| ashu |
Posted
on 07-Oct-02 11:41 AM
Some news:
1. For the third day in a row, businesseople and pro-monarchists have published a serie of ads in various newspapers thanking the King for doing what he did. Good old Kantipur, which already makes a lot of money from those obituary-ads, is raking
in all the more money from all these "thank-you-King-ads".
2. There was a meeting today in Putalisadak of various intellectuals and activists. Led by Shyam Shresha, the editor of Mulyankan (Leftist) patrika, they condemned the King's move as anti-democratic, and now plan to publish ads, to hold rallies and julus to denounce the King's move.
As for me, after weighing every argument for and against the King's move, I ended up signing a petition, agreeing, in principle, that the King should NOT have done what he did, though -- living and wrking in Nepal and having spent the lat three days talking to various eople -- I can only understand the EMOTIONAL context behind why the King
did what he did.
I have also concluded that the support that the King enjoys now can be more accuratelly seen as people's just getting fed up with the likes of Deuba, Girija and other netas.
Anyway, now that the King has done what he did, the challenge -- I see -- for any democrat worth his or her name in Nepal is to try to influence/nudge the King --
through ways possible -- in directions that, one hopes, lead to MORE
democracy backed by publicly accountable and legally strong institutions.
For democrats in Nepal, their work -- full of challenges and uncertainties -- has JUST begun, and, in some ways, I, for one, am excited by these new difficulties and challenges. Every problem, I believe, presents hitherto unknown opportunities.
3. Anuradha Koirala, the activist known for anti-trafficking work, is most likely to be a social welfare minister.
4. Rumor is rife that Madhav Kumar Nepal wll be made the PM to neutralize the UML-affliated camps.
5. Bhesh Bdr. Thapa is likely to head the Foreign Ministry. His man job will be to keep India, China and the US happy.
6. The King now wants to ride the wave of his popularity by cracking down further on corruption and "nakkali-certificate" wallahs and so on. His rational move is to enhance
his stature as a statesman all the more, make the throne safe for his son, and do all this by wittingly building on Birendra's legacy. Anything else, he very well knows, will backfire -- if not now, then certainly during Paras's reign.
More later.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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