Ian Martin and the Tapes

Oops, looks like long time blogdai nemesis Ian Martin of the tattered UNMIN has finally met his match.

Sorry Ian, apparently, one of the most difficult things for a UN employee to be is an idealogue.

It seem poor Ian gave an inflammatory report to the UN that was highly critical of Israeli intentions

Another Oops for poor Ian: Our dear deposed PM Prachanda was caught on tape confessing that he exaggerated the strength of the Maoist forces by some factor of five. Compound this with the latest news that Maoists claim that they never turned over their weaponry per sir Ian's request and instead kept the best and most lethal armaments away from UNMIN scrutiny and inventory bodes poorly for the efficacy of such UN missions in Nepal.

Per Ian Martin's request as well, monitors were to be stationed at all Nepali polling places during the last elections. blogdai immediately shouted "fraud" and "incompetance" at the idea. Having first hand knowledge (and photos, mind you) blogdai can assure all gentle readers that the UN delegation never made it out of the Kathmandu valley during election time. I saw most of them at club 1905 and they had no intention of leaving the valley for any "rough" travel to polling stations in the village.

Ian Martin's legacy in Nepal is one of abject failure. The worst of which is his idea of containing Maoists in cantonments. A complete an unmitigated failure of both concept, policy and implementation, this was. Maoists chose who would reside in said cantonments, had no sense of restricted movement, and basically carried on as usual. Such is the legacy that Israeli critics capatilized upon.

A career in ruins:

Well, that's it for Ian, finally. After blogdai has been calling for his removal from the world stage for the last couple of years, the pompous grandstander with the English pedigree has finally been brought down by Israeli scrutiny. They've rightly pointed to his failures in Nepal as an example of how he should not be allowed to conceive any report on Israel that bears any international credibility whatsoever. The so called "Martin Report" on Israel will now live as the penultimate example of the UN's perception of its own hegemonic inluence, and its ultimate failure as a policy.

So long Ian Martin. Stick a fork in him: he's done.

-=blogdai

First Photos from Everest

blogdai is a proud supporter of Pemba Dorje Sherpa. Pemba and his brothers summited Chomolungma this May 19, but failed to stay atop the worlds highest peak for 24 hours as planned. Apparently, weather drove them down after 2 hours.

The first available photos of Pemba Dorje Sherpa at the summit of Everest sent exclusively to blogdai. So piss off you spoiled brat white American climbers.

Pemba, as you all remember, holds the worlds speed record for climbing Everest at just over 8 hours. He was attempting to bring the symbols of each of the world's major religions to the summit and pray during this record attempting period. Pity, but no sadness is required. Pemba will do it again. In fact, there are probably 100 active climbing Sherpas who could conceivably attempt world record type feats on Everest. Insanely strong people, these Sherpas, with an insanely high hematocrit.

As a blogdai friend, our first words from Pemba indicated that his two brothers were getting sick at camp II and that the endurance record would not be attempted. Still Pemba acheived his 10th summit of Sagarmatha: no failure in any human's opinion.

MEMO TO CHINA: Have a look at these pictures. This is what a real, non-simulated summit looks like. Cloud and mountain references in the background. Tibetans and Sherpas don't need your phony Olympic torch ceremony to get them up the mountain; they were born for this and find your politics distasteful. More on this later as blogdai is beginning to boil at the topic.

Anyway, Pemba says a direct "thank you" to all who've supported this effort. Peace and Namaste to all

-=blogdai

Start the Countdown

Deposed General Katawal deep in contemplation about where best to begin his army coup.

Here we go. After giving Prachanda and his thugs plenty of breathing room with ample time and resources to complete the Peace Process and consolidate a government, the Fierce One once again proves his ideological narrow-mindedness.

I've been screaming this at the top of my lungs since Joke-Andalan and most haven't listened. Now, after a few years of the sing-song appeasement journalism of the BBC's Charles Haviland and others, do we all finally get it? YOU CAN'T GOVERN WITH A RIGID IDEOLOGY. The American Repuglicans will be the first to confirm this, I'm sure, but Nepal, what were we thinking? At every turn, Prachanda kept dropping bombs that he wanted to govern with an iron hand and turn our country into a Communist autocracy. Is it finally clear to all that we've given this idiot one chance too many?

The symolic hard-line control move of sacking RNA supremo General Rookmangud Katawal smacked of Communist arrogance and started the ball rolling downhill for our government. In response, the UML quits the government, the usual street protests ensue, President Ram Baran Yadav goes against the PM and tries to get the General to return; and finally, Prachanda--sensining a government in flames--turns tail and jumps ship. Bravo Fierce Fleeing One!

So where does that leave us? The upheaval caused by tampering with the military shows who is really in charge in Nepal. In fact, the RNA is the ONLY entity keeping our beloved country from dissolving into failed-state status.

I wasn't kidding when I said to "start the countdown." In fact we probably should have started the countdown when the usual gang of political idiots, plus the King, held their not too secret meetings with the big shots in Delhi.

Next up: Koirala and the other old fools will usurpt government control until the military initiates a formal coup and takes over.(You didn't think they were beefing up their forces over the last few months just for fun, did you?) Tours and garbage on the grounds of the Royal Palace will end soon as King G. will only be too happy to move back in to that ugly bus station looking facility and supervise the education of his King-to-be grandson.

All of this because we were too lazy to care in the first place.

-=blogdai

"People's Federal Democratic National Republic"

Thats a mouthful for sure.  

Those brilliant  Maoists have been banging their heads together for six days to try and mend a catastrophic rift in their party.  It seems most of the hard-liners want to announce an all Communist "People's Republic"  immediately; while Prachanda wants to go a little slower so as not to throw the country back into chaos.  After what blogdai can only assume to be and excruciating application of sheer brainpower, our boys in red have decided to call Nepal the "People's Federal Democratic National Republic."  Just think of the expense in stationary this will incur!  PFDNR Nepal. 

What this title tells us, just by looking at it, is that the Maoists are still deeply divided and deeply factionalized. it's as if the Maoists threw every point of contention they had into the title, not caring if it worked or even made sense.  Nepal is now the "agree to disagree" nation from its title.  

Maoist honcho's called this new title a "synthesis" of party policy documents. blogdai sees it as an "emulsion:"  hurredly mixing together things that don't belong.   

Imagine if we left the Maoists to rename our popular Kathmandu watering holes:   

Fire and Ice Pizza would be:  "Cold Firey Hot Pizza Ice"

Tom and Jerry Pub:  "Jerry's Pub with Tom's Name but mostly Jerry's unless it' Not"

Yin/Yang Bar:   "Yin or Yang both at once with no balance or compromise Bar."

Let's break down this new title and look at it.  Both the words that are used and their positioning tell us quite a lot about what went on in that Maoist meeting.  

People's  

Only ideologically totalitarian or Communist governments use this word to describe their country.  The fact that it occurs first in the title tells blogdai that the hard-line Communist ideologues in the Maoist party holding sway.  It also shows that every Maoists eventually wants a Communist Nepal.  

Federal

Means a type of representative government; the type that no Nepali can adequately describe, but is supposed to limit the chaos of pure democracy by letting elected representative speak for the majority of people in any given district or "federated" sub-unit of a nation.  It is the second term used in the new Maoist title and probably sits there to appease the NC and UML.  

Democratic

Dead in the middle of the new title.  It is in the weakest position for emphasis--almost an afterthought.  Maoists know that if you use any variation of the word "democracy," to describe yourself, whether applicable or not, the U.S. will leave you alone, the world media will fawn all over you, and foreign aid will keep arriving.  It's a lot like all of those ridiculous military medals that despots like to create and wear on their uniforms:  No real meaning but gives a good impression. 

National

A poor thinker's stab at national unity.  Mainly, it's just the Maoists way of saying that they've finally made it to the big leagues.  No factionalizing, they tell us, "we are now a national brand."  Thanks to Ian Martin and James Moriarty.  

Republic

If you read the new title quickly, you find that Nepal is actually called a "People's Republic"  Notice how "People's" and "Republic" frame all other words?  They are the two most strategically placed words in the title.  Republic, next to Federal and sometimes Democracy, is unnecessary and redundant.  All three terms share concepts and mechanisms.  

This new title shows what can happen when a room full of hog butchers begins to squabble.  We get nothing approaching compromise, but we can infer quite a lot about the Maoist's intentions from the mish-mash of a title they want to slap on Nepal:  We are on our way to a Communist state.

-=blogdai

President Obama and Nepal: What to Expect

It's done, finally.  What a long haul for those poor Yanks.  As former British Prime Minister Tony Blair once said:  "America eventually does the right thing."  Too bad it took eight years of the "wrong thing" before Mr. Blair could be proven correct.   

What will an Obama presidency mean for Nepal?  Let's have a first look.....

It's the economy, stupid---------------------

The American economy is going through a major shit-storm and threatens to sink the world economy as it goes down.  Obama's first priority will be to deal with this catastrophy, period.  

A few things will come from this.  Look for India to get very nervous as most of those outsourced jobs that Mr. Obama wants to bring back to the U.S. are jobs that have been stationed in India over the past decade.  Nepalis working in phone service centers in Bangalore, say, should explore the job market now and keep all options open.  

Foreign Aid Revamp----------------------

Obama has the rare perspective of being someone who has actually lived in countries that were direct beneficiaries of U.S. foreign aid.  Unlike Bush, Obama knows that arrogant U.S. aid policies that simply throw money and staff at underdeveloped countries are bound to fail and must be revamped.  Remember the economy?  That big gorilla pulling down every plan and every program?  Well, the economy, and more specifically, the need to reduce spending, will combine with Obama's knowledge of how aid actually works to form one of  Obama's oft repeated budget strategies:  "Pay as you go."  Nepal, gone are the days when USAID writes a blank check to some clueless minister.   If you want to scam the system like before, your best bet will be to try and squeeze money from the UN.  Obama will apply an more "incremental" form of aid to Nepal: show initial progress on a program and funding will come for the next phase and so on.  Get ready for half of your Gross National Product to arrive with strings attached from now on.  

Prachanda and Politics--------------------

The Maoists won't fool Obama.  His step-father was detained by a military coup in Indonesia and Obama has seen plenty of insurgent groups masquerading as representatives of "the people" only to pull a bait-and-switch and fall back on their outdated ideological archetypes.  Obama is also aware of the misuse of the concept of "democracy." He seldom uses it. At the one spot in his acceptance speech where the term would have fit nicely, he chose the word "freedom" instead. So, the simple use of the term by a regime will mean nothing to the Obama administration unless it is backed by true reforms and a committment to citizen self-determination.  He'll punish any Maoist back-sliding by freezing foreign aid;  A suggestion proposed by former U.S. ambassador Ralph Frank during a peak period of Maoist activity in 1998.  

Fireworks in Pakistan---------------------------

Mr. Obama has made constant statements regarding his desire to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq and go after Osama Bin Laden in the mountains of Pakistan, should evidence support such a move.   Since Kathmandu already has a direct flight from Karachi, look for our Capital to play host to a lot more pissed-off and demoralized Muslims looking for revenge.  There are already some rumblings about an Al Quaida cell stretching its wings in our fair valley, so look for Kathmandu to evolve into more of a refuge for those of a "plotting" nature.  

India---------

Hard to read this one.  The Obama administration will get a security briefing on Nepal that will basically say that India, as a staunch U.S. partner,  has the best insight in the region and to trust New Delhi's Judgement,  BUT, India is spending up U.S. goodwill and may not call the shots for much longer.   Bush's disasterous nuclear proliferation give-away policy towards India is something Obama has bristled towards in the past and will probably manifest itself as a "trust but verify" relationship with New Delhi in the future.  Obama knows India pulled a fast one on Bush.  It won't happen again, so any opinion or suggestion coming from New Delhi on how best to handle Nepal and the region will be scrutinized. 

