I n d e p t h    A n a l y s i s
HM's move: Cautious optimism

Kathmandu: A welcome conclusion to the fluidity of the past years has been provided by the HM King Gyanendra's Tuesday address to the nation. His Majesty has in a half-hour long address announced to his people that he has assumed government.

At time of writing, reactions of the political sector is at best lulled. The mainstream parties who have basked on constitutional prerogatives will definitely find the new public environs of expectations unsuitable to their monopoly. At this juncture it will perhaps be wise to await His Majesty the King's formation of the new cabinet. As it is, much of the anomalies of the past years of constitutional democracy has been in the disregard of the basic democratic norms in the haste to form election governments. This in itself has been reflecting poorly on the total election processes, which, the mainstream parties are reluctant to admit, fostered the Maoist rebellion in the very first place.

His Majesty has assumes the burden of the state. The State was withering away both under the pressured of the Maoist rebellion and the continued conflicting approaches to government of the mainstream parties. The confidence with which this was done was based on their monopoly of political organizations under the present system. The impression that the King's power solely lay on the army which was preoccupied with the insurgency allowed the political parties their conflicting standpoints regarding even His Majesty's efforts of the past years to help cobble together a national government of the parliamentary forces to cope with the systematic challenge. The last Deuba government was the closest to such a government but contradictions within the government composition had virtually paralyzed it to public dismay.

Considering that, in the absence of parliament, government formed under article 127 were responsible to the King considering that even members of government continued to shift the onus of non-performance to the monarchy, His Majesty's options remained limited and his choice appears logical.

At this particular juncture one cannot but respond to the King's historic move with cautious optimism as has the lay public.

Deuba: Fails again to escape the inevitable

Kathmandu: Poor Sher Bahadur Deuba met with practically the same fate, as he have had to embrace some two and a half years ago.

However, there is a difference in his being sacked by King Gyanendra in that the monarch has not dubbed this time the outgoing prime minister as an incompetent one.

This the monarch apparently did not spell out because Deuba was already a sinking horse both in the eyes of the people and the one who trusted and elevated him to this prestigious post of the prime minister.

In a way, Deuba's summary dismissal was not an unexpected event. Rumors were abound in the capital that the monarch was not that happy with the Prime Minister's handling the state affairs and more so his loose talks on the matters of holding of the elections.

It could be well imagined that His majesty King Gyanendra knew that Deuba was talking of the elections in order solely to prolong his tenure in the government and nothing more than that. The King also perhaps knew that Deuba talked of elections only to keep the monarch in good humor and that he was in effect not serious about holding of the elections.

The King had to sack him this time again for a variety of reasons.

The first and foremost being perhaps Deuba's sheer inability in bringing the Maoists to the negotiating table. In this sector Deuba failed miserably and thus lost the confidence of the monarch which was sufficient enough to land him in trouble. The second front wherein Deuba failed was his solo claim that he would go in for the polls come what may. Deuba's blunder apparently came to the fore when the monarch was made to understand that on matters of holding of the elections even his coalition partners were not having a consensus let alone those in the streets who had been opposing the elections for a score of reasons.

The third point, a sort of blunder indeed, which apparently hurt the monarch's feelings was presumably when Deuba began lecturing that he have had several round of talks with the men handling the security system of the country and had discussed with them the matters related with the elections which he did not in effect.

Security organs when contacted by the media did reveal that they were yet to be informed about the elections and that no formal requests have come to them from authoritative quarters to get prepared for the elections.

This was a classic example of double speak. In the process, the sacked prime minister appears to have talked double with the monarch as well who presumably told the monarch that every thing was fine and that the security agencies have assured him of their all out support.

The fact is that the security agencies did listen to the prime ministerial lectures on elections but were never told to get prepare for that eventuality officially.

The other factors that could have prompted King Gyanendra to sack his Prime Minister could be that the monarch knew well that the Maoists have had developed a sort of allergy for Deuba and had bluntly told that they would not talk with Deuba and thus providing continuity to such a government would be a futile exercise and hence the Tuesday move.

Further, King Gyanendra appears to have taken seriously the recent skyrocketing price hike effected in petro products, more so in the K-oil, by the Deuba government which have had a direct impact on the lives of the poor people and students. The King also appears to have rejected the price hike theory of the government wherein it had stated that in order to keep the NOC alive the move had become urgent. This was unacceptable to the King.

Yet another factor could have alarmed the King that the coalition partners under Deuba had made a strategy to dump all the failures of the government on the institution of the monarchy of for that matter on the heads of the prime minister. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba summarily failed to provide a shield to the monarch and the institution from the unnecessary and unwarranted onslaughts made against the King by the cabinet members more especially from the UML quota.

