Monarchy an obstacle to development: Maoist

GALKOT (Baglung), May 2: Minister for Local Development, Dev Gurung has said the institution of monarchy which has been exploiting the people for 238 years is the main obstacle to development.Inaugurating the Malma-Pandavkhani motor road, located some 15 Kosh west from Baglung Bazar, Wednesday, Minister for Local Development Gurung said nationalisation of the property usurped by the king who is better known as the 'rich king of a poor country' would alone be enough to meet the budgetary needs of the country for five years.He said both expansionist and conspiratorial designs would continue to be staged in the country until the institution of monarchy continues to exist and that this would pose a grave damage to the nationality.On the occasion, Minister Gurung pledged to extend maximum possible assistance from his side for upgrading the Baglung-Burtibang Road and construction of the road linking Burtibang via Malma-Pandavkhani.

The 11-kilometres long road was build at a total cost of Rs 4.1 million. Part of the cost was met through local voluntary labour and the financial assistance provided by the Nepali Gurkha soldiers in Singapore, Hong Kong and the U.S.A.The road will benefit the local population of 11,000 and help in the transportation of non-timber forest products, lead ore, copper ore, fruits and vegetables from the area.Nearly 12 vehicles ply on the road daily at present.At the programme, Nepali Congress Legislator Tanka Prasad Sharma Kandel said that since development is possible only with the people's participation, efforts should be made to enlist the maximum participation of the people in the development works.The programme was presided over by President of the Road Construction Committee, Chham Bahadur Kaucha.

Source: The Rising Nepal, May 3, 2007

NEPAL:SITAULA SEEKS DELHI'S ADVICE ON CEREMONIAL MONARCHY

Look the tryst of destiny and the fate of the Nepalese. A Nepali sitting minister has been advised by the medical practitioners attending on him to “visit” Delhi for further and advanced check-up. Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula who has recently developed a hearing disorder is to soon land in Delhi.

The climax is here:
Sitaula talking to reporters today said that while being in Delhi, he would have tête-à-tête with several Indian leaders on whether or not a ceremonial monarchy in Nepal is needed?
The Nepali Congress has empowered him to gather views from the Indian leaders, reports say.
This should perhaps explain what New Delhi means to Nepal and her “able and capable” leaders.
Home Minister Sitaula is considered even by his congress party colleagues to have been closer to the Maoists than his own party.

Source: Telegraph Nepal, April 30, 2007

Slow motion show

King Gyanendra’s puja at Dakshinkali temple on Loktantra Diwas — when the civil society representatives and political leaders were writing off the monarchy in their speeches at Basantapur — has kicked up a public fuss, particularly because a customary salute was offered to him and the old national anthem glorifying the monarchy was played in his honour. Some senior political leaders, including ministers, condemned both these incidents as going against the letter and spirit of Jana Andolan II and the Interim Constitution (IC). Their contention is based on the fact that King Gyanendra is no longer the head of state, nor is he the supreme commander or just commander of the Nepal Army. All his former roles as head of state have devolved on the Prime Minister under the IC. Perhaps because of this that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala asked the journalists in New Delhi recently to call not King Gyanendra, but just Gyanendra.

Many political and civil society leaders have made a strong objection to some of the actions and utterances of King Gyanendra in recent months as running counter to the spirit of the times and the IC — for instance, his Democracy Day message to the nation and the palace’s alleged involvement in activities aimed at obstructing the constituent assembly (CA) elections. Indeed, the IC has kept the monarchy in a state of suspended animation pending the elections to the CA, the first meeting of which is to clinch the monarchy v republic issue. But particularly after the deferred CA polls, Prime Minister Koirala is coming under increasing pressure from many quarters, all the more so from his own eight-party alliance partners, such as the CPN-Maoist, the CPN-UML and Janamorcha Nepal that either the interim parliament should proclaim Nepal a republic by a two-thirds majority or the government should hold a referendum on the monarchy soon before fixing a new date for the CA elections.

If the eight parties so agree, any of the three options — the CA verdict, parliamentary proclamation and referendum — could be adopted as viable. But pending such a decision, the status of the monarchy, how it should be treated, including the playing of the national anthem and firing of a gun salute, should be decided by the government. It cannot afford to remain vague or indecisive on such sensitive matters. Once it does, it should enforce it strictly, and the government should have the courage to take action against anybody who dares defy its decisions or orders. Otherwise, the lack of clarity on its part will only breed more confusion and suspicions about its intent. Public suspicion and fury have arisen because of the Koirala government’s failure to implement many of the points covered in the historic Declaration of Parliament, provisions of the IC, and the government’s decisions, including reducing the size of the security personnel deployed in the royal palace, cutting the royal palace staff and bringing them under the government’s general administration, and nationalising the property belonging to the late King Birendra’s family. The Prime Minister should waste no more time in ending all this confusion.

Year after king bowed, Nepal remains at crossroads

Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal began celebrations on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the end of King Gyanendra’s absolute rule, but the political future of the Himalayan nation remains far from certain.
Analysts say confusion about the date of constituent assembly elections, a violent campaign for autonomy in the southern plains, doubts over the sincerity of the former Maoist rebels and a weak government mean Nepal is still at a crossroads.

“The initiation of the peace process was definitely a major achievement,” said Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of popular magazine Samay.
“But whether political parties, including the Maoists, will take it to a logical conclusion is something that people are curiously watching,” he said.
A year ago, there was much rejoicing in the impoverished country after King Gyanendra bowed to weeks of protests and returned power to political parties.
The new government and the Maoists who had been fighting the monarchy since 1996 signed a peace deal, ending a civil war that had killed more than 13,000 people. The former rebels are now part of an interim parliament and government.

Authorities have urged residents to illuminate their homes for three days from Monday to mark the celebrations. On Tuesday, the anniversary of the king bowing out, ailing Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will address the nation.
Separately, human rights activists plan a rally to press for a republic.
The achievements so far have been impressive, ordinary Nepalis and analysts say. But the challenges ahead are daunting.

PEACE AND JUSTICE

When the government and the Maoists signed the peace deal in November they promised constituent assembly elections in June. The Maoists see the polls as an opportunity to achieve their goal of abolishing the monarchy.
The country’s top election body, however, says it is not prepared to hold the vote and needs time. The former rebels are fuming over the delay and friction within the interim government could lead to instability, it is feared.
“There is confusion,” one Western diplomat said. “Political parties and the government must assure the people that the election is going to be held.”
New problems have only added to their burden.

Protests by the ethnic Madhesi people demanding regional autonomy in the southern plains bordering India have left 58 people dead this year and overshadowed the peace deal.
The pact has also failed to inject confidence among investors as the former rebels continue to extort businesses. Politicians are worried that the Maoists did not submit all their weapons for U.N. monitoring and continue to intimidate people.
Analysts urged the Maoists to truly reform.
“The Maoists’ military strength is not in their weapons but in the militarization of the political process,” said Rhoderick Chalmers of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

He said it was crucial to encourage the Maoists to stop using fear as a political strategy.
For some ordinary Nepalis, like Prabha Khadka, wife of a man killed during last year’s anti-king protests, reconciliation also means punishing those guilty of shooting down demonstrators.
An official investigation blamed King Gyanendra — who has now been stripped of virtually all his powers — and 201 other politicians, army and police officers for ordering the crackdown in which at least 22 people were killed.
“Everyone who is guilty, including the king, must be punished,” said 27-year-old Khadka, tears trickling down her face. “There will be no lasting peace until then.”

Source: Reuters