CHINESE HIGH LEVEL DELEGATION ARRVING TO ASSESS NEPAL SITUATION

Kathmandu: Nepal’s threat loaded political transition appears to have jolted the northern neighbor China as well of late. It is understandable that any political upheaval in Nepal’s Terai or mountains would have a “direct” impact upon the security situation of adjoining Nepal-China borders. And thus any interest taken by China in the unfolding turbulent political situation in this country can’t be taken otherwise. This is so also because India-the real trouble maker-has been taking more than the desired and the required interests in the political situation in this country and thus China’s –better late than never-exhibition of her legitimate interests in Nepali affairs is not only genuine but warranted as well.

In the recent weeks and months, it is becoming visibly clear that China will not leave this “beleaguered” country to the mercy of foreign forces more so that of India. Of late the Chinese high authorities have begun taking “proper” and the needed interest in the political developments unfolding in this country much to the chagrin of those who conclude that Nepal must remain under their periphery and thus abide by the dictates passed on to Nepal and its Indo-pendent leaders.

No wonder then China is sending a high level delegation to Nepal led by Dr. Wang Jiarui, who is the 17th CPC Central Committee, Head of the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee of China to assess the political situation here. Dr. Jirui is considered to be a high level authority in the Chinese political hierarchy and thus his trip to Kathmandu would “mean” much to Nepal, analysts say. The Chinese dignitary is expected to be in Nepal at the invitation of Nepal’s foreign ministry by the end of this month. Unsubstantiated reports have it that Dr. Wang is coming Nepal on 30th November.

Reports say that Dr. Wang has already left the Chinese Capital and is currently in the Republic of Korea. Upon completion of this visit, he is expected to head for Nepal for a four day long sojourn here. The Chinese delegation led by Dr. Wang is supposed to meet Nepal’s Prime Minister and various leaders of Nepal’s political parties. Dr. Wang’s visit is coincided with one Maoists top-hats’ declaration recently that the Maoists party will “soon” have formal ties with the Communist party of China. Ram Bahadur Thapa alias Badal talking to a weekly recently declared that his party will soon have “formal” ties with the Communist party of China. To recall, the Chinese envoy in Nepal, Zheng Xiangling, also had some time back said that his country was about to establish formal links with the Maoists party of Nepal. Dr. Wang’s visit is loaded with meaning given the envoy’s admission that his country’s party will have “relations” with the Maoists.

Such“heart rendering” news might not be taken in good taste by the Indian side which concludes that the Nepali Maoists must abide by their dictates. The Chinese delegation upon the completion of his brief Nepal sojourn is all set to make an official trip to India wherein he is supposed to meet Sonia Gandhi and other influential leaders of there. Unconfirmed reports say that Dr. Wang is raising the issue of Nepal’s Terai crisis with the Indian leaders. High placed sources say that Dr. Wang in New Delhi may remind the Indian establishment of what the then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of China, Marshal Chen Yi, had talked of Nepal. To recall, Marshal Chen Yi had told that any attack on Nepal would be construed as an attack on mainland China itself. The Chinese envoy in Kathmandu too talked in the recent months that Marshal Chen Yi’s views were still valid. This adds to the significance of Dr. Wang’s visit to India and his possible talks about Nepal hinting India not to “harass” the northern neighbor-Nepal.

Source: Telegraph Nepal, November 25, 2007

Nepal Maoists to resume Kangaroo courts

Kathmandu, Nov 22: The Maoists in Nepal are set to resume their feared 'Kangaroo Courts' as part of their plan to revive their parallel 'government' in an effort to step up pressure on the country's interim government that has failed to end the political stalemate with the former rebels. The Maoist leadership in Nepal's south-eastern industrial city of Biratnagar is resuming the operation of their 'Kangaroo Court' defying the landmark Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) they signed with the government last year in November which had specifically bared the former rebels from conducting such trials. The cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) said they decided to revive their parallel 'government' as tension between the party and the interim government had increased in recent days after the failure to implement their core demands for a new political and electoral system in the country. "We have resumed our activities through the parallel government to exert pressure on the government as the government has been dishonest," said Shushil, assistant in-charge of Maoists in Morang district. He was quoted as saying by the Kantipur Online today that they are ready to set up their Kangaroo court as differences between them and the coalition government had increased at the center. Maoist chief Prachanda last week demanded the review of all previous agreements between the rebels and the government and reconstitution of the interim set-up, amid a floundering peace process. The Maoist chairman threatened to form a parallel legislature and government if the country was not declared a Republic immediately. CPN-Maoist recently formed Kochila State Committee in the area comprising Morang, Sunsari and Jhapa districts as per their policy to set up the parallel government.

