Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Growing fear

Niraj Aryal

Recent moves by the political parties and the Maoists to alienate the King’s appointed government give the impression that the effort has drawn attention nationally and internationally. The acceptance by vice chairman Dr. Tulsi Giri that HM’s cancelled visit to the UN was to protest the US policy of distancing itself with the current government terming it as undemocratic discloses this fact. This episode must have induced fears among the ruling class what if other friendly nations too follow this path of distancing itself with the current regime. At this point a new move sought by the current government, more so by His Majesty the King is to minimize the already strained relations with India. One vernacular weekly last week disclosed this fact and claimed that the palace is already moving in this direction. This has always been a popular move in Nepali politics by first making the southern neighbor happy.

On the other hand the political parties look more concerned over the recent royal moves of actively coming closer to the people and acceptance by the men in cabinet that more moves of the nature of October 2002 and February 2004 are still in the cards adds more concern to the so-called democratic groupings.

Adding to the worries of the agitating parties is the degrading health condition of the ailing leader Girija Babu who is seeking a pause from his six decade long political career at this critical point in the overall history of Nepali politics The question thus asked, is Madhav Nepal capable of convincing the mass and leading such an amplified agitation against the current regime. Madhav's political height, I'm sorry!