German concern on Nepal situation

Except for the individual country remarks made on the issue of the German Hydro power tussle, the rest he said definitely on a collective basis and perhaps on an appropriate time. If his concerns are really a collective one then Nepal as a nation-state must read in between the lines. The subtle manner in which he has expressed his concerns on Nepal and her polity since October 4, last year, must now open the eyes of the Nepali establishment under Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa. It becomes amply clear from Ambassador Rudiger Lemp’s frank expression made the other day in front of the Nepali press men that the European countries have been taking due note of the Nepali situation and that they were not that happy with the ongoing things and the manner the politics were being handled by this Himalayan Kingdom.

Ambassador Lemp has made it clear that neither his country nor the countries grouped in the European Union were in a mood to allow the things to go as it were here.

Firstly, Ambassador Lemp has hinted that the country, more so a democracy, can’t run through the mechanism of "nominations". In saying so Ambassador Lemp wishes to hint that local representatives must take up their charge through elections and that nominations can’t in any way be described as fair. This perhaps tells as to how the Western democracies have taken up the process of nominations-a posture recently acquired by Thapa and his coteries to eye wash the national and the international community. IN saying so, Ambassador Lemp also apparently hints that it is becoming more and more hard to assist this government through their development projects in absence of the real representatives of the people at the grassroots level. The message is clear.

Secondly, the German envoy maintains that the country was going through a period of Democratic void. This apparently means that Nepal as of today is a mess and not a democracy and that whatever existed in this country is a sort of political void. For those who understand politics and political terminology, Ambassador Lemps’ use of the term void is loaded with meaning. The meaning of his statement must be understood by those who wield power before it is too late.

Thirdly, the German diplomat indicates that whatever has been pouring into this country from Germany or for that matter from other countries as donations or aid were being siphoned to contain the conflict and that it is worthless now to continue with the same magnitude of the resources to this country when peace has become a rare commodity.

Fourthly and perhaps very importantly, the German representative has hinted all the contending political forces to converge at one point and begin thinking on how to restore peace in the Kingdom. In saying so, Ambassador Lemp apparently hints at the fact that Nepali politics has been made bad by not only one or a particular political force as such but has the contribution of all those who stake claim in the country’s politics. He , however, opined that his country and others wished that the money thus received by Nepal be utilized properly, the country moved in a direction that took care of not only the preservation of Human Rights in real sense of the term and the country moved ahead with good governance and etc.

And finally, what one was to analyze from the Ambassador’s utterances? Certainly he does hint that peace be restored at any cost. He stresses the need of the presence of the real people’s representatives at the village and the district levels. He wishes that Nepal might not be dubbed, as a failed state for implied is his hint that the country today is being run by a "non-representative" establishment which has neither been able to institutionalize peace nor been able to bring all the political forces together and hence the sliding economy and politics with no sign of any recovery. This apparently means that he and his colleagues share a common feeling for Nepal: Restore peace first and then form an elected government at the center and down at the districts and the village level in order to make it a representative one which it is not at the moment.

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