| Username |
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| paramendra |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 05:52 PM
(I am posting this Himalayan Times article in its entirety since it does not have a unique URL.......... This is the most creative article I have read on Nepal's current situation. It reflects my sentiment on the topic. This would be the most balanced approach, and possibly the only real way to break the cycle of violence in the country, but I doubt King G will go for it. He has alternate plans.......)
Why be afraid of a constituent assembly?
"Bidhan Acharya"
Doubts have been cast over the suitability of the 1990 Constitution. The start of the Maoist insurgency seven years ago and the developments in the country since then reflect the continuing erosion of the Constitution. The present constitutional provisions have often been ignored, and it is all the more so in the present situation. The mechanism responsible for monitoring constitutional practices is inadequate and corrupt. This has made it necessary to look for a better alternative.
During the past 12 years, Nepal had an opportunity to take strides in both political and economic development. But the politicians in Nepal did hard work to nullify both of them. The people's revolution of 1990 was more than the success of politicians. People from all walks of life had freely participated in it. But when politicians tasted power, they simply forgot other segments of society. Furthermore, instead of understanding the other sectors better, they attempted to politicise other sectors where politics should have been kept at an arm's length, such as bureaucracy and development activities. They also tried to put professionals like professors, lawyers, doctors, engineers and scientists under partisan umbrellas and created groupism and contributed to financial and mental corruption. When King Gyanendra assumed executive powers, few protested against the move except politicians. It is a big lesson for the national political parties.
The major parties in support of the present Constitution swear allegiance to the importance of monarchy. However, the Maoists would like to have a republic, which cannot be established within the present constitutional framework. The current parliamentary forces probably enjoy the support of the majority of the people. If so, why cannot they accept the idea of holding constituent assembly elections, if this step can win cease-fire and prevent wanton killings and destruction.
The trauma of the nation has to come to an end. As parliamentary political parties have made public commitments to constitutional monarchy, the future constitution to be made by the people will probably recognise the importance of monarchy. Political forces favouring constitutional monarchy can be strong supporters of the kingship and hence the King is likely to receive public applause by taking serious steps to stop the bloodshed in the country. It seems that the idea of constitutional assembly promises to find a way out of the present difficult situation.
There seems to be no other feasible way than holding constitutional assembly elections to frame a new constitution and herald a new dawn for the country. But it is necessary that all steps need to be taken so that the polls are free and fair and every side will accept the verdict of the people. Enough homework needs to be done to make the idea workable. Instead of the public appeals and radical comments by ministers, the government headed by Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand should come up with a concrete plan. The Maoists have also to co-operate.
Since the rebels demand a constitutional assembly, they must support the efforts that will lead towards it. The government and rebels need to contact the intermediaries. But to give talxks a chance of success, the Maoists must put their demands in concrete form. Obviously, Chand will have to receive the consent of the King before taking any major decision, as he is a nominee of the King. Needless to say, consultation with political parties is necessary. Both sides should agree on a ceasefire to create a suitable atmosphere for peace. What should be done and what should not be done by both sides during the cease-fire should be clearly mentioned.
Similarly, other modalities will have to be worked out, including composition of negotiating teams and venue of the talks. What will happen to armed rebels and their arms? Perhaps it will be a good idea to recruit them into the army and the police if the talks succeeded. There are some other problems that need to be addressed to make the process of peace complete. Neither side will have to come down in public image if they sincerely find a solution to the cycle of violence in the country. They will be making history. Then why be afraid of the constituent assembly?
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| wy |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 08:35 PM
Paramendra:
This piece just out in Nepali Times is also useful in understanding exactly what it is that you can do with the CA. It looks at things broadly.
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/ntimes/issue118/comment.htm
Peace!!!
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| wy |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 08:36 PM
I don's why it is not linking. Trying again:
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/ntimes/issue118/comment.htm
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| Logical Sense |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 08:45 PM
A Beautiful Mess (Don't forget to read this peace at the end of the article wy posted)
Nobel Prize winning mathematical genius John Nash, in the movie A Beautiful Mind, goes to a bar with his friends, and upon seeing four women including a blonde he observes the following: “If every one were to go after the blonde, the chances are that everyone would all go home without the pleasure of female company. The best solution is to reduce this non-cooperative competitive situation into a cooperation game by changing the strategy by agreeing to ignore the blonde, thereby increasing the chance of going home with the other lesser beauties.”
The lesson for Nepal is that competitive non-cooperation with a potentially disastrous outcome can be avoided by following a cooperative game that results in a better outcome for all concerned.