To recall, the UML ministers in the cabinet and the UML leaders not in government in one way or the other had been ventilating that it were the King who had been obstructing the talks with the Maoists.

All put together, the King sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba which he should have done much ahead.

How Deuba, the sacked one, would react to King Gyanendra's fresh political overtures will have to be watched. How he defends his case will also be a matter to mull over seriously. More so how the street agitators will comment on February 1 step of the constitutional monarch will determine the country's impending politics.

King's address: Some salient features

Kathmandu: The constitutional monarch, King Gyanendra, has taken over the charge of the country on his own shoulders.

In a Royal address made to the nation Tuesday morning, King Gyanedra provided ample reasons in summarily dismissing the incumbent government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba and the need to take over the charge on himself.

The salient features of the King's address are as follows:

# The King has reiterated his total and unconditional commitment for the democratic system.

# The King has assured the people that the new cabinet under his own Chairmanship would give priority to effecting epoch making reforms in the country.

# The King does not hide his displeasure towards the malfunctioning of the political parties and its leaders.

#The King has hinted that he would not settle for less than upholding the rule of law in the country as it should be in a democratic nation.

# The King maintains that the politicians of the country provided a very bad name to the democratic system through their own political follies in the past.

#The King vows to root out terrorism from the country's political scene.

#The King apparently expresses his deep concern and regret over certain light remarks made by the leaders of the nation on the functioning of the Nepali army personnel.

# The King says that multi-party system in the country is irreplaceable and had no alternative to that.

# The King says that at times the political parties brought out sponsored demonstrations.

# The King indicates that he more often than not tried to convince the leaders of the country for forging a sort of unity in the name of the country, however, the leaders did not pay due attention to his modest pleas.

#The King wishes to pave the highway of a matured democratic system in the country.

# The King made it abundantly clear that given the love and respect for the monarchical system in the country, the King can go to any extent in the larger interest of the nation and its people.

# The King has asked for a three years period to bring the country back to normal and set the multiparty system into its track.

# The King has amply indicated that he was the one who as the guardian of the State is primarily responsible for the preservation and protection of the constitution now in force.

#The King opines that most of the years of the democratic system, Nepali leaders spent their energy in either making or breaking of a government.

# The King through the use of article 115-1 of the constitution has declared a State of Emergency in the country effective from Tuesday. This will continue for an indefinite period.

# With the declaration of the state of emergency, some of the fundamental rights of the citizens enshrined in the constitution have automatically been suspended.

Looking at Nepal from New Delhi

Daniel Lak

Kathmandu and Delhi need to work together on establishing democracy and development

NEW DELHI:In the sunwashed daytime on the crowded streets of India’s capital, the problems of a small mountain kingdom seem a world away. It’s a short flight to Kathmandu but the aircraft might as well be circumnavigating the globe.

India, in short, is hardly aware that Nepal exists anymore.

The New Delhi newspapers brim with the aggressive confidence of the new urbanites that are increasingly shaping the destiny of this country. Style overwhelms substance, if it can find any space among the ads for mobile phones and apartment complexes. The news stories are the usual fare: Pakistani perfidy in Kashmir, political infighting and oddities from the mohfussil. But the subtext, as one billboard for The Times of India has it, states firmly that ‘India is going Places’.

It’s easy enough to be cynical about all this and to remind Indians about endemic poverty, caste problems and above all, environmental overload from rapid urbanisation.

But these seem quibbles alongside the tremendous conviction of the local middle class that theirs is the society of the future. And I can’t help but believe that these people have the ability to make it so, despite their problems.

So where does this leave Nepal, a land where entropy seems written on stone in the tablets of history. I compare those selfsame aspirational middle classes and come up gloomy, despite the occasional gloss of new media and new buildings in Kathmandu. The king, the king, the king, what will he do next? The question on everyone’s lips is hardly modern and forward looking. And as night descends, fear of the Maoists or the security forces or both settles over a countryside where development is actually unravelling, where the achievements of democracy and aid are eclipsed by violence.

India’s newspaper stories about Nepal, most of them written by stringers in Kathmandu, are mere accounting. So many dead, so much rumour, so little hope. Nowhere does one find analysis or forethought, some attempt to comprehend a neighbour’s woes. It’s a frightful contrast to the attitude at so many Nepali dinner tables, that India is just waiting to take over and create itself another state. On the contrary, those Indians who know anything about Nepal are mostly sad that the hope of the 1990s seems to have been dashed north and east of the border.