Bureau Report

Source: Zee News, November 22, 2007

NEPAL: ROYALISTS APPEASE NC LEADERS, REPORTS

The Nepali Congress leaders who have of late become a sharp critic of the Maoists proposals that were recently passed in the interim parliament have been trying to establish close links with the known royalists, reports Naya Patrika Daily dated 26th November, 2007.
The report further says that those NC leaders have made up their mind for voting against the party whip if the proposals were brought into the parliament for its ratification through the 2/3rd majority votes.
The Maoists proposals for the declaration of a republic and full proportional system of voting were accepted by the special session of the interim parliament through majority votes.

The NC leaders who have been in close contacts with the royalists are none other than Govinda Raj Joshi, Laxman Ghimire, Chakra Bastola, Sunil Kumar Bhandari, ex-speaker of the parliament, Mr. Tara Nath Rana Bhat and ex-NC leader Mr. Daman Nath Dhungana, Omkar Shrestha and Shiva Bahadur Khadka, says the vernacular daily.
A regular meeting between the above mentioned NC leaders and the royalists such as Rabindra Nath Sharma, Kamal Thapa is being organized at the house of ex-prime minister of Nepal Mr. Surya Bahadur Thapa. Thapa is a declared Royalist with India bend.
In the meeting that was held last week for more than four hours, Mr. Dhungana was also present however, he remained quiet says reports.

The report further says that an intense debate took place on how to tackle the rising communist strength in the country who then finally agreed to neutralize the swelling left forces by creating a democratic alliance.
The Naya Patrika Daily quoting NC leader Arjun Nar Singh KC says that the party was unaware of if such meetings took place between its party leaders with the royalists?
However, Mr. KC confirmed that he was also invited by Surya Bahadur Thapa.
To recall, Mr. K.C is a NC leader but groomed by Thapa during the heyday of the erstwhile Panchayati regime.
Analysts claim that if this meeting takes a shape, the liberal in the country will converge together.

Source: The Telegraph Nepal, November 26, 2007

Nepal's former rebel leader warns of armed revolt: report

Mon Nov 26, 12:34 AM ET

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepal's former rebel leader Prachanda has threatened to take up arms again if his demand for immediate abolition of the monarchy is not met, state media reported. Prachanda and the Maoists have been wrangling with mainstream political parties over their demands for the impoverished Himalayan nation to be immediately declared a republic. The Maoists formally ended their decade-long insurgency that claimed over 13,000 lives after striking a landmark peace deal in November last year. The ultra leftists joined hands with the political parties after weeks of massive pro-democracy protests forced King Gyanendra to end his 14 months of direct rule in April 2006.

"We hoped that following 10 years of the people's war and 19-day people's movement (the pro-democracy protests) we should not fight anymore. However, we will be compelled to do so in case the parties in government and its head fail to understand this," the Rising Nepal quoted Prachanda as saying on Sunday. He was addressing the Maoists' People's Liberation Army at one of the UN monitored cantonments in Chitwan, 70 kilometres (44 miles) southwest of Kathmandu on Saturday. As part of the peace deal, the former rebel fighters and their weapons have been confined to UN monitored camps at 28 locations across the country. He said that they were in favour of peaceful protests but "could fight for decades if the situation necessitated such a fight," the newspaper said.