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| HahooGuru |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 09:45 PM
LS,
Game Theory applies to beautiful minds, but, not to the PAGAL MINDS "too random, has not order: if this happens, that can be next move".
What I see in Today's nepal is that the parlimentary party leaders are more concerned with PM posts. If King offers to anyone, they will ahead to occupy the chair. Even Maoists went to jungle, when they did not have chances to occupy "THE POWER CHAIR".
In this context, Game Theory applies to parliamentary forces, because they want to make sure their chances in the musical chair "PM".
Well, the main group in the game "Musical Chair" are Maoists who got a remote control of the Casette Player's STOP and PLAY buttons, thus, one has control of the player using MANUAL buttons, and other uses a remote control. They STOP and PLAY so frequently the players in the game are all confused. Since Maoists were the first rejected from the musical chair game (in very first round), they challenged to the original owner of the casette player, "aija ta ra ma khelau. mula dhadali gardo rahechha tyo casette player ko STOP PLAY button ko, afno interest lageko manche lai chair ma basayo arulai khuru out gardai gayo. Lou aija khelau dui jana matra. Manual button should go to public "these ramite janata". ............. Now we Nepali peoples are watching this musical chair game. The first round was abandoned at the middle of the game because of MESS Created by Remote and Manual Buttons. Now, who will win the game? I am wondering whether these parlimentary forces will be allowed to participate i.e. 3 groups two set of chair, the only last two will be playing.
The key question here is the owner of the casette player who used to run music to decide the owner, will be willing play or remain playing with casette's PLAY STOP buttons, asking all of them to play as a new round of game. Well, the owner is trying to pursuade the Maosits to handover the REMOTE CONTROL "ARMS", before starting the game, otherwise, you know they will click the remote control's buttongs and trigger "bullet" infrared light to stop the casette player whenever they are just infront of the main final chair, making everyone joker.
Will the Maoists handover the powerful remote control they developed in last 7 years? I don't think. What is disappointing is that remote control is not just one, it has many versions, and till now Pachanda looks to have control of the Remote Control, who knows he might be having the 2nd order remote control "relay" only.......... Babu Ram Bhattarai might have another class of Remote Control, and Badal may have another remote control............. Are you sure that there is only one remote control? that can be settled for ?
I think we should wait some more time, wait and confirm that they have only one remote control, we should make sure that all the docs. for developing remote contorl are shredded so that we will not have any more remote control in future that can be used randomly making the game bitter and in mess. Well, many blame that KG is trying to disable that remote control option from casette player at all, i.e. by removing the chips from the casette player, unfortunately, the technology is so modern, the old technician "RNA" seems to be in-experienced to new systems, thus, are working hard but, they need more time to learn and control the chip. The tamase janata are telling that "how long will you take? to start the game again". Girija is shouting for restart of the same game abandoned at the middle. Deoba is asking for the chair he occupied last time, Makune is asking for some favor the hint on its next stop time ............ Well, janata are confused, whether its a game or jatra? Bhadvailo.........
Aru Pachhi!?!
HG
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| wy |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 09:47 PM
COMMENT by ALOK BOHARA
Shock therapy
Everything a constituent assembly can do, a sovereign parliament can do better.
Given the current economic and political turmoil, it is our moral responsibility to try to break the impasse by looking at solution. What compromise will result in the greatest public good?
Given the near-consensus on a commitment to constitutional monarchy and the multiparty system, a compromise strategy can emerge around the notion of the Constituent Assembly. Such an assembly of elected representatives to draft a new constitution can, if properly handled, serve as a common denominator to bring all the parties together.
There, they can address the anomalies that have contributed to this country’s woes: institutional corruption, regional imbalances, lack of separation of power, unstable governments, centralised decision making, lack of transparency in governments and politicos, ignored voices of political and ethnic minorities in public policy debates, and missed opportunity to exploit our vast natural resources for the benefit of the millions.
An election for a constituent assembly is based on an election just like a parliamentary election. Recently, countries like South Africa, Namibia, and East Timor have successfully used this democratic process to form constituent assemblies to write (or re-write) their constitutions. After ratifying the document, the constituent assemblies have then been converted into parliamentary assemblies.
These constituent assemblies used a more inclusive electoral method—proportional representation, where seats are allocated based on the percentage of the popular party votes. Our current method of election is the winner-take-all Westminster model.
Going from historical experience elsewhere, a future constituent assembly in Nepal can also be expanded to include the members of the Upper House to make the process more inclusive and if necessary the chamber may be reformed through fresh election. An all-party interim government may be needed to ensure fairness during the election process.
An exercise in forming a constituent assembly must take advantage of this opportunity to set the following agenda: empowerment, separation of powers, and a code of conduct.
