Fate of Charles Taylor, Aristide and Peaceful Transition in Georgia: A Lesson to Nepal

By: Dilli Raman Dhakal

The sudden opening of Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 followed by the rapid fall of communism in the Eastern Europe resulted in the demise of cold war. The further effect of the dramatic change was the breakup of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Georgia is one of the breakaway regions of the then Soviet Union. Among other Soviet states, Georgia was regarded as one of the most prosperous and resourceful state. Coincidentally, Mr. Edward Shevardandze, the recently ousted Georgian President was the Soviet Foreign Minister under Mr. Gorbachev’s presidency. He was a close aide of President Mikhail Gorbachov.

Georgia had witnessed two bloody civil wars and internal conflicts after it became an independent nation in 1991. During the civil strife and secessionist movements, the role of Mr. Shevardandze remained crucial in restoring peace, national stability and establishing a democratic polity of government in Georgia. Given his political personality and leadership capacity Shevardandze won the Presidential position and remained at the helm of power for over a decade. There were wide spread complaints against him for engaging himself in corruption, neglects on services and supplies and his authoritarian style of public dispensation. But the public outrage took a new shape after the recent i.e. 2 November, elections. The opposition leaders, general public and the international observers had claimed that wide spread rigging took place in the elections. Major parties and the general public didn’t accept the election results and accused Mr. Shevardandze for fixing elections. The last few weeks remained tensed and the opposition party asked the president to nullify the election results and hold a fresh but free and fair elections. Despite the mounting pressure from the opposition parties and the general public, Mr. Shevardandze refused to hold fresh elections rather he strongly supported the outcome of the elections. As a principal officer responsible to safeguard the constitution of the country Mr. Shevardandze, as he stated, moved towards his intended direction and summoned the 1st session of the most disputed parliamentary elections 22 November 2003. On the very day, spontaneous but most disciplined and peaceful protests took to the street of Tbilisi. Thousands of protesters joined the demonstration. The protesters converged at the freedom square and marched towards the parliament building. Amid tight security, Mr. Shevardandze was delivering his inaugural speech at the parliament; the protestors stormed the parliament building, entered into the parliament chamber forcing the President to flee at the middle of his speech. The most notable event of the protest was that the army and security personnel deployed allover the area including the parliament building didn’t stop the protestors rather they stood quite and smiling.

It should be taken as a lesson and an issue to ponder by all, be they traditional, religious, military or political leaders at the helm of power. The case of Georgia is a unique case where the order of the serving President of the country was ignored/dishonored. When the people think that their representatives or the entrusted leaders neglect them, they caution, and warn them. In democracy, the people guide the politics through various avenues/pressure groups. When the attempts of the people for corrections and reforms are grossly neglected, the people either go for arms rebellion or a peaceful demonstration.

It was observed that the demonstrators led by the opposition leaders in Georgia paid utmost attention for making the protest a peaceful and disciplined one. The protestors were committed to their mission and were convinced with their victory; eventually the popular will or the people’s desires won the battle. Observers say that the Georgian leaders had experienced the bitter consequences of the two bloody civil wars in the not to distant past, so that the leaders and the general public cautiously launched their protests not to repeat the painful events. As an immediate reaction, the president declared a state of emergency in Georgia and served an ultimatum to stop the protests. In spite of it, the protests continued and the security machinery again refused to obey the order of the president. The protestors remained firm and committed to their mission and demanded the resignation of the president. In a democratic set up, it’s not a good development of disregarding the order of a serving president; it’s close to anarchy. However, given the past history, political developments, circumstances, ground realities, resentments and the aspiration of the Georgian people, the history might put this event as a milestone event in the furtherance of democracy. Owing to the mounting pressure, Mr. Shevardandze, the tough and adamant personality, who was said to have strong support of the western powers, was compelled to bow down. Finally, none of the internal and external power centers could save him; he was compelled to resign and a big bloodshed was averted. It’s a victory of the peace loving Georgians and a victory of democratic ideals. As a rapid but positive move, the newly appointed acting President Nino summoned the parliament and the new date for presidential elections was immediately announced. In such a dramatic way the public uprising succeeded to restore the sovereign rights of people and the spirit of democratic ideals in Georgia.