Under the deal, the Maoists had earlier agreed to decide the fate of the monarchy through constituent assembly elections. But polls for the assembly have already been postponed twice due to wrangling between political parties and the former rebels. The Maoists now want the country, one of the world's poorest, to be declared a republic immediately. They are also demanding full proportional voting contrary to a mixed first-past-the-post and proportional representation system previously agreed. The dispute between the Maoists and the mainstream parties led the former rebels to quit the government in September throwing the peace process is doubt.

Source: Yahoo News, November 26, 2007

Maoist intransigence: A time of national reckoning

Ajit NS Thapa

In order to reach a consensus on the two resolutions passed by the special session of the House — that of working effectively towards making the State a republic and the adoption of a fully proportional representation (PR) system to elect members of the Constituent Assembly (CA), the house took a ten-day recess. These resolutions are in contrast to the Interim Constitution (IC), which provides for a mixed system whereby 240 members would be elected through direct representation (first-past-the post), 240 through proportional system (PR) and the fate of the monarchy would be decided by the first meeting of CA.

In fact, the resolution passed by the House was spearheaded by the Maoists as a follow up of the demands made by them just two months prior to Nov. 22. They demanded that the House declare a republic and the CA members be elected on full PR basis. The Maoists made this a pre-condition for their participation in the Nov. polls and this forced the government to postpone the election indefinitely. The Nepali Congress (NC), which currently leads the coalition, is opposed to the Maoist demand and is in favour of sticking to the provisions of IC.

After the overthrow of King Gyanendra’s authoritarian regime some 18 months ago, Nepalis expected that the nation would have durable peace. Free and fair polls would be conducted which would provide a stable government that would usher in an era of peace, security, good governance and development. Unfortunately, delivery has been far short of expectations. In spite of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), among other accords, the Maoists have not kept their commitment to democratic norms and rule of law. If this was not bad enough, the nation is traumatised by the increasing incidence of violence in the Tarai.

Even Home Ministry’s activities seem to be confined to making promises of improving security in the future, doling out relief to the families of the victims, and declaring on an ad hoc basis martyrs under pressure from political groups. The deteriorating law and order situation in the Tarai which has been caused both by politically and criminally oriented groups has cast grave doubts on our capability to govern ourselves and to remain a integrated nation. The situation in the Tarai has been further compounded by the split in the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) and the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF).

The latest revelation by the Maoist supremo Prachanda regarding his party’s ideology has further blurred the future political landscape. Prachanda recently stated that he had no faith in parliamentary democracy since it only took account of the majority. He also did not approve of the republican system that prevailed in the US, India,Russia and China. He asserted that he believed in competitive politics that worked on consensus. It would be helpful if he were to define his concepts more clearly. Prachanda’s latest stand that durable peace is more important than holding CA election has merit but the question that follows is: Can durable peace be attained only if the other political parties were to follow the Maoist line?In order to arrest the deteriorating state of the nation and put it on the road to stability and peace we need to ask ourselves certain fundamental questions: Do we wish to survive as a sovereign and independent nation? What kind of state restructuring and federalism will protect our sovereignty, independence and unity? Should the Interim Parliament (whose main responsibility is to hold the CA election) have the authority to declare Nepal a Republic or should it be the will of the sovereign people? If law and order is the priority of the government, why is it hesitant to mobilise its security apparatus to improve the law and order situation? Would the nation be happy if it were to land with another form of dictatorship (of the proletariat) in place of the authoritarian rule that prevailed in the past?

The SPA’s inability to hold the CA election has eroded its credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the nation and the entire international community. The SPA, to redeem its image and to provide a modicum of relief to the people, needs to find a solution to the current impasse and announce the date for the CA polls. In line with this, it should adopt mixed member representation (MMR) which combines the merit of a mixed system (as outlined in the IC) and full PR would replace the demand for full proportional representation as passed by the special session.If a consensus cannot be reached regarding these two issues, the SPA should unanimously agree to hold a national political conference with the participation of all stakeholders to determine the future direction of the nation. It would be a great injustice to the people and the nation if our political leaders did not to rise to the occasion and free the nation fromindecision.

Source: The Himalayan Times, November 27, 2007