The grassroots must be empowered by devolving decision-making powers through a system of decentralized regional governments. The new constitution should then clearly define the tasks of the three layers: village, region, and center. A proportional representation system would also allow a higher level of representation from the smaller parties and provide a voice to the minorities, and force dominating parties to be more inclusive.
Most genuine democracies have given up the first-past-the-post Westminster model for proportional representation. Put simply, this system puts half its representatives based on the current single-constituency winner-take-all method, and the other half are elected based on the percentage of the popular votes that each party receives nationally or regionally.
Conts on next posting:
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| wy |
Posted
on 21-Nov-02 09:48 PM
Logical sense,
The link did not work so I am posting it.
Sorry for cut and post.
The ambiguity of royal powers and responsibilities need to be clarified to avoid future conflict between the constitutional monarch and parliamentary forces. This separation of powers would not completely remove a royal role, especially during the grave national crisis. Similarly, a direct election of the Prime Minister, as in Israel, would make the executive head responsible to the entire nation rather than to his or her party bosses. By allowing the premier to pick cabinet members, with approval of the House, this would reduce conflicts of interest.
There also needs to be an agreed code of conduct: the nation, government, and government resources belong to the people. Through elections, political parties are only temporary custodians. We must therefore demand from them internal democracy and transparency. Irresponsible behaviour by the rank and file can lead to nominations of people of questionable characters, and the whole nation suffers.
The current rift between the king and democratic forces has turned what was once a two-party game into a three-way contest. Even the Maoist leadership has now acknowledged this tripartite power struggle. The king has the backing of the Royal Nepal Army. The Maoists command a sizeable cadre base. The political parties may be floundering at times, but they do have a grassroot base and can claim to bear the banner of democracy. This position may seem stable, but it is a static equilibrium because there is no incentive for anyone to change their conduct. We could linger in this limbo for a long time.
The army will require a significant increase in resources to crush the rebellion, but not without a sizeable human toll. The Maoists will remain relatively elusive but will not be able to overrun the country to establish the one-party communist state, especially since India is now on their trail. The political parties, because of their own shortcomings, are not likely to muster much people’s support to repeat 1990 Part Two. But they will remain vocal, increasingly united, and influential.
The country has thus been stagnant for the last seven years, with a deadly outcome that has decimated the economy and resulted in more than 5,000 deaths. What will be the next best move that will bring everyone closer to a solution acceptable to everyone so that the nation can be spared from this mindless carnage?
The current stalemate in Nepal can be broken with shock therapy, and that could very well be a constituent assembly. It will require a cooperative approach, but that may be the only way.
(Alok K Bohara, PhD, is professor of economics at the University of New Mexico, USA.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Beautiful Mess
Nobel Prize winning mathematical genius John Nash, in the movie A Beautiful Mind, goes to a bar with his friends, and upon seeing four women including a blonde he observes the following: “If every one were to go after the blonde, the chances are that everyone would all go home without the pleasure of female company. The best solution is to reduce this non-cooperative competitive situation into a cooperation game by changing the strategy by agreeing to ignore the blonde, thereby increasing the chance of going home with the other lesser beauties.”
The lesson for Nepal is that competitive non-cooperation with a potentially disastrous outcome can be avoided by following a cooperative game that results in a better outcome for all concerned.
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| paramendra |
Posted
on 27-Nov-02 02:13 PM
wy:
Bohra's article is interesting.
Shock therapy
Everything a constituent assembly can do, a sovereign parliament can do better.
The army will require a significant increase in resources to crush the rebellion, but not without a sizeable human toll. The Maoists will remain relatively elusive but will not be able to overrun the country to establish the one-party communist state, especially since India is now on their trail. The political parties, because of their own shortcomings, are not likely to muster much people’s support to repeat 1990 Part Two. But they will remain vocal, increasingly united, and influential.
The current stalemate in Nepal can be broken with shock therapy, and that could very well be a constituent assembly. It will require a cooperative approach, but that may be the only way.
His first and last sentences contradict each other though.
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| Bitchpatroll |
Posted
on 27-Nov-02 02:31 PM
Yo Minder..what up ?
How ma South Asian ..well I wouldn't call you a fren but internet pantomime..
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| bipin |
Posted
on 27-Nov-02 02:32 PM
I thought about the same thing. It may have been a mistake by Nepali Times. They may have by mistake printed the opening line for both Bohara and CK Lal.
The four wheels of democracy by CK Lal
Everything a constituent assembly can do, a sovereign parliament can do better.
Shock therapy by Alok Bohara
Everything a constituent assembly can do, a sovereign parliament can do better.
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