King Gyanendra ventilates His feelings!

In a rare interview granted to Nepal government's controlled and dictated media agencies last week, His Majesty King Gyanendra spoke his minds regarding the state of Nepali politics, of governance and also of the people's aspirations.

The interview was not only candid but to a greater extent bold enough in the sense that His Majesty-the constitutional monarch- did not mince words in expressing his inner concerns for the people and in the process also revealed that He as the constitutional monarch will not lag behind in coming into "action" should the situation so demanded. "We within the parameters of the constitutional monarchy have been active and will remain active", is what His Majesty said in the interview apparently hinting the men handling the present system that he will if need arise come forward and that too in the name of the people whose King He was.

Though a sort of panic must have gripped the men presently handling the system and exclusively benefiting from it for all along the past thirteen years or so but yet none of the political parties or for that matter their aggressive leaders did dare to criticize the content of His Majesty's expressions aired through Nepal Television and the RSS-the official national news agency. The fact is that King Gyanendra has spoken what the people have been airing. The fact is also that the constitutional monarch spoke what he has been listening from the common men, media professionals, civil society members and a host of other cross sections of the Nepali society and hence the men benefiting from the system are left with no other options than to listen to the hard reality from the personality of the Head of the State.

The gist of King Gyanendra's interview is that as constitutional monarch he is amply aware of the present day Nepali situation and that he is better informed about the country's ongoing internal dynamics than any of the

other so-called influential leader of this nation currently active in Nepali politics.

The most important part of the whole interview is that the constitutional monarch is committed for the strengthening and the consolidation of the system and that he can suddenly become active and in the process can intervene into the prevailing scheme of things by well remaining under the constitutional limits stipulated for the monarch in the present 1990 constitution.

All in all, what could also be guessed in advance that His Majesty King Gyanendra will continue to air his exclusive views even if it were in a vague manner should the obtaining situation in the country forced him to do so.

The Cologne meeting

Our attention has been drawn towards a meeting organised by the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for Nepal that was held in Cologne, Germany, only recently wherein the participants expressed their deep concerns for whatever was happening in Nepal in the recent years. The meeting was organised by the German-Nepal Friendship Association in collaboration with the Bonn office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

The meeting reportedly was attended by the representatives of 25 German NGOs, which supposedly work exclusively for Nepal. The meeting of this sort held in Germany must have received a moral boost as the meeting was also attended by the German Ambassador to the Nepali court, Herr Rudiger Lemp and his Nepali counterpart there.

Ambassador Rüdiger Lemp outlined in his keynote speech the latest political developments in Nepal. wherein he said that Nepal was at the moment facing difficult times and that current situation cannot be changed unless peace is restored. However, he expressed hope that the London conference of the donor countries scheduled for 19th June would contribute positively. Addressing the Cologne meeting Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Germany Balram Singh Malla remarked that the German NGOs have been contributing much to improve the situation of the needy people in the rural areas of Nepal. He expressed his hope that the support by the German NGOs will be further continued.

Consul Ram Pratap Thapa, President of the GNFA and co-ordinator of the meeting, told that this 8th meeting concentrated mainly on two themes: the assessment of the current scenario of Nepal and presentation of the working environment faced by the INGO representatives in Nepal. As it came out the representatives have been facing difficulties regarding the present visa and customs regulations of the government of Nepal.

While we express our support to the Cologne meeting and the concerns it has expressed for this beleaguered Kingdom facing crisis after crisis in the recent years, we also hope that similar NGOs affiliated to other countries of the world working for the betterment of Nepal come together and explore the ways and means on how to be of tangible support to this country by organising meeting of this sort back in their respective countries. In our opinion such meetings will not only help the country wherein they were involved in but would also enable them to work in a much better co-ordinated manner.

We hope that the Cologne meeting will go a long way in cementing the bonds in between this country and the German NGOs working in Nepal.

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