India, it seems to me, has never really coveted Nepali territory or its occupants. This is a canard fostered by extremist forces in the kingdom, right and left, to account for their own excesses and incompetence. The Indians would like nothing better than a Nepal that is prosperous, happy and at peace. Of course there would be disputes galore, mostly driven by the rapacious border mafias in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose greed and corruption is legendary and who wield more than a little political clout. There might also be misguided Hindu nationalism in New Delhi that sees a Hindu Rastriya in the Himalaya, and wants one for itself.

But more and more, Nepal needs India to be its friend. And yes, even the occasional mentor. No more than that mind but Kathmandu and Delhi need to work together on establishing democracy and development that the kingdom so badly needs. That doesn’t mean any loss of sovereignty at all. Of what use is freedom to those who know only poverty, fear and decline? This then is an urgent call for the diplomats, politicians, leaders, kings, commoners, business types, journalists and development specialists on both sides of this troubled border to start collaborating.

India can be far, far more generous and spacious with Nepal. The kingdom can stop mistrusting its giant neighbour and work alongside all South Asian nations for regional prosperity and peace. It’s the only way forward.

(Courtesy: Indian Embassy)

En Bref

Tibetan mission closed

Kathmandu: Local administration last week closed down the office of the Dalai Lama, a government source said.

The local administration had served a notice to the office for illegally running the offices, the source disclosed further. "Nepal does not recognize the political entity of Dalai Lama," Foreign Secretary Madhu Raman Acharya clarified to an online news magazine last week.

Adding to this Acharya said ,"One person was running the Dalai Lama’s Representative Office and the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in the capital since the 1960’s without registration".

There are more than 30,000 Tibetan refugees living in Nepal, which has recognized their status as refugees.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Kathmandu has said it is concerned over the issue of closure of Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office (TRWO) in Kathmandu. Talking to Nepalnews last Saturday, spokesperson of the US embassy in Kathmandu, Constance Colding Jones, said the US government was concerned over the closure of TRWO in Kathmandu. 

"We are working to make sure that Tibetan refugees in Nepal are kept safe," she added.

The British embassy in Kathmandu has also expressed concerns over Nepal government’s recent decision to close down the office of the representative of the Tibetan spiritual guru, the Dalai Lama, and TRWO last week.

Nepal to raise issue against India constructing dam

Kathmandu: India is constructing a dam and power house on the Mahakali River against the spirit of the Mahakali Treaty, a vernacular daily reported last week. Confirming they are being constructed without Nepal’s agreement, the government will raise the issue at the next secretary-level meeting of the joint committee, the Ministry of Water Resources said. The committee discusses water resources problems.

Malaysia stops Nepali recruitment

Kathmandu: Malaysian Government has stopped recruitment of Nepalese workers for three months, vernacular daily Nepal Samacharpatra reported last week.

Manpower agencies believe the move is aimed at helping the Indonesians who have been hit hard by the tsunami. Malaysia has also stopped issuing a demand letter, Nepal Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs’ Association Chairman Nirmal Gurung said. His Majesty’s Government has no information on the ban.  

Finnish Minister arriving

Kathmandu: Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lektomaki is arriving 8 February on an official familiarization four-day visit, the Finnish Embassy said. She is coming one year after assuming office and will visit the tsunami-hit nations of Sri Lanka, Thailand and India as well, the Embassy said. Bilateral and aid matters will be discussed, the Embassy officials declared. Finland contributes Rs 500 in grants to Nepal every year.

Nepalese mistreated in India

Kathmandu: India has unilaterally imposed visas for Nepalese entering India from third countries disregarding the unhindered freedom of movement for nationals of the two countries, vernacular daily Nepal Samacharpatra reports. Indian authorities at New Delhi held Tanka Lal Shrestha, senior official at the German Embassy in Kathmandu, at the airport Monday after alighting an Indian Airlines flight from Pakistan. He said he was mistreated even after presenting a letter from the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Pakistan. "I produced an identification paper I was a Nepali and a letter of the Embassy at Islamabad. They tried to send me back to Pakistan. Finally, I was freed at night on the intervention of the Royal Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi," he said after returning to Kathmandu.

HM grants audiences

Kathmandu: His Majesty King Gyanendra has granted audience to the P.M Sher Bahadur Deuba and chief of security agencies Monday separately.

There was no official words regarding the royal audience and details of the meeting were not available. However, sources said, security agencies were kept on alert.

The royal audience has come amid Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s insistence to go for fresh parliamentary elections saying that the rebels did not heed his call to return to the table of negotiations.

Bhattarai is new NRB governor

Kathmandu: Ending the long-standing dispute over the appointment of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) governor, the government has appointed Bijay Nath Bhattarai to the post on Monday, reports said.

Earlier, there was a serious dispute between Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari as to who should be appointed to the post. Both of them insisted on appointing their own candidate to the post.

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