The ouster of Charles Taylor and the peaceful transition of power in his country is another important event. The autocrats and the autocratic regimes are bound to fail. Any leaders or rulers who desperately want to enjoy extreme power shouldn’t forget the fate of Charles Taylor. Everywhere the peace-loving people fighting for democracy and people’s sovereign rights have been winning the battles. Though the ouster through peaceful means might take longer time, the end result is firm, steady and long lasting.

Another political upheaval that took place recently in Haiti is a case to be pondered by all in politics. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had to leave his country on 29 Feb2004 after much chaos and violence. Though many insiders and people outside Haiti still hold a view that the ouster of Aristide was the handy work of the USA government, but the wide spread resentment and public wave against his rule in Haiti also shouldn't be ignored. In politics and power, the external intervention from the super power or their allies or from the regional powers in a visible or invisible form or shape has become a reality. The external intervention in any form is unacceptable to most civilized countries and the patriotic people of the present day free world; still interventions are taking place.

In politics there are numerous possibilities, but the ultimate message of the free society is that people make constitutions, institutions, and promote, run and own them. Neither the monarchy nor the constitutions are universal. Everything changes to the tune of time and people's aspiration. And, at times when the ruler or representatives turn to be anti-people or disregard the will and aspiration of the people, the leaders, institutions and power centers are bound to collapse; right from the ruin a new set up emerges. Hence everyone In Charge of public dispensation/at the helm of power should know that no one is above the sovereign rights of the people. With the glaring example of Georgia, and the fate of Charles Taylor and Aristide, the leaders, in fact the rulers, of all nations who are detracted from their constitutional and social responsibilities should take a great lesson. Given the difficult and grim reality of Nepal, the Nepali Maoists, political parties and the king should learn from the recent uprisings and peaceful change over of power that took place in some countries of the world and should come to an agreement by respecting the ideals of democracy and the over all aspiration of peace loving people. The nation can’t afford more deceit, lust of power, extreme personal ambitions, insurgency and the warmonger inhuman acts of any power centers or power mongers.

Recognizing the aspiration, commitment, and over all sentiment of Nepali population towards the peaceful resolution of the Maoist problem and restoration of people's sovereign rights, all concerned parties and institutions should respect the general will and come to an agreement. The only thing the peace loving people and the voters want repentance, public apology and a firm assurance not to repeat such unwanted activities of some key politicians leading the nation during till Asoj 2059 B.S.

The Nepali people have also directly experienced the active rule of the present king who had time and often expressed his desperate desire and aspiration to turn the monarchy into a creative one rather than confining himself as a constitutional monarch. The dispensation under his direct rule have not yielded much rather the blame for all the illnesses have directly gone to the monarchy. Hence the king has been confronting and is in loggerhead with the most powerful parties having firm as well as wider base at the grass-roots. Neither his rule has given peace nor succeeded to receive cooperation from the mainstream political parties.

The rebels in particular and others should understand that there is respect and recognition for non-violence mode of movement in every democracy and the military might and arms struggle to bring political changes or to increase their power is the most unwanted forms of unrest in the present day civilized world. The five agitating political parties fighting for the restoration of people's sovereign rights have so far pursued peaceful and non-violence mode of movement that is democratic ideology- friendly. With this democratic moral the support to the peaceful movement is on the rise. However, the people were not satisfied the way they ruled the nation for the last 12 years or so, the Nepali population's commitment to the democratic polity and dispensation is abundant and uncompromising. Nepali people would like to see the corrupted individuals and leaders who were responsible for bad governance be punished. They are of opinion that the net of legal punishment to the corrupted and undemocratic leaders or institutions should be expanded and all the culprits be they Panchayati leaders or the leaders in the period of re-born democracy, (26 Chait 2046 to Asoj 17, 2059) or the present leaders working under the direct rule of the king, should be brought to justice. A larger movement has become essential to tame all corrupted elements.

Also the time has come to unearth the amount deposited in foreign banks and the properties accumulated abroad by the people who hold or holding public positions. On the initiation of Transparency International the new international promulgations have been made, so that it has become easy to find out the black money deposited in foreign accounts. A national consensus will be required to investigate and check the further flow of nation's property into foreign banks.