Human Rights------------

Obama's is a pro-Tibet, anti-repression administration. They will not simply tolerate abuses in order to keep stability in any given region.   Look for harsh reprimands and yes, more aid conditions, Nepal, everytime you kow-tow to China's demands for Tibetan imprisonment and/or repatriation.  Pay attention to your treatment of Bhutanese refugees as well.  Your precious foreign aid will also be held up if the army goes haywire and kills a bunch of Madhesis.

 Don't think, however, that the Americans will look down upon any defensive move you make. Obama was the first candidate to imply that Georgia had no business straying opportunistically into splittist areas.  It would be similar to say, Sikkim deciding to break away from a repressive  India and join Nepal.  Remember again:  self-determination is the key.   If you want to keep the U.S. gravy train flowing to Nepal, don't mess with innocent people trying to live their lives.  

-=blogdai

Army Integration: A Change of Heart

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"

---Sun-tzu

Ol' blogdai has had a change of heart regarding Prachanda's big push to have Maoist combatants integrated into the Nepali army.

I say, "let em' in!"

Draw them out of the woods and villages and offer pay, training and discipline. Follow it up with a stern law against armed groups terrorizing villagers. After integration, no extortion, armed bullying or cooercion by any group claiming to be Maoist would be deemed lawful, as there would be no need for such groups-- only the Nepal Army.

Integrated Maoists won't need to raise money anymore and they won't need to force villagers to attend rallies. Without their oppressive presence in the villages, Maoist propaganda and ideology cannot spread.

The reality is, offering the Maoists a job in a real army would, let's face it, amount to a high-security form of cantonement. Something that Ian Martin and his ridiculously uniformed concepts never could have achieved.

Do the Maoists actually believe they would be accepted into the Nepal Army as equals? As "brothers in arms?" Hardly. What we would see would be the gradual sidelining of the poorly-trained Maoists, if not outright hostility and abuse, at the hands of Nepal's professional soldiers. Perhaps a fitting end for those who have killed and abused innocents in the past.

Ram Poudel and whats left of the Nepali Congress are dead opposed to the idea. Is there any wonder? The Maoists are the only real physical force the NC can allign with to press their demands. Integrating them into the Nepal Army would take away a key political pawn for Girija and his newly rabbled party. They would no longer be able to make the threat of another deal-with-the-devil Jana Andolan. The integration of the Maoists into theNepal Army would render the Nepali Congress toothless and impotent. Frankly, Girija's screaming little NC student wing just doesn't have the power to influence Nepali politics on a national level like those big-bad Maoist murderers did during Jana Andolan.

So fully integrate the Maoist, says blogdai. Give them a hot meal and a hearty bonus just for showing up at their local army post. Give them clean and snappy uniforms and teach them to march.

Maybe, just maybe, this will dissolve the worst cancer to infest human lives in Nepal's history.

-=blogdai

A New Prime Murderer

Unwilling to be contained any longer, new PM Prachanda's plan for Nepal balloons out and escapes from the side of his head.

A good title for Prachanda's biography: "Killing your way to the top."

*

Take a good look, Nepal. This is what you get when you don't pay attention to National politics.


Charles Haviland of the BBC and others gushingly say this election of Maoist strong-man Prachanda to the Prime Ministership paves the way for the creation of a "democratic government." How woefully uninformed. I especially love it when people like Haviland breathlessly chirp that the Maoists have "wide support in the villages." Dear God. They have wide support because people don't want to get killed for not supporting them. Hey Charles, if they are so well loved in the countryside, how come the poplulation of Kathmandu has tripled over the last 5 years? The capital city is swollen to the breaking point with refugees from the countryside. I guess they need a little break from all that "wide support" they're giving the Maoists, right?

Give him his due, Prachanda's may be the biggest political genius of all. He's found the one thing that unites Nepalis into a Nation: FEAR.

Hopefully it will be short lived. In what could be the perfect corner for "The Fierce One" (who incidentally didn't look so fierce with all those flower Mallas strangling him) to trap himself, Prachanda can no longer run back into the woods and hide. He's got to perform now. His biggest tool had always been the threat of "taking to the streets" in protest when things didn't go his way, now he will be forced to find political solutions to difficult issues or risk being labeled as yet another weak and ineffective Nepali Prime Minister. And don't think those vanquished politicians are going to sit quietly. They've got plenty of skill and power and will be looking to form any wedge they can in a Prachanda government.

*

The good part:

With any luck, the trappings of power and world attention will dilute Prachanda's violent and radical tendencies. Blinded by the light, blogdai hopes. He looked a bit overwhelmed by his victory so let's hope he stays overwhelmed by all the world attention and doesn't drop the repressive Mao hammer on the people.

Also, a Prime Minister as volatile as Prachanda will give Nepal what it sorely lacks in government: a true system of checks and balances. The RNA will keep its distance and monitor developments critically from now on. They're already an independent lot and won't tolerate Prachanda's continued insistence that Maoist fighters be integrated into the National army. Our army boys will be only too willing to step into the fray should Prachanda trigger a Communist ideological melt-down.

Next, new president Ram Baran Yadav genuinely seems to be a man of integrity and personal conviction. Forget his claimed "crisis" in Nepal; Yadav blatently snubbed the Chinese and their invitation to the Olympics. His very election threw the Maoists into a tantrum whereby they threatened to not form a government. He'll be no rubber stamp for Maoist plans, that's for sure.

The best part is that Girija is officially GONE! blogdai can barely contain the political joy at the prospects. Plus, Deuba, Makune, and Oli are relegated to the status of opposition party. As we said in past columns, if the Maoists can do nothing else right, we owe them some form of thanks for removing these greedy idiots and obstacles to progress from the halls of power.

The bad part:

I can see it now, YCL cadres seizing suites at the Radisson and demanding free room service.

Maoist cadres running wild in the villages sparking retalliatory killings and looting at will.

Prachanda's penchant for seizing property could take on grand proportions in Kathmandu.

The world community determines Nepal to be a rogue state and drastically curtails foreign aid.

Too many of these scenarios to list, I'm afraid....


The bottom line is: The new leader of Nepal has more blood on his hands than all the Rana kings combined. Our pain and suffering will be on the ground and in the villages, not in the halls of government. We are in for more turbulence, not less. When will we wake up?

At least we got rid of Girija.

-=blogdai

No Summit for China

China's alleged torch summit of Everest, complete with no bearing for verification, a casual lack of exertion on the part of the participants, and moist breath with no rime ice.

In light of the new information being reported on the wires about Chinese olympic "ethics," such as the reversal to allow journalists unfettered access to the internet, the blatant forging of 14 year old gymnast He Kexin's olympic application so that she appears 16 and thus, within olympic rules; and the increase, rather than decrease of stringent clamp-downs on all manner of dissent; we here at blogdai feel its time to report on a story we've been working on for a few months now. Most of you know of blogdai and June's repulsion at Chinese bullying, so we have been very careful to verify sources, interview those present, and intensely study all film footage involved so as not to present the facade of impeachable bias against the Chinese. So, after almost 2 months of research we here at blogdai have concluded:

China faked their olympic torch run to Mt. Everest.

We have friends who were among the first to summit Everest after the climbing ban was lifted. Their comments help inform this report. Plus, we've interviewed climbers, famous and lesser for their opinions and their startling insights.

Some observations supporting our theory:

----No "money shot." All photos taken are from close range making verification of the summit difficult. Most, if not all expeditions take the photo proof shot, regardless of weather. Proof lies in showing a recognizable land feature or peak who's perspective in a summit photo proves the altitude and angle that confirms a successful bid. The Chinese offered nothing more than close-in shots. Even an "immediate space" shot was not available (at least none that we could find) to verify the approximate dimensions of the summit area. Also, there was no apparent evidence of the old, faded prayer flags that mark the summit and have been known to stay in place for a few seasons or more. Prayer flags in Chinese photos stand alone and look newly placed.

----China's dubious ascent in 1960. They've done this before, apparently. Sketchy verification of a summit bid in 1960 is still in dispute in some climbing circles. They claimed to have climbed it at night so verification was difficult. Hmm.

----The claim of "mysterious lights" near the summit. Hard to buy since Nepal maintained armed guards from camp II upwards on the Nepal side to prevent anyone sneaking up on the Chinese. What were those "lights" then? Perhaps a loose-lipped expeditioner was seeing members of his own support team near the much lower level that they were actually reporting from.

----Chatter boxes. Through the summit torch lighting ceremony on Youtube video, women climbers are heard chattering away in the background with out a hint of the exertion expert climbers feel at the summit of Everest. They are talking in long, single-breath sentences. Ask anyone who's summited Everest and they'll tell you it's not a place for a monologue. Short, clipped sentences are all most can manage at that altitude.

----Moisture. No one we've spoken with who has summited Everest has ever remembered there being fog-like moisture coming from a climber's breath. They few times moisture has been present in the atmosphere near, but much lower than the summit, other phenomenon present themselves as one of our experts mentions below:

The one thing that struck me funny about the footage; if you watch it, you see peoples breath. In my 8 years on that hill, the air is too dry on top to see your breath that much. They were also not that iced up, if it indeed was a moist enough storm to see breath, they would have been covered in rime ice. They would have seen no other lights, as the military at camp 2 on the Nepal side made sure no one went above them.

Friends of blogdai at summit of Everest just a few weeks after the China's alleged summit. Peaks in the background give reasonable verification. "Game's Over: Free Tibet" banner was a nice touch.

---- Chinese footage on Youtube showing a long line of climbers traversing a long pitch is not recognizable as a portion of the north face ascent of Everest and may be tied to a secondary peak.

----Climbers and blogdai contributors who were among the first to summit Everest after the alleged Chinese bid report no new flags, momentos or any evidence that the olympic torch ever reached the summit.

----By their own claims, the Chinese torch bid was doomed to fail simply by their planning hubris. A quick, alpine-style ascent is a sure recipe for failure on Everest (Unless you are Reinhold Messner) Our blogdai consultant was waiting to summit from the Nepal side during this time and filed this dispatch:

The (Chinese) truly (expletive) themselves with an elementary mistake, by the sounds. Drop your camps in the windy spots, don’t leave them up unattended to get ripped apart...

_____________________

So, blogdai has a request: climbers and anyone who knows, chime in here. Thousands of you were in the Khumbu at the time of the Nepal ban and the Chinese attempt. We want to hear from you. In the interest of fairness, we will give first priority to those who can offer definitive PROOF that the Chinese actually made the summit of Everest with their damn torch.

Even more, blogdai opens up the discussion to anyone with an opinion on this. Get informed first. Google "China Everest Torch" or anything similar; go to Youtube.com and watch all the footage you can on the Chinese bid and report your opinions here. Good luck and good hunting.

-=blogdai

China goes back on its words

Like a commenter said, should anyone be surprised about this? China has decided to reverse its pledge to offer complete media freedom, and will censor the Internet used by foreign media during the Olympics.

Sorry, Sun Weide, your so-called "sufficient access to the Internet for reporters" is not sufficient. China had pledged to offer complete media freedom and China has an obligation to keep its words. China has gone back on its own words on an international stage. China has slapped itself in its own face.

