particular on its southern and southeastern borders, poses a serious threat both to Afghanistan and to peace and stability in the region- says a press release issued by the RF embassy in Kathmandu dated 30th July, 2002.

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