The recent political changes and the experiences of some countries/events as mentioned above sheds much light and give a vital message to the both warring sides (state and the rebels) in Nepal.

The author is Associated with Community Study and Welfare Centre (CSWC)Email: ramand@ntc.net.np, cswc@ntc.net.np

Factors Behind the Maoist People's War

BY: D.B. Gurung

Since February 13, 1996, the CPN (Maoist) has been carrying out a "people's war" against the state, when their 40-point demands related to "nationalism, democracy, and livelihood" were ignored by the government. The Maoists took the violent path to meet their political ends. But will they succeed in toppling the King's government - this is a question beyond prediction. The Maoists have been variously compared with internationally acknowledged notorious rebel groups as the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or the Shinning Path in Peru, and even with such terrorist organizations as the Al Qaeda. They have also developed connections with the Revolutionary International Movement (RIM) and its several member parties, such as the Shinning Path in Peru and People's War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Coordination Center (MCC) in India.

Prior to launching a guerilla war against the state, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), began a political campaign termed "Sija" (named after two mountains of Rukum and Rolpa, Sisne and Jaljala) to mobilize party members to publicize the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. The Maoists, during this political campaign as part of political-ideological readying process, clashed with the cadres of other parties, mainly with the Nepali Congress and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (National Democratic Party), in a regional carnival in the eastern part of Rolpa District in October, 1995. The then Nepali Congress government immediately resorted to infamous police crackdown coded as "Operation Romeo", leading to inhuman action against the local population in the nature of "random arrests, torture, rape, and extra-judicial killings".

More than 1000 police personnel including a specially trained commando force sent from Kathmandu were deployed in the mountain districts of western Nepal. Of the thousand people arrested, about three hundred were kept in police custody or imprisoned under trumped-up charges while the rest were released on bail after being severely tortured, both physically and psychologically. More than ten thousand village youths were forced to flee their homes and take shelter in remote forests. The Human rights Year Book 1995 reported: "The government initiated...suppressive operations to a degree of state terror. Especially, the workers of United People's Front (earlier incarnation of the CPN-Maoist) were brutally suppressed." It was a historic blunder the state committed: it isolated a large number of people and invited a series of backlashes, from which the nation has had to suffer on the whole. First, it made enemy of its own people, which created a bitter sense of hatred for government authority and an overwhelming inclination to settle scores against the perpetrators. Second, this brute action resulted in many joining the Maoist camp. Third, it paved the way for the violent armed uprising for the doctrinally belligerent Maoist ideologues and supporters. Fourth, the uncalled-for hurt and the smell of blood woke up the slumbering Kham Magar villagers.

In the wake of what their mouthpiece The Worker put it, the "vicious armed police operation, code-named Romeo Operation, launched by the reactionary state against the rural class struggle going on for some time in Rolpa district in western hills and a country-wide public outcry against this state repression, provided a perfect setting to initiate the people's war". Under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de plume Prachanda, along with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Pampha Bhusal of the UPF, the "people's war" fired off, carrying out simultaneous raids against police posts in Holeri (Rolpa) and Athbiskot (Rukum) on February 13, 1996. There was no record of human casualty, but a temple was set on fire and the telephone lines were cut off in Holeri.

As another security operation followed termed as "Kilo Sierra 2" (search to kill) in 18 Maoist-affected districts in 1998, the low-intensity localized conflicts aggrandized into a national scale. The war reduced the village life to a state of total paralysis. Herding animals in the open or gathering firewood or mushrooms in the jungle became almost impossible. The villagers have been unnecessarily tormented during the day by the state forces looking for Maoist suspects, and at night by the Maoists, who not only demand food but also make all sorts of efforts or threats to motivate the host members to join their movement. The insurgency and counterinsurgency, in this context, have created a new breed of human beings: they have forced a person to choose between either becoming a victim or a perpetrator (Gurung 2003: xxxvi). By 1999, Rolpa had become the "Maoist capital", and the death toll soared up to 1,500 from the people's war. The rest is history.

Courtesy: Conflicts, Human Rights & Peace: Challenges Before Nepal Editor: Bipin Adhikari Published by: NHRC

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