China prohibits reporters from accessing sites regarding "Falungong spiritual movement". What is China so afraid of Falungong for? Falungong is just a type of exercise while promoting truth, compassion and tolerance. Like Tai Chi or Judo, Falungong has its philosophy that comes with the territory. It is beyond the free world why China has been convinced that Falungong will create a "movement" that will overturn the corrupted Chinese government. Is Falungong promoting everything that China government is not? Why the paranoia?

The spokesman said that there were other unspecified sites unavailable to journalists. Let me guess, those sites couldn't have anything to do with the themes of "Free Tibet" or 1989 Chinese government massacring students, could they?

China completely disgusts the free world. This Olympic Game has been way over China's head. While China is boasting this August 8, 2008 (8.8.8) Olympics as its demonstration of its powerfulness to the world, the world sees a 666 instead. You heard me. China is nothing but a nasty BEAST for its notorious human rights record. China government has blood on its hands from almost every family in China. It is a shame that China seems to be the only member in the international society that does not understand how horrific China's human rights record is. China will not get away if it's using this opportunity to crack down on Tibet. Free world, don't let it happen in front of our eyes again like in 1989!

This is the report:

China will censor the Internet used by foreign media during the Olympics, an organising committee official confirmed Wednesday, reversing a pledge to offer complete media freedom at the games.

"During the Olympic Games we will provide sufficient access to the Internet for reporters," said Sun Weide, spokesman for the organising committee.

He confirmed, however, that journalists would not be able to access information or websites connected to the Falungong spiritual movement which is banned in China.

Other sites were also unavailable to journalists, he said, without specifying which ones.

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

No Maoist Gov't. Next up: No Constituent Assembly

U-turn quitsville. Today the Maoists decided not to form their government.


The Maoists hit the brick wall that is called Nepali politics. Political mud slowed them to a crawl.

Pity. They had such high hopes. Prachanda, ever the ideologue, felt he could turn his coerced election victory to some sort of etherial mandate whereby Girija and his goons would simply welcome the Maoists into the government as conquering heroes and give them the keys of power.

Not a chance.

Ever wonder why, after years of steadfast refusal to hold elections, Girija finally relented and let elections be held? He was told by his leash-holders in India that the Maoists would never come to power, win or lose. Just deny them everything and hold out as long as you can, and eventually the old impatient communists would give up. And they did!

Today, Delhi officially recommeded Girija be appointed (not nominated or elected) Prime Minister once again. How neat and tidy.

So, where does that leave our beloved new Constituent Assembly? blogdai mentioned over a year ago that the mere election of a Constituent Assembly(CA) would be worthless in a country where politicians decide who has the power and what parts of the Constitution are convenient enough to be obeyed. There was never any provision for enforcement of CA power as a balancing body. Essentially, according to the rules that exist, the CA can meet and determine whatever they want and the Parliament is under no practical obligation to listen to a word they say. No wonder Girija was all in favor of electing this new and august body!

The CA will be marginalized just like the Maoists and business as ineffectively as always will rule the day once again.

Shoot Girija. We need a REAL revolution

-=blogdai

Blogdai the (Temporary) Maoist

Seen enough yet? blogdai has.

Girija has hung on stubbornly to his Prime Ministership against the will of the Maoists and against the will of the (coerced) voters.

Now he threatens us with the horror of saying his Nepali Congress Party will not participate in the new government, sniff, sniff. blogdai thinks that's just like Charles Sobraj threatening to not babysit for your child.

Apparently, the cloyingly single-minded badgering of Maoists politicos has begun to work its magic. Old Girija may have just had enough and may, just may step down shortly.

Prachanda will have succeded in doing what no other entity (violent or otherwise) has been able to do: pry the immobile Koirala barnacle away from the hull of the Nepali ship of State.

Why stop there? How about sending in a few hundred YCL morons with lathis to smack down all the other politicians who, since the elections, have done nothing but squabble and grind government to a halt.

These old parties with their immobility are like a rat that keeps having babies and just won't stay out of your kitchen. Hard to catch and even harder to get rid of.

So, blogdai says: let's all join the Maoists for a while. Let them do all the necessary dirty work of eliminating the entire diasporic community of crooked and inept politicians.

blogdai is willing to look the other way and ignore Maoist murders and atrocities for a time. Let's let Prachanda's poisoned rats infect our political system and clean out the whole thing.

When it is all done, we'll bring the Maoists to justice for their crimes; but why stop this wonderful political momentum of theirs if it wipes the governmental tables clear of the old guard?

-=blogdai

American Strategy

(Left) In a clear demonstration of American strategy, Ambassador Nancy Powell and two well-dressed YCL cadres return to Tribhuvan Airport after a whirlwind shopping trip to New York City

What gives?

The Maoists appear to steal an election at gunpoint and the Yanks welcome them with open arms?

A few explanations are in order, says blogdai. American policy, as blundered by George Bush and Co., can be summed up briefly and simply:

Any process that calls itself "democratic" should be viewed as an American foreign policy victory.

Maybe, to a small extent, they're right. Regardless of whether they were forced at gunpoint; and regardless of the fact that they were coerced and manipulated into a polling process that almost no one understood, Nepali citizens turned out to vote. At the very least they learned that their choices, coerced or not, can influence Nepal's political climate. This bodes well for the future.

The value of elections is just now starting to sink in with Nepalis. It would have been worse if the Yanks, Indians, Girija or whomever stepped in and nullified the process. What faith in the system would the average rural Nepali be left with in that situation? Most world bodies did not care for the resulting Maoist victories yet the respect shown to the election process by letting the results stand leaves a permanent impression on the average voter. Remember, faith in the electoral process, and ultimately democracy, lies in how well we all tolerate decisions and choices we don't like. It's easy to be a winner, it's democratic to take your losses with dignity.

So, Nancy Powell and the various U.S. State Department underlings are all talking with the Maoists and dangling the carrot of removing them from the Yank list of terrorist organizations. Watch for the following strategies to take hold:

--Prachanda will be swept up in a tide of diplomacy and increased foreign aid to the point where he is ideologically neutered and becomes just another greedy Nepal politico. Assimilation through dilution.

--You'll see no "ideological support" during this time. The Maoists will be pushed into playing by the rules. To assist in this, no new arms will be sold, given or shipped to this Maoist regime. The Yanks, just today, grilled Prachanda on how he plains to contain his YCL thugs.

--The Maoists may just blow it in front of the world's eyes. This would confirm to Nepalis, in the most concrete of terms, that we all knew the Maoists were a bad choice yet we respect your right to elect whomever you please--further demonstrating the principle pillar of democracy: protect elections uber alles.

--Prachanda has served the purpose of cleaning the political house. Girija and his inept administration have been maddeningly frustrating to work with from a competence and capacity standpoint. The Maoists will be no better, but the Yanks can now hope for a better day.

-=blogdai

China Censors Writers

After launching tens of thousands of netizens to flood the blogs on Tibet issue all over the world to assert that Tibet was, is and will always be China's, Beijing exercised censorship on their own columnist who called out the government to "allow more media freedom in covering the Tibet riots and to review its policy on Tibet" by firing a renowned Chinese columnist Zhang Ping.

I am reminded of all these angry netizens who cried foul about the news reports from CNN, BBC, and Fox News. Weren't they glad that there was actually someone, a Chinese with conscience, that they could fire? This renowned Chinese columnist Zhang Ping, I suspect, is not alone with such opinions that China should allow more media freedom and review its Tibet policy, among the Han Chinese, who mostly do not have the access like Zhang Ping's to voice such opinions.

It is ironic that those who accuse western media of being biased are doing exactly what they are denouncing: silencing the opposition by calling Zhang Ping a traitor and firing him. Those netizens' real agenda is to stop the western media from reporting the facts that they don't want the world to know. It is not the truth that the netizens care about. What frustrates the Chinese Communist Party hacks is the resistence of their propoganda, from conscientious reporters and columnists, like their very own Zhang Ping.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A renowned Chinese columnist has lost his job at a magazine over commentaries on unrest in Tibet which did not conform with the official line, a watchdog group and a source with knowledge of the dismissal said on Tuesday.

Zhang Ping, who writes under the pen name Chang Ping, was sacked as deputy chief editor of the Southern Metropolis Weekly magazine, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said.

The group said in an e-mail Zhang's departure was "because of his editorials about Tibet", including the controversial piece "How to find the truth about Lhasa?"
"We deplore this unfair removal of a well-known member of the liberal press," the statement said.

Zhang declined to comment when reached by telephone. The source, requesting anonymity, confirmed the sacking but declined to provide further details.

Violent anti-Chinese riots broke out in Tibet and Tibetan-populated areas in neighboring provinces in March, with mobs killing about 20 non-Tibetan civilians, the Chinese government says. The Tibetan government-in-exile puts the figure at more than 200, most victims of a subsequent crackdown.

The crackdown led to protests by exiled Tibetans around the world and a troubled international leg of the Olympic torch relay for the Beijing Games in August.

Zhang's articles were published mainly in his magazine's sister newspaper, the Southern Metropolis Daily, and called on the government to allow more media freedom in covering the Tibet riots and to review its policy on Tibet.

The commentaries drew an angry backlash from a large number of Internet users, who accused Zhang of being a traitor and downplaying the violence by Tibetans as well as the perceived anti-China bias of Western media.

(Reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Nick Macfie)

The Big Double Dynamic

The dust has settled on our election now. The votes are all, or mostly, counted and it looks like we can draw some conclusions beyond the obvious fact that the Maoists won a lot of seats. We can look at the dynamics of a successful grass-roots campaign, versus the inertia of the status quo as an opposing dynamic of its own. Both lead to a Maoist victory and both required each other’s presence to insure a Maoist victory.

The Maoist Dynamic

We’ve had a group that has coerced, preyed-upon, influenced and generally been seen on a day to day basis by villagers in all corners of Nepal during the last 10 years leading up to this recent election. Essentially, when one relates this 10 year siege to the state of mind of the average Nepali voter going to the polls for the first time, they have essentially survived, what rightly can be termed as the “Campaign from Hell.” Call it whatever you like, the Maoists were out in the villages for the last 10 years campaigning for eventual votes simply by their brutal presence. So, if we couple that with a populace that has no idea that voting is supposed to be a sacred, individual and private act; but instead lives in fear that a Maoist might be able to discern the voting choices of each individual, it is not hard to see how Prachanda and his goons triumphed. Even simpler, how would the Maoists retaliate towards villagers in the instance where an opposing candidate won, and wouldn’t such retaliation be on the mind of each voter as they entered the polling place? Simpler still, how does anyone win an election without a platform or set of initiatives? Go ask a Maoist. They seem to have figured it out: it seems to have a lot to do with satationing armed cadres at voting centers and beating up opposing candidates.

The Non-Dynamic Dynamic

Ego, hubris and just plain ineptitude categorized the second enabling dynamic in the Maoist’s victory. When, during the last decade, has Girija Koirala and his greedy congress given any serious attention, much less aid and governmental hope to rural citzens in Nepal? No, the government has focused, rather lazily, on maintaining its weak concensus among those in the Kathmandu valley. As evidenced by the polling numbers, the few UML and NC victories tallied came in districts either relatively close to Kathmandu or those whose “favorite son” politician came from the region. It is this ignorance of the needs of an entire country of voters that turned the populace away from Girija and the like. Would a rural voter, who may genuinely like, say, a UML candidate in his district risk voting for that candidate when there has probably been not one whimper of government attention—and more importantly—protection or even an adequate government presence to back up that vote? The Maoists have been out in the districts and the voter knows Maoists cadres can reward or make one pay for their choices on a daily basis.

A simple grasp of democracy would have told these government fools that one vote in Rukum carries the same weight as one vote in Kathmandu.

Compound this with the fact that Girija has avoided elections over the last decade, leaving voters confounded and open to manipulation due to their inexperience, and you have a government-created recipe for inaccurate voting and fraud. Crying after the deed is done about voter fraud and Maoist manipulation Mr. NC politician? Well, go cry in the mirror because you helped create this scenario through your ten years of arrogantly dismissing the electoral process.

Where does that leave us?

Maoists can’t govern. They don’t have a plan for governing. They only have an ideolgy—and a failed one at that. Prachanda is looking way past the actual significance of his victory and has his eyes on the prize of running the entire government as its Prime Minister. He and all Maoists still, unbashedly, proclaim Nepal will eventually become a Communist state. They’ll paint their shiny new car a nice Communist red and clean it every day. They’ll keep polishing this red finish and ignore the fact that the wheels are falling off. Excuse me, Mr. “Fierce One,” but can you describe your plan for national infrastructure repair and expansion over the next few years? You get my point.

This may just work in Nepal’s favor. Sometimes it takes a rat to remove a rat. Prachanda has done what no sane and rational political thinker has been able to do: Eliminate Girija’s grip on power and remove most of the festering, corrupt political minions from government. Ideally the Maoists are an interim step towards a healthy Nepal. They’ve done the dirty work. Next, when it becomes clear that the Maoists have no clear plan for governing, the will trip themselves up and be out of power. Blogdai gives them two years, at most, before they either dissolve or are forcefully removed . But, untortunately for now, we are stuck with them.

Liken it to a screaming child on a holiday road trip that cries so loudly for Mommy and Daddy to let it drive the car that they eventually give in. Naturally, having no skill, the child drives the car over a cliff and the entire world sees that this child has no business being anywhere near and automobile. Same thing will happen if Prachanda gets behind the wheel at Singha Durbar. With a child driving, foreign aid will be drastically curtailed (even now the Asian Development Bank is delaying their $60 million aid package until this new government proves itself), and big governments will seek to change the situation. Even India is nervous. Unless he builds a concensus and allows for dissenting, non-communist, ideas and planning Prachanda’s government will collapse in short order.

Add that to the fact that the Young Communist League thugs are becoming bolder with this victory, infuriating villagers to the breaking point, and you have all the ingredients for a popular revolution.

Only this time it will be a REAL Jana Andolan.

-=blogdai

Blogdai Interviews Kadfly

Who is Kadfly you ask? None but a single young traveler who happened to be in Lhasa when the uprising began. Kadfly's photos were the first and most definitive account of events on the ground during that turbulent time. His reporting of the situation in Lhasa on his blog trumped any official Chinese attempts to stifle coverage. He's been hailed as brave, threatened, applauded and cursed simply for being willing to give as unbiased account of the Lhasa riots as he could. He speaks directly to blogdai below. -=BD

(Above)Police at the Lhasa riots. Photo by Kadfly, NOT the BBC, NOT Reuters, NOT CNN, and NOT The New York Times

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Hi Blogdai,

I forwarded your questions to my kadfly e-mail to verify my identity since I post about this e-mail address in this post (along with why I no longer have access to the photos on my SD card). It is also for my own purposes as I would like all blog-related correspondence to now go to this address. (Kadfly@gmail.com) If you need me to make a post or something on the blog to further verify my identity just let me know.

I will try my best to answer your questions below:

(blogdai questions in bold)Much has been made of the Riots in Lhasa. Both the Tibetan and Chinese versions differ significantly. What, from your first-hand observations, started the whole thing and what seemed to be the greatest instigating factor?

It seems the protests by the monks in the days leading up to the 14th led to a response by the Chinese and this response in turn led directly to the riots. The whole thing on the 14th really seemed to kick off with the blockading of the Ramoche Monastery: this seemed to infuriate ordinary Tibetans and the riot began minutes after the Chinese police were dropped off on Beijing Donglu to close the alley leading to the Temple.

Which media side seems to be the worst at fairly representing events as you witnessed them?

I haven't been that exposed to what the Chinese media is reporting, to be honest. But the photo cropping allegations (CNN and the trucks being stoned) and the use of pictures of police brutality from Nepal to illustrate stories about what was happening in Tibet does make me believe the Western media has not tried particularly hard to fairly represent the event. But as I said, I'm not aware of what the Chinese is doing so I cannot really compare the two. That said, I do hold the Western media to a higher standard than their Chinese counterparts, for obvious reasons :P.

Your photos have been picked up (uncredited) by the BBC, CNN and the front page of the New York Times. Some media renderings show only partial aspects of your photos which may imply a meaning that differed from the original photo. What is your opinion/experience with the Western media's use of your material and coverage of the events in Lhasa?

My main concern is how the Western media decided to completely ignore the violence of the protesters and concentrate on the resulting crackdown, which I actually had not witnessed. They used the police shields photo as a sign of Chinese strength, for example, without pointing out that seconds after the photo was taken the Chinese police actually fled for their lives.

As you may have observed, the Olympic torch relay has become a public relations disaster for the Beijing and International Olymice committees. Your coverage of events in Lhasa differed from the official Chinese version of events and may have been a significant catalyst in the torch demonstrations we see worldwide today. Did you ever have a sense of the importance your live coverage of the riots would carry in terms of world events today?

No, and I still don't think it has been very important, to be honest. I think all of this would have happened with or without our photos. Tibetans know this year is their chance to really force the issue.

There are many theories that ethnic Hans were just trying to work and make a living in Lhasa and that the real obstinance resided in the PCC and Chinese administration in Tibet. Do you think such a two-tiered Chinese presence exists in Lhasa?

I really don't think I am familiar enough with Lhasa or Tibet more generally to comment on this. But I think it is plausible: I met an ethnic Han person from Singapore who ran a coffee shop in Lhasa, for example, who I sincerely doubt is trying in any way to crush Tibetan independence. Similarly, I met an ethnic Han person from Hong Kong who was looking to start his own company in Lhasa who would regularly laugh at the official Chinese coverage of the riots.

Internet access was heavily scrutinized during the riots and the Chinese government has threatened to block all connections during the olympics. Did you feel watched or scrutinized during the times you posted to your blog from Lhasa?

At the Yak Hotel we first uploaded photos via the public internet room. A man (I think one of the managers of the hotel) came into this room mid-afternoon, yelled at the girls who worked there for letting us use the computers, and went to each computer and turned them off without saying a single word to any of us. But for some reason (they probably just forgot) they left private internet connections within rooms open so once we had a laptop we were again free to upload photos. As time went on I often felt like people might be listening to my cell phone or reading my blog postings and e-mails but I think this was paranoia more than anything. The internet police were definitely not trying very hard to shut down either internet connections or the cell phone network.

Tibet is scheduled to reopen May 1 to tourists. What will they find in Lhasa?

Some ruins, troops/police still in the streets but life as usual other than that is my guess. This has basically been the situation since March 18th, from what I hear.

Your blog received hundreds of postings during your stay in Lhasa. Many posters were angry pro-government supporters. Have you received any further or secondary contact from Chinese officials or supporters since your departure from Tibet?

No. All contact with those who read my blog who I do not know personally has been limited to the comments section with the exception of you and a few journalists.

Did you receive any other significant contacts, invitations or acknowledgements from your coverage?

Only from you :P. I will be receiving some portion of $2800 US from Reuters (a portion is going to our journalist contact who brought my blog to the attention of the major news agencies and negotiated on our behalf) which I will be donating and I have been interviewed by some media outlets.

How was the border crossing into Nepal? We understand security was stepped up significantly, is this true?

No, actually. Security may have been beefed up before the 20th or after (the day we arrived in Zhangmu) but crossing that particular day was extremely easy (and there were no extra officers than was necessary). Everyone in our group was hiding their memory cards and the such but it was completely unnecessary. The Chinese customs people appeared bored if anything and didn't even ask if we had come from Lhasa. It couldn't have been any more ordinary except for the journalists on the Nepalese side.

The world seemed quite taken by your coverage. Perhaps it was because you came off as a concerned traveler who was just caught up in the moment. Do you have any plans to re-visit Tibet? What, if anything, can you tell us about your immediate furture plans?

Yes, I would love to revisit Tibet. I don't have any plans at the moment but I know I will return. I will be finishing my trip in India and flying home at the end of the month.

Good, bad, indifferent or otherwise, is there anything you would like to add?

Not at the moment, but feel free to ask more if you need to.

Hope this helps,

Kadfly

Blogdai's Endorsement for Prime Minister

Well we did it. We actually held a kind of, sort of, election. All in all, it was a brave effort. Hats off to the average, and especially rural, citizen for braving all manner of obstruction and intimidation to cast a vote.

(Above) Bhoj Raj Pokherel, Election Commission guru smiles

while man on left tries to figure out Nepali ballot

system.

Girija tried to avoid elections and was successful for 10 years, Ian Martin tried to bungle the security, the YCL tried to kill them, Madhav Kumar Nepal tried to cheat them, but in the end, elections were held; and one man, kept his cool and pulled off what was thought to be impossible: Any kind of National initiative.

Who was this man that, for at least one day got all Nepali's to think about their country all at once? It was blogdai's nominee for the next Prime Minister of Nepal:

Bhoj Raj Pokherel

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Pokherel has suffered long with this election process. blogdai remembers last September when our man pleaded with Girija for the proper materials, training and funding to pull off the scheduled November election. He chastened the political parties for their ineptness and disregard for the preparations necessary. Alas, those elections never happened, but Pokherel held his head high.

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This time around, thanks to international pressure, Pokherel had all the endorsements he needed. Still, it was a daunting task. Prepare all precints for voting, print the necessary papers, establish voting and campaigning guidelines, and provide for the security of voters. As far as we know, he did it all.

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When was the last time (ever?) that we witness a Nepali politician actually get his hands dirty and solve a problem on a national level?

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On the other hand....

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----60 precincts are petitioning for a revote for various claims of unfairness and more will follow.

----Attacks and widespread intimidation were reported at many precincts.

----Strong Maoist showings are already being contested by the major parties.

He did his job successfully: a rarity in Nepali politics, and for that, he should be congratulated.

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Election Hangover

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It looks like the Maoists won 11 of 21 Constituent Assembly (CA) seats. Considering that they've claimed outright that they will keep going until a Communist state is established, we should all fear that this Maoist victory will embolden Maoist politicians to be bullies in parliament; and, worse, embolden YCL thugs in the countryside.

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The Nepali Constitution does not specify the exact power exchange or balance between parliament and the Constituent assembly. Look for seasoned politician to manipulate the CA agenda. We've already heard Girija say that the first duty of the CA is to vote the monarchy out. WHOA! Look who's setting the CA agenda and the result already?

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Beware of the follow up. International observers are cooing over the success of the polls. They'll all go home and get job promotions, fine. But, the devil is in the details. Re-votes and disputed counts will keep us busy for months. Plus, who will insure that the CA does not succumb to the same cronyism and corruption that has infected parliament. And, biggest of all, what will insure that there will be regular periodic elections after this one? Everyone knows the government was pressured into holding these elections. Will the world community be around to pressure them in the future?

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Prime Minister Pokherel would solve these problems in a heartbeat, I betcha.

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-=blogdai

Another Slap in China's Face

Japan says no to Chinese torch guards

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will not allow the squad of Chinese flame guards to intervene with the Beijing Olympic torch's progress when it arrives in a Japanese city this month, the national police head was quoted as saying on Friday.

"We should not violate the principle that the Japanese police will firmly maintain security," Kyodo news agency quoted Shinya Izumi, head of the National Public Safety Commission, as saying.

...

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said Australia, not China, would be the one to provide security for the flame when it comes to his country. (More...)

This unprecedented "flame protection squad" consisting of some 70 members of China's People's Armed Police, is described as "a phalanx of large and physically fit Chinese men in blue-and-white track suits...trotting besides the torch along its ambitious global torch route and turned off the flame several times in Paris earlier this week".

So this is the way China answers to the global protests toward its poor human rights record and its violent crackdown on Tibet. Money has been poured into this Chinese Olympic propaganda but the world is not fooled. Japan and Australia have stood up to China's ridiculous scheme of "flame protection squad". This is the start of a global movement in accord against China's violation of human rights: the violent crackdown on Tibet, the brutal persecution of Fa lung Gong members, and the bloody slaughter of students on the Tienanmen Square. China government has blood all over their hands and the world is demanding China to stop!

Bravery and Elegance

"So well planned. So well thought out." - CBS News

"A stunningly bold protest for the world to see." - CBS News

"Tremendous amount of skill. Obviously it's a dangerous operation." - Golden Gate Bridge Manager

"Oh, this is unbelievable! I just can't believe this!" - Tourist from Indiana

"We are in solidarity with the Tibetan people." - Laurel Sutherlin, one of the three heroes

Thank you, Laurel Sutherlin, Duane Martinez, and Hannah Strange. We are with you. We are with the Tibetan people. China is at odds with the rest of the world for its oppression of the peaceful Tibetan people for nearly 60 years. Time to come clean, China!

Click picture to see the CBS video

Salute Protester Heroes

(Click the above to see the 2 CNN videos back to back. Awesome!)

(Video: Work destroyed. Heroes arrested. The message is out!)

Thank you! Golden Gate Bridge Three Heroes! You have brought the attention to the entire world!

The heart-wrenching daily reports on Tibetans' risking their lives to have their voice heard.

The condemnation from all over the world on China's crackdown on Tibet.

The dilemma why the Chinese People's Liberation Army has used weapons on the peaceful Tibetans since 1950.

The ardent protests against China's crackdown on Tibet in every major city in the world.

The Chinese Communist Party's hacks rear their ugly heads and flood blogs with half-truth and outright lies.

But the truth can not be silenced.

The Western world continues trying, in all earnest, to show China that human rights need to be respected and Tibetans are entitled to their opinions. Passionate bloggers all over the world rigorously debate with the CCP hacks and only find that they are not sincere, not logical, and they do not hesitate resorting to name calling.

These are the typical hacks' rhetorics:
-Tibet was, is and always will be China's.
-Why is US invading Iraq?
-Tibet is China's internal affair, mind your own business at home.
-How about the US Civil war? You didn't allow division, did you?
-How about US invaded American Indians?
-Tibetans are well treated with financial and educational opportunity better than the Han Chinese.
-Tibetans are taking vacations on the beach.
-Tibetans steal.

Conclusion of their excuses: How dare the Tibetans! How dare the Western world! How dare anyone think differently from the China stinky oligarchy!

It comes down to this moment of the heroes climbing on the Golden Gate Bridge to raise banners drawing attention to China's crackdown on Tibet.

My tears of awe, respect, joy and admiration burst out for these heroes. Thank you heroes for risking your lives to carry out such a beautiful, well-planned action. From the design of the banner sizes and materials, the calculation of the wind speed, the physical training of climbing on the Golden Bridge Cables, the timing, and the well-articulated interview you gave to the reporter. You have done such a wonderful job. Your brave action goes down in history as credit for the eventual Tibetan freedom. You will be forever celebrated as the Golden Gate Bridge Three. You shocked China. You awed the world. Thank you. You are beautiful.

About the Golden Gate Bridge Three heroes:
"The three who ascended the cables are all experienced mountain climbers."
"Ginger Cassady, spokeswoman for the group, identified the climbers as Duane Martinez and Laurel Sutherlin, both men of Sausalito, and Hannah Strange, from Oakland. She said the protest, which began about 10 a.m., was timed so it didn't disrupt the morning commute."

Blogdai's Big Election Primer

I'm beginning to think the Maoists and Party politicos agreed to hold Constituent Assembly (CA) elections simply because--in the back of all their minds--they feel confident they can manipulate voters, polling places and results to their individual liking.

Well, after almost 10 years of dodging the issue, it looks like our boys in Parliament may just hold their Constituent Assembly (CA) election.

One wonders why now and why it took so long. blogdai opines that the disappearance of any form of National election over the last decade in a supposedly democratic Nepal was the result of too much citizen apathy, which gave Girija and his goons a free ride on the table of corruption. We didn't really care and the politicians were not about to offer any encouragement. So what if voting in a free election is the single most important duty of any citizen in a democracy.

Surprisingly, the international community and all its minions finally got something right. The reason Girija is holding elections is that everyone from Mukherjee to Jimmy Carter is telling him that he and his government are worthless if they don't pull this off. So, after years of pressure finally coming to a head, we may, just may get CA elections.

But that's where the trouble starts.....

---Madhav Khumar Nepal and his cronies are already manipulating the process in some districts by offering (unspecified) benefits to those who vote UML.

---Never to be outdone, Prachanda and his thug wing: The Young Communist League (YCL) are beating up UML cadres and disrupting legitimate political rallies. Prachanda himself says that he will be the leader of Nepal regardless of the outcome of the election. Great.

---Ian Martin, always eager to prove his relevance, maddeningly says that the security situation is good and that the Army, the one group capable of keeping order at the polls, is not necessary for security. Ian will not be able to pathetically beg for his job like he did a few months ago if he is found to be responsible for the almost inevitable security problems that will arise during this election.

--- Madhesis--ever in India's pocket--have already started their new disruptive agitation. They seem to be losing passion and steam this round: New Delhi must be very disappointed.

Post Election Scenarios

blogdai can almost guarantee that these elections will be disputed. Everyone that doesn't win something will bitch about it. That's Nepal. That's what happens when you don't know about the give and take of democracy. That's what happens when the only way you know to get social results is to take to the streets in protest: Thanks yet again, Girija Babu.

And take to the streets they will. First, Prachanda will rally, riot or whatever claiming he and his goons rightfully won the day. Then, student cadres of the NC and UML will take to the streets claiming YCL thugs intimidated voters and the whole election is a fraud. Finally, let's not forget that the Tibetans have promised to start their anti-China agitations up again the day after elections. A nasty time, that, as the Olympic torch will be passing through Delhi and supposedly crossing everest a few weeks after.

Can we even be assured of any kind of accuracy in these elections? In Kathmandu, mock elections were held in woefully inadequate numbers; and what did we learn from such exercises? We learned that a majority of those wishing to cast their first ballot in years were not able to comprehend either the choices or the mechanics of casting a vote. How representative of the will of the people this election will be!

This leaves cadres, politicos and party operatives to cast or help cast votes. With only a token presence of election monitors from the world community (do you think any one of them will observe a polling site in Rolpa?) there is nothing that will substantively check widespread voter coercion and electoral fraud.

Messy old democracy getting it's wings? Don't fool yourself, we're far from that.

-=blogdai

Internal Affairs

Nepali police defending Chinese sovereignty in Nepal.

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Take a good look citizens of Nepal. You don't have to look far, it's right in your backyard.

Watch the Tibetans.

There's violence in the streets of Kathmandu. Fifty years of repression and unequal treatment has come to a head and more violence will be on the way.

There is no sinister Maoist force holding a gun to the heads of these people; no trumped-up sense of revolution being brokered by career politicians trying to save their wealth.

No, these are real people who have had enough.

What blogdai wants you to see is how people unite under adversity and begin to take charge of their own lives and futures.

Go ahead, take a good look.

Many Tibetans in Nepal have become quite wealthy. They are often astute and cunning traders and can generally run circles around their Nepali competitors in the restaurant and small hotel industry. The just WANT it more than the rest of us.

But there you see them, rich and poor, taking to the streets in protest of China's infantile and punitive policies that fail to recognize either Tibetan culture or Tibetan identity. They have much to lose as Nepal, for the most part, has been good to them.

When we see the anguished faces of those Tibetans, it is clear that they are each at a stage where personal heartache and a relentless lack of humanity become such a burden that one is compelled to act, even at great risk, above and beyond the preservation and maintenance of daily personal needs.

It is a desperate plea for self-determination. It is the real road towards autonomy and ultimately democracy.

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If we in Nepal had a government that actually understood the nature of democracy, we would support these Tibetans in their struggle.

But what have we instead? During the demonstrations, Chinese representatives had a complete free-hand in imposing their will on our hapless and totally-for-sale politicians. They threatened to cut off the Chinese bribe machine. They made our democratic politicians swear that there would be no "anti-Chinese" activity on Nepali soil. Our government, through its weakness, is standing aside and allowing a repressive regime to run its affairs in our country. How courageous! How democratic!

Excuse me? Isn't Nepal still a sovereign nation? Am I to understand that we are now supposed to repress free speech spoken against another nation on our soil? So now, whenever a stupid Indian actress says anything bad about Nepal and we riot in the streets are we guilty of "anti-Indian" activities? I get it. I can come to Nepal from any country in the world and totally trash the political and cultural fabric of the nation and it's ok as long as I don't say anything bad about my own country in the process. Fun!

I guess Nepali democracy involves just sitting around until another country tells you what to do.

-=blogdai

(If you are interested in helping Nepal's Tibetan community and can devote on-the-ground time towards their assistance, contact blogdai at blogdai@nepalimail.com)

Madesis: A Larger Issue

Madhesi woman looking towards India for instructions on what to do next.

When the April elections do not occur, Girija will blame the Madhesi conflict. Consider Sher Bahadur Deuba in the past. He blames Maoists, students, royalists and just about everyone but SPA everytime the government bungles an election attempt. Take his utterances as a barometer of parliamentary philosophy: you can always point the finger at some other group to cover for your incompetence.

One Madhes? What does it mean really? Do the Madhesis think they can go it alone as an autonomous region? There is NO group in Nepal that would take such a stand simply because a government is not funtioning--Nepalis just generally don't care enough about government to jeopardize their daily lives by proclaiming independence and issuing demands.

What can it mean then? blogdai thinks the Madhesis have some powerful friends as motivators. Never one to dismiss a conspiracy, blogdai has noticed an upswing in Madhesi agitation and demands since Constituency Elections started to be taken (relatively) seriously by the government.

Hmmm. blogdai smells a rat. Let's digress, shall we? Constituent Assembly elections, if they are successful, are a sure path towards greater national unity and independent government thought. Hmmm again. Who, as we've mentioned many times in the past, would cringe at the thought of an independent-thinking Nepal? Who would much rather see an unstable Nepal and who has the ability to instigate instability through indirect support of the Madhesi movement?

That's right, children, India!

The bottom line is: the Madhesi movement has probably received some big promises from big brother in New Delhi. No tribal or ethnic group in Nepal would be this bold otherwise.

India's former tool of the trade: The Maoists are now untouchables on the world stage and Prachanda has shot his babbling mouth off one too many times against the Indian government; so now, blogdai believes, Delhi is chipping away at our southern border through the agitating Madhesis. Their demands are impossible and one can only see a desire for confusion and chaos in their dealings with the government. If you are seeking a representative voice, why ask for postponement of an election process that would give you that voice?

From nepalnews.com:

It is learnt that though the government and the UDMF were close to striking a deal today morning following discussions that started from yesterday at 9 pm and went till the wee hours of the morning, it couldn’t happen because the latter started shifting the goalpost from greater autonomy by declaring entire Madhesh as “one state” to further amendments in the interim constitution and postponing the election in a way that they would be able to take part in it.

If the Madhesis were serious about National unity and fixing not only their own problems, but those of Nepal as a whole, they wouldn't be striking out in their own Quixotic direction. If they don't want to be a part of Nepal, what do they want to be a part of?

Think it over

-=blogdai

The Big Column

Lots of backed-up stuff here at blogdai. Our security system check -n- purge is complete. Now, back to the fun stuff. Trouble is, we've got so much of it, we don't know where to begin. So, after much debate among our writing staff, we'll just sum up the ideas. -=bd

Boyz in the Hood

Home boys clock-wise from left: Baby "Notice -Me-Makune"; Jess stoopid Dr. P Maoibadi; Baby Babbling Mao; Stale Prince "Do Nuffin" Girija; Massa "G" Hisself; CE (cancel elections) Deuba G.

*

Tired of all of them. blogdai is sick of these thugs running their mouths off in the wrong direction. Deuba doubts everything and quits at the first sign of anxiety; Makune spills the beans on every plan with his impecably bad political timing; The bozo Mao-brothers throw wrenches into every positive development; even King G. can't seem to run his own coup.

Sweep em' away. Any Nepali, repeat ANY Nepali could do a better job governing the country.

Girija Shows His Hand

Yes, Jana Andolan was designed to "restore democracy" to Nepal. What a laughable farce. A few years down the road and what does the old man want to do before he keels over dead? Discretely pass the Prime Ministership over, without an election or public input, to party gal and daughter Sujata. (We predicted it here 2 years ago!) Anyway, long live the spirit of Jana Andolan: where the people's voices are heard by not listening to them at all!

Watch the old man finally give up his long career in crooked politics shortly. He's done. Nona Koirala, the only brain and advisor in the family, is dead and ol' babu just doesn't give a shit anymore. Let's hope he gets out quickly, before he can do any more damage.

Sujata Days

Fashion memo to Sujata: Never allow yourself to be photographed with a hangover.

Her time has come all right. blogdai hated to be right with this prediction but it looks like Sujata Koirala will inherit the Prime Ministership.

blogdai knew it was in the works a few months ago when Suji went on her comical "book promotion" tour of India. She was apparently hawking a Girija biography, but blogdai knows she was making the political rounds in Delhi and shoring up her support and connections.

Pathetic. Apparently there was no real interest in a Girija biography in India. blogdai can only surmise at the possible titles for such a tome:

-Girija Koirala: "A life in the Cookie Jar."

-Koirala: "I am not my brother's (legacy) keeper."

-Girija Koirala: "I made millions in politics and so can you!"

-"Making Autocracy look Democratic:" The Girija Koirala story.

and so on...

Super Maoist and Babu Boy

Little Babu continues to rant. Calling Sujata's rise a prelude to a "democratic coup," whatever that means. No matter, Babu Ram just loves to hear himself talk, it makes him feel smart. Forget the fact that he makes absolutely NO sense. Sense or sanity has never been a prerequisite for Maoist leadership.

And Dear Leader Prachanda. Now he's threatening (again) to re-start his full scale revolution if CA elections are "manipulated." We've seen this pattern before. If he can't coerce the results because the RNA is guarding the polls, he'll claim manipulation. So what. let him go.

If the Maoists had any kind of large scale ability they would have made their move on government by now. Their voice is becoming more marginalzed by the day and Nepali's are sick and tired of the YCL. Stick a fork in him, he's done.

-=blogdai

News Flash

BANESHWOR: A much anticipated strike against spiking petroleum prices fizzled today after just a few moments as protesters ran out of fuel to light incendiary devices and old tires.

It seems that none of the protesters in the crowd could afford enough petroleum to keep the whole mess ablaze.

It was reported that much confusion and, eventually, silence ensued as the mob pondered what to do next.

Deep thought continued until, at last, the protesters settled on an old favorite and began again; STOP THE KING'S REGRESSION AND RESTORE PARLIAMENT IMMEDIATELY, was the new chant as the happy, renewed scrum made its way through the streets.

-=blogdai

Dumb, Dangerous and Determined

Who's the bigger fool? Prachanda and his strict adherence to a failed ideology or we Nepalis who allow him all the room and permission he needs to take over the country?

Prachanda sees CA elections as an impending Maoist "final victory" and is training his cadres, for whatever misguided reason, for the elections. blogdai's guess, and this is what we've been saying since 2003, is that the only reason Maoists even CARE about a CA election is because they feel they can influence the result in remote areas and gain a majority by coercion.

I also don't understand why no one has really picked-up on blogdai's almost constant assertions that the Maoists never intended to work with a democratic government. They only use Koirala and his moronic apes as a learning device for a probable Communist takeover. Prachanda is playing out the old axiom of "keep your friends close, your enemies closer" to a tee.

So evident is this that the biggest election saboteur of all, Sher Bahadur Deuba, now says that if a good and credible election is not held, Nepal is in for a world of hurt under Maoist/Communist leadership. blogdai agrees, although Deuba is largely responsible for the lack of elections and needs to be slapped silly and put out of government immediately.

In a perfect world, blogdai would have Prachanda and the Maoists destroyed: violently and permanently. However, in the UN world of which Nepal is a part and people like Ian Martin have influence, appeasement and accommodation rule the day. So, under such a scenario, the only way to save Nepal from certain, repressive, Communist rule would be:

SEND INTERNATIONAL MONITORS INTO NEPAL FOR CONSTITUENCY ELECTIONS IMMEDIATELY. GIVE THEM POWER TO NULLIFY ANY VOTING RESULTS THAT APPEAR COERCED. BAN MAOIST PRESENCE AND INFLUENCE FROM ALL POLLING STATIONS.

You hear that Ian the Meek? Do something useful for once and save a country, will you?


-=blogdai

The Summit of Class

Sad day here at the offices of blogdai.

Sir Edmund Hillary, first to ascend Everest with His lifelong friend Tenzing Norgay, died today.

I think it was his time.

The last I saw of Sir Ed, he was in Kathmandu making an appearance at the Marshyangdi Hotel. He looked frail and moved slow; but his love for Nepal and the Sherpa people was always evident.

He was class. He was a pioneer. Yes, perhaps the whole "Everest experience" was becoming too cheepened for him--he spent his last years lamenting the commercialization of the ascent, the ridiculous tricks and stunts performed from its summit, and the increasing disregard for the environment and people of the Khumbu by money-engorged adventure tourists bent on nothing more than having the best story to tell at the first cocktail party they find on their return home.

Imagine what the ascent must have been like in his time. Good, credible experts were dead certain that the human body would "explode" at altitudes above 20,000 feet. Mallory had mysteriously failed from the North. There was no sophisticated gear and only an unreliable, primitive oxygen delivery system that, we understand, Sir Ed shunned until it was absolutely necessary. Standing on top, in typical Kiwi modesty and understatement, he looked at Norgay and calmly said: "It looks like we've knocked the bastard off." (Or thereabouts)

Contrast that with today where we have, what amounts to, spoiled brats with latte's and internet connections all the way from Gorak Shep to base camp. Don't get blogdai wrong here, you can still die on Everest and it's a very dangerous mountain sure, but it's power is diminished when you have a stud Sherpa hauling your ass up the Hillary Step on the back of a short rope.

I understand from the climbing community that Everest ascents are becoming a bit of a Tiffany joke. Throw enough money at the expedition and you get your summit. blogdai has no respect for such disrespect of culture and nature. Idiots with money and their Gore-Tex boldly going where every rich man has now gone before.

blogdai friend, two time summiteer of Everest, and a Kiwi, Jamie McGuinness shares Sir Ed's anguish over what has become a cheap carnival on Everest. In the space of one year, Jamie supervised an Indian girl as far as possible up Everest so she wouldn't lose face in her petty little village; and photographed the French touching down, illegally, via hellicopter, on Everest's summit.

Forget these idiots, and I'm sorry for dwelling so long on them. Let's look at the positive. Let's celebrate the life of a real explorer and a real human. Sir Ed never once waivered from his commitment and support of Nepal.

Hillary schools are a beacon of efficiency and offer one of the highest standards of mass education in Nepal. The Sherpa people--most people in the Khumbu--are among the most prosperous in Nepal due to the efforts of Sir Ed's Himalayan Trust. Whenever you are in Kathmandu, give a visit to their offices in Dilli Bazaar. Stop in, say hi to Ang Rita Sherpa, if he's there, and leave a donation. The money will not be wasted. If you can't do that, look up or mail a donation, on Sir Ed's behalf to:

Himalayan Trust

P.O. Box 224

Kathmandu, Nepal

email: himalaya@trust.mos.com.np

Rest in peace Edmond Hillary. You were and are one of a kind.

-=blogdai

Blogdai's 3rd Anniversary

Well we've made it through yet another year. Funny, but if you see, scan and analyze events in Nepal as much as blogdai, you would know that events begin to show a pattern of repetitive predictability. Some of the most predictable are:

--Girija or someone in government promising some event will happen "soon" or "in a few days," which blogdai always interperets to mean: "no way in hell will this ever be accomplished."

--Some screaming little boy YCL cadre will kill or beat up some politico out in the field and Prachanda will assure everyone that "they will be disciplined." blogdai interperets this to mean: "As long as they beat people up, we will be taken seriously, so no change in that regard, thanks for the publicity."

--"High Level" or "All Party" meetings will either end without addressing one single issue or not be held in the first place.

--Prachanda will threaten to "return to the streets" if government doesn't act on some Maoist friendly issue. When they finally do act, Prachanda throws obstacles in the way.

--If anything is ever agreed upon in any "meeting" it inevitably takes the form of either Royal ridicule and censure; or the enactment of reams of meaningless clauses designed simply to insure the future stalemates that perpetuate this government's culture of ineptitude.

--Hours will be spent haggling over Nepal's status as a Republic without anyone being able to adequately define the concept.

SO, ol' blogdai is feeling wistfully wishful on this our 3rd anniversay. I wish we had a clean canvass on which a new political landscape might be conceived. To this end, blogdai's fancy drifts towards a simplification, and end to this mess.

Let's all make big wishes and blow out the candles on blogdai's cake: candles that have been burning for far too long:

Candle #1: Ian Martin: Gave relevance to a rabble of a Maoist movement simply by recognizing them as a legitimate group. As the voice of the UN in Nepal, this boosted Prachanda's stature exponentially. Clinging to his hopeless cantonment policy. (Are there any Maoists still living in these?) Complete lack of knowledge and preparation showed during his ridiculous attempt to "count" Maoists and their weapons. You can't do anything on such a wide national level given Nepal's geography, Ian. Much less count on "good faith" from a bunch of murderous disparate gangs. Amazingly pathetic round of begging to keep his job in Nepal last month. Ian visited Girija, Makhune, even Prachanda in an attempt to plead for more time for his UNMIN. He got it, but his time is about up here on blogdai. So, Ian, we officially BLOW YOU OUT........

Candle #2: Girija Prassad Koirala. We've said it all here about the obfuscating old man. What occurs now to blogdai is the tragic loss of Nepal's potential in the world during the last 10 years under Girija. He chooses to be an imperious rock and obstacle to change. Think of the innovation, progress and growth that more than probably would have blessed Nepal had virtually anyone else been at the helm of government. He's as autocratic as any dictator. He won't hold elections, he won't tolerate dissent and he only appoints family members and cronies to political positions. No use giving him a crown, he'd just sell it off to the highest bidder in India like he has with everything else he's touched. Well now, you old reprobate fossil, we here at blogdai officially BLOW YOU OUT.....

Candle #3: Prachanda, head of Nepal's Maoist rabble. Has never once offered either a compromising position or the hope that he would want anything less than absolute communist domination of Nepal since he joined the interim government. Always threatens and always speaks in moronic hyperbole. Relations improving with the U.S. he says? What were you smoking, Fierce One? Said ambassador Nancy Powell. He's a fool and a thug and his time has passed. So, Dumb One, you are now officially BLOWN OUT.....

Ah, that felt good. blogdai, ever the optimist, still clings to the notion that wishes do come true.

-=blogdai

Turning the "Table"

Ok, blogdai has to get this off the brain once and for all. I don't know how long, politicians, pundits and media people have been using the political term to "table" in the exact opposite meaning from which the term was derived. Stop it already. It makes us all look like third-world goons. Just this week Mercantile published:

The government has tabled a motion in the parliament seeking amendment in the interim constitution to incorporate a new timeline for constituent assembly polls.

Look, by definition, to "table" a motion means to cease discussion and end further debate on an issue.

In Nepal, we seem to think it means something like dropping an idea on the table like a plate of dhal bhat so that we can adopt it.

If you want to be treated like a legitimate media or political entity in a democracy, get your terms right.

Well, that was a relief to finally get all my cards on the table. I hearby table this discussion.

-=blogdai

"Decisive" meeting this Friday?

Don't count on it. Our bungling boys of bereft babbling plan on a "decisive" meeting in Baluwater to resolve a year's worth of compound ineptness. ENOUGH already. Not only will nothing be accomplished, there most probably will not even be agreement on the topics of discussion.

This is the easiest prediction blogdai has ever made: Tomorrow's meeting will

END INCONCLUSIVELY for the average citizen desperate for leadership.

Nothing of any significance or relevance in rebuilding Nepal or caring for its people will be on the agenda. Looking at the tentative list of topics, one sees selfish, greedy and completely out of touch political posturing. It's like fighting over the deck chairs on the Titanic. Among the worthless issues for which only these clueless baboons would care if there were "decisive" action are:

1. Adding additional constituent assembly "seats" in order to accommodate proportional representation. Meaningless since elections will be postponed as long as Girija and the NC run the show. Plus, the Little Elf, Madhav Khumar Nepal has already made it his most recent shout for relevance that proportional representation would divide the country into ethnic factions. Maybe to you, Elf, but did you ever think that real, elected proportional representation might just give the Madhesis and other groups legitimate faith in the electoral system and a renewed willingness to play by the rules? Probably not, since you can't see beyond the politics of greed and self-interest.

2. Maoists demanding more important seats in congress plus a bunch of high-profile portfolios like Home, Finance and Defence along with a Deputy Prime Ministership. Basically, they are asking for the entire government of Nepal. It'll never happen. Watch Prachanda walk out and threaten a new agitation. How long are we going to nurse-maid these terrorist bums? They are a cancer to Nepal and bent on nothing short of complete communist, ideologically uncompromising rule. Thank Ian Martin for keeping them relevant this long. Wipe them out says blogdai; do it now.

3. Merger of the NA and the Maoists PLA. Laughably pathetic. Do you think the army just concluded its arms-shopping visit to India so that they could supply their future Maoist "comrades in arms" with some shiny new guns? Not a chance. That meeting in Delhi was tellling. The NA is pissed, fed-up and seeking more arms to kick some Maoist ass. Hey, we're all tired of this charade. Lock and load fellas.

blogdai is impressed with either the political stamina or outright apathy of the average Nepali, I can't tell which. How long are we going to let this continue? New leaders are everywhere. Do you need a revolution road map or something?

Get to work and get rid of these bums now. If you don't you have no right pretending to be a sovereign nation.

-=blogdai

Nepal Blogs: What's the Point?

The point is, information and ideas are spread where none had been spread before.

We see echos of our thoughts in the words of Nepal's journalists and politicians. The simple fact that there exists a body of Nepal bloggers out there gives support to all with like minded opinions and provides good argument towards those who consistently miss the point. (Do you hear me, main stream media?) AP, UPI, Reuters, Bloomberg and virtually all other relevant wire services research and check their stories by accessing related blogs.

Every thought, every word, every argument a Nepal blog puts out can be picked up by anyone in the world curious enough to Google: "Nepal blog."

Don't discount one word of what we do here at blogdai and at other sites. WE DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Over the past 2 years, blogdai's columns and comments have drawn personal e-mails from the U.S. embassy in Nepal, the Nepal Royal Palace (through I.P. back search), the U.S. State Department, the BBC, The Economist, those phony idiots at the International Crisis Group, The World Bank, the Gates Foundation, and a few cryptic messages from individuals claiming to be from various levels of Nepal's Maoist heirarchy.

blogdai (and blogdai's friendly rival: Dinesh Wagle) account for roughly 30% of all web-search traffic hits seeking Nepali chat, politics and current events. (blogrankings.com; Technorati; blogshares compiled data with a few others).

Nepal blogs are playing a large role in opening up discourse, freeing the Nepali mind to openly criticize, and introducing, if not educating Nepalis to world opinion about their country and its political status.

This is particularly important in Nepal where politicians, Kings and Maoists had, for years, relied on an insular cloak of national isolation to enact and realize policies and practices that were contrary to acceptable world norms and human rights standards.

If it were not for the issues addressed here at blogdai, I am sure some individuals in Nepal's political arena would feel hard pressed to break what would be perceived as new ideological ground. We open doors here. We introduce and discuss ideas. Politicians (trust me) read blogdai and our arguments help to inform their opinions. Outside of direct political intervention, what more could the average blog reader and poster do that could be of more value?

So, hold your head high, regulars, anons and general posters. Your words are read by more people than you realize.

Keep it comming and keep it relevant.

-=blogdai

They Don't Know How to Govern, Period.

They don't know how to lead, and they don't want to be put under pressure. They just want to return to the days when all they had to do was sit in their chairs and pretend to be important.

Their country is burning and they can't even sit down and discuss issuse that will determine their own political fates.

They have no idea what they are doing and never have.

In times of political crises like we see in Nepal today, real leaders sit down, lock the doors, and find a compromised solution to save their country. They do no take "recess" and they do not give up after one hour of mindless chit chat.

Yet another meeting has ended "inconclusively" today:

Top level meeting ends inconclusively

A top level meeting of the seven parties held at Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar Monday morning ended without taking any concrete decision.
During the meeting that ended within an hour the top leaders discussed about announcing a fresh date for constituent assembly election and implementing the proposals passed by the special session of the interim parliament, among others issues.
Although the meeting was expected to make headway in building some kind of political compromise, the Nepali Congress and the Maoists stuck to their respective positions.
However, the meeting was significant on one aspect as the leaders agreed to continue the ongoing dialogue for forging a consensus on holding the election by April next year while keeping the seven party unity intact.
At the meeting the Maoist leaders proposed a review of all past agreements and move forward with a new understanding.
The meeting came ahead of the regular winter session of the interim parliament that begins at 3 pm today. nepalnews.com ag Nov 19 07

People of Nepal: Get these idiots out of Singha Durbar NOW, while you still have a country.

-=blogdai

Stupid Political Quote of the Day

Blogdai gets tired of giving Maoists attention. They don't deserve it. But I get equally tired from hearing blabbering Maoist leaders say things that make no sense. Prachanda has been spouting this quote for a while and it's time we called him out on it:

"Holding constituent assembly elections is impossible without announcing republic first."


So, if we follow all definitions of "Republic," Prachanda is saying that we cannot establish an elected representative government until we agree to call ourselves an elected representative government.

Who cares what it is called. Suppose Prachanda demanded we call ourselves a banana sandwich and said elections are impossible until we do so. Same damn thing.

Look, the terms Republic, Democracy, Feudal Fiefdom, Indentured Servitude, whatever, are terms used to describe political and social systems. They describe. You do not need to label your intended political system choice ahead of time as some sort of permission to hold elections.

If he's trying to imply that a Republic is a form of proportional representation and that some groups in Nepal are not proportionally represented, then, for God's sake, have a constiuent assembly election and let each of these groups stand or fall on their own merit to the electorate.

Let's do whatever the momentum of the populace tells us to do. Right now that momentum says to hold elections. If, through these elections we decide that we want to label what we've done a Republic, then good. Don't hold up these precious elections because some confused moron terrorist doesn't realize he's put the cart before the horse.

In any event, Nepal must evolve into whatever form of government an active citizenry decides. The key is participation. Elections are the single greatest means of getting people interested in changing their government. Perhaps a Republic will emerge from this process.... perhaps a banana sandwich.

-=blogdai

Clear-Eyed and Unbiased

(We need more articles like this. Tobias Denskus is clearly an insider among Nepal's international foreign aid set; yet he breaks up the boys club of aid excess and ineptitude and screams that the aid emporer has no clothes. God, if we could assemble a think tank of individuals such as Mr. Denskus, solid action stemming from the identification of actual issues might, miraculously, be the new standard for aid in Nepal. -=blogdai)

After five decades of ‘development’ and ten years of violent conflict, Kathmandu has remained in a ‘bubble of innocence’, as one donor representative described the state of mind in a city that seems remarkably far away from ‘underdevelopment’, ‘poverty’ or ‘war’. When the people formed a democracy movement last year and demonstrated on the streets, few conflict advisers and inhabitants of the bubble were able to predict the political changes that were about to happen.

- By Tobias Denskus


One recent report on a conference in Brussels organised by a northern NGO and interestingly entitled ‘Nepal: Looking beyond Kathmandu-Challenges and Opportunities for peacebuilding from below’, had a cover page with pictures from Nepal (rural women with children–unrelated to the conflict and the conference) and a second page with pictures from the conference venue of a nondescript board-room-style meeting room, handsome European women and men and artefacts such as a data projector and video-conferencing equipment.

The French philosopher Marc Augé coined the expression of ‘non-places’ for such spaces without history or individual meaning that only exist to enable commercial interactions. In the globalised aid world such places exist in Brussels - or in the well-known hotels and resorts in and around Kathmandu where workshops are usually conducted. As long as such exchanges shape the debate about post-conflict societies, real social change for the majority of Nepalis seems further away than any election dates, a new constitution or accountable services in rural areas.

After five decades of ‘development’ and ten years of violent conflict, Kathmandu has remained in a ‘bubble of innocence’, as one donor representative described the state of mind in a city that seems remarkably far away from ‘underdevelopment’, ‘poverty’ or ‘war’. When the people formed a democracy movement last year and demonstrated on the streets, few conflict advisers and inhabitants of the bubble were able to predict the political changes that were about to happen. But they quickly shared their relief that the promising signs of the Maoist party joining ‘mainstream politics’, a forthcoming constituent assembly, and parliamentary elections would put Nepal back on the ‘road to development’.

Some donors were relieved that they could now continue with work they had planned before the violent conflict, and that the small Nepali elite in Kathmandu seemed to be willing to address the ‘root causes’ that have kept Nepal in ‘poverty’ for the past 55 years. A bright ‘post-conflict’ mirage was visible and donor amnesia quickly replaced reflective practice. Aid specialists from other post-war ‘non-places’ quickly arrived in Kathmandu to share their approaches, always stressing that they needed to be tailored to Nepal, of course.

‘Arms management’, ‘security sector reforms’, ‘transitional justice’ – the Fall 2007 collection arrived in Kathmandu straight from the peacebuilding catwalks in Europe without looking outside the ‘bubble’, or searching for stories in the remote villages of Nepal, asking local people about the future direction of their country. A former ‘conflict adviser’ of a European donor observes:

‘When I first attended the meetings of the conflict advisors’ group I was surprised to find them talking over simple and conservative conflict analyses and I immediately started to wonder whether these guys [all but one were men at that time] should know these things by now and before coming to Kathmandu’.

If I look at the amount of reports, briefings and notes that arrive in my email inbox, I find that a lot of the insights are not rooted in local realties or have emerged from interactions other than bringing a few people together for a workshop with flipcharts and red plastic chairs. Harmonising discourses and approaches may be in vogue in today’s ‘Aidland’, but, as this donor went on to comment, donor co-ordination in the peacebuilding community of Kathmandu seemed somewhat over-enthusiastic: ‘We had 400 meetings after the February 1 coup of the King in 2005. I knew more about what the Japanese and Americans were doing than about our projects in the field.’ The professional life-world in Kathmandu was also matched by the sheltered private lifestyle of most international inhabitants of ‘Aidland’, because the Maoist violence never reached the Kathmandu Valley.

‘Peacebuilding’ is almost always linked to issues of ‘governmentality’ – making ‘chaotic’ and ‘unsafe’ places fit for (neo)liberal democracy. Nepal is doomed to be a success-story of how a violent conflict can be transformed through peaceful, democratic means and adoption of the latest fashion in ‘peace-building’ and the international spectators in form of UNMIN staff or EU election observers have eagerly arrived in the ‘stadium’ in Kathmandu. Neither critical voices nor lessons learned from the failed development of Nepal, nor indeed the history of failed ‘peacebuilding’ interventions elsewhere, will enter the narrative of ‘success’.

Where Is He?

Possible picture of blogdai after eating a plate of "performance enhancing" dhal bhat.




Ok, I know where he is. He's recovering nicely in a local Kathmandu hospital from a recent cardiac "episode."

Prince Paras, that's who, and he's been ducking me for too long now.


Sorry old man about the heart problems, but blogdai's dear departed friend Prince Dipendra had the same issues. Dipendra was a kind-hearted soul and yes, he did love firearms. But diplomat and gentleman--to the end--he was.


What about you, pulchritudinously portly plethora of pathetic pathos prince P?


It's time you and blogdai had it out, once and for all.


In the spirit of Andy Kaufmann, blogdai offers you this wager: I will meet you anywhere, anytime for a wrestling match. Rules are up to you although I prefer no firearms. Either way, here's a proposal to think over while you are recovering.


-Wrestle, no holds barred, till submission or unconsciousness.


-If you win, I will cease all negative press coverage of you and your escapades on this blog--=not an insignificant proposal.


-If I win, I get Princess Himani. She needs a little respect in her life and I think it's only fair.


-King G. gets his grandson, if I win. After all, he's the future King of Nepal. Don't be jealous of this, but once you've killed an artist and shot up a disco, all your credibility is fairly well spent.


So, big P, are you up to it? Respond here and I'll pay for the airfare, anywhere in the world you'd like, for the match. C'mon, it'll be a hoot!



A little heart attack shouldn't stop you. Are you man enough?



-=blogdai

Blogdai's Favorite Quote

"The current Koirala parliament will never hold an election for anything."

--blogdai July 2006

Our Government at Work: Inconclusively

Blogdai waxed nostalgic today. I just finished reading how yet another high level government meeting “ended inconclusively” and began to reminisce about how many times this has happened during the last decade under this government’s watch.

The more I think of it EVERYTHING that brings these corrupt idiots to the negotiating table ends inconclusively. In fact, blogdai is hard pressed to come up with anything over the past 5 years that this congress has been able to agree and act upon.

Haven’t we gotten the message yet? These guys are so incompetent, they can’t even agree on what day it is. All of us have known about this supreme "enactile dysfunction" for a while; yet, even when the world is watching-- basically giving them a clean slate so they can prove their worth-- these buffoons can’t seem get past their same old bickering ineptness. Bad timing seems to be the one hallmark that defines this gaggle of clueless idiots.

The Yanks, Euros and even the Indians are beginning to express their frustration publicly.
Even journalists are starting to realize there’s something rotten in Singha Durbar. Read M. R. Josse’s good article at http://newsblaze.com/story/20061020062844nnnn.nb/topstory.html for a better sense of how long this has been going on and the mounting frustration among journalists and commentators.

Anyway, back to my nostalgia. Just for kicks, I Googled “Nepal Inconclusive” and returned a whopping 33,800 hits. My, our boys have been busy.

Blogdai can’t list them all here, but here are a few just from the month of September and just from the Google news segment.

Nepalnews.com, Sept. 27: “ A meeting of the top leaders of the seven parties held Thursday afternoon to find a way out of the current political stalemate ended inconclusively. According to C.P Mailani, general secretary of the CPN (Marxist Leninist), the meeting held at Baluwatar lasted just ten minutes and didn't discuss any of the issues raised by the Maoists”

Washingon Times, Sept 19: “ An emergency meeting of the eight-party alliance was inconclusive, with the rebels sticking to their demands.”

Rising Nepal, Sept.16: “Referring to the meeting between the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist Chairman Prachanda in the morning, he said that the meeting was inconclusive. The Prime Minister kept mum on declaring republic and adopting proportional electoral system.”

Rising Nepal Sept. 12: “The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee…..remained inconclusive on the names of eight ambassadors at its meeting held Wednesday.”

By blogdai’s calculation, Girija’s new congress holds an inconclusive meeting an average of four times a month!

So, dear readers, I now issue a challenge to you all: Find just ONE thing that this new congress has accomplished for the good of Nepal and you’ll get special recognition and a free column to air your opinions here at blogdai. Just ONE! All they seem to be able to act upon are petty measures to punish the King, like yesterday’s removal of his guards. But punishing the King doesn’t count here. They could kill him and it wouldn’t improve a thing in Nepal. No, find me an edict, national directive, law, decree or anything that shows these corrupt fools are paying attention to the needs of citizens and you win!

Simple, right? Let's see. Give it a try.

-=blogdare

Mr. Flip Flop

An new level of hubris and detachment, says blogdai.

Ol' Babu is at it again. If you'll all remember (will you please?), back when the "alliance" was young, it would have been a nice gesture for Girija to play along politically with a Maoist request and at least entertain the idea of forming a Republic. But no. The old man vehemently said that under no circumstances would Nepal go for a Republican form of government (See Blogdai: Sabotage!).

The old goat kept this staunch posturing up until a week ago. Now, like the limp pancake that he is, he's found some political traction in espousing the idea of a Republic. He makes comments like he's been in favor of it all along.

Without an inclination either towards his legacy or his political credibility, Girija does a 180 degree flip-flop and looks around and says, "What? What did I do wrong?" Fool.

Now it looks as though he's doing another flip; the de-facto type. This brand new long-time lover of Republicanism has now said that he will not go along with Proportional Representation under any circumstance.

Now wait a minute. Isn't the very definition of Repulican government proportional representation? So, Babu, you'd love to have a Republic just as long as it contains no Republican concepts? It's ok to have a Republic as long as the Mahdesi's don't get a voice?

Look for the old man to change his mind on Proportional Representation as soon as someone tells him what it means. In fact, someone should tell the entire parliament what it means to live in a Republic.

It damn sure means having elections more than once a decade.

-=blogdai

NC Unification Imminent! (Who Cares)

Deuba and Girija prepare for another pointless round of their worthless dance.

Nice to see Girija a Deuba finally tying the knot. We should expect an announcement of Party unification "any day now," or as we've heard over the past years: "imminently," "by Tuesday," and "in a few days."

These guys want to unify? Who cares? Nepal is falling apart. This moot gesture shows where all Nepali politicians' place their first priority: Solidifying their political positions.

Let's see:

1. Kapalvistu is on fire and on the verge of a regional conflict.

2. Maoists have quit the government.

3. Mahdesi concerns and Terai violence have yet to be addressed.

4. We are nowhere closer to holding election this November than we were 10 years ago.

So, blogdai thinks it makes perfect sense to consolidate political power over all. If this is all our new government can accomplish, then Jana Andolan was a waste of time and we are all puppets. Blogdai says this idiotic reunification will not happen. The only reason I see for reunification is so that Deuba can posture and threaten to split the party again. All one has to do is look at the history of this Nepali Congress dance of fools to see where we are headed.

Factional infighting brought down girija's NC in 1994 and a formal party split made it official in 2002. Sound familiar?

Girija and Deuba play the split/unification game as some sort of brink inducing game to gain political leverage. They care not about making a good government.

Remember what blogdai has said before: Girija has neither the talent nor the desire to unify anything!

-=blogdai

Good and Bad

A little movement in both directions today. First the good: Nepalnews.com reports that students are uprising and urging the Maoists to stay in government. Nice. This is the first time we've seen enough spine from the students to actively go against their counterparts in the Maoists.

Fed up possible? Tired of Maoists that never ever keep a promise? Sure these kids are in lock step with Girija, but it still takes balls to call out a Maoist and demand they toe the line. blogdai hopes this is a new trend in student fearlessness.

Bad news: Muslims. Riots in Kapilvastu have brought out a stronger muslim voice in Nepal. This voice is demanding protection. blogdai fears that with this new attention there will come more interference from muslim groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Know what happens after that? War on terrorism crap, that's what. Muslim extremists bring out a new set of priorities in the world's diplomatic agenda. Their presence also has a tendency of attracting Yanks with guns. Let's hope we keep these people quiet and give them the security they need.

The only problem is that Girija wouldn't know how to assign and implement a security plan even if it were attached to a bribe from Lauda Air. He's hopeless. For god's sake, die already, old man.

-=blogdai

Predictable Quitters

Can we finally call Girija and the mob incompetent idiots?

The Maoists have quit in front of the whole world and now there's nowhere to hide. Everyone can now see that Girija has neither the talent nor the will to unite anything.

Once again people, there is no government and no cooperation of any kind in Nepal.

Watch the media mishandle the whole story. The Times, in typical British laziness, has already fallen back on old cliches: blaming the whole thing on the King's birthday party., more or less.

No matter what you read, believe the following:

--The Maoists were NEVER a part of government and NEVER renounced violence.

--The Maoists used the government process to further their own agenda and gain insight.

--The Maoists never surrendered weapons of worth or negotiated in good faith.

--No regime in Nepal has been as autocratic as Girija's. He refuses to compromise or negotiate.

-=blogdai

Blogdai's 3000

Well, actually about 3,400 as of last counting.

THE TIME HAS COME.

After quite an effort of gathering signatures and lists of prominent places, we here at blogdai are relieved to be through with the exhaustive effort of screening and verifying and are ready to submit our much touted, maligned, referred to, dismissed, praised, famous, infamous and much talked about LETTER.

For those of you who are new to the game, blogdai and 3400 of my closest friends and Nepal watchers are fed up with Maoists, Congress, Parliament and most officials named Koirala. To express this, we've constructed a letter to be sent to any relevant body stating our position. This campaign was initiated a few months ago (See: blogdai: Taking Back Our Voice) with the intent of building a groundswell of renewed participation in, and attention towards, the current political situation in Nepal.

Through the help of our vast readership, the LETTER has been tweaked, revised, edited and turned inside-out to arrive at the form presented to you in blue below. It reflects the language of our mass frustration and calls for very specific and strong measures that must be taken, in our opinion, in order to save Nepal from an inevitable downward spiral. blogdai submits:

To the Seven-Party Alliance and Maoist leadership

We, The Concerned Citizens and Friends of Nepal placed our trust in the Seven Party Alliance just over a year ago. It was our hope that the leadership entrusted with bringing Nepal into a new era of democracy and freedom through the Jana Andolan movement would use the spirit of last year’s demonstrations to re-introduce effective and competent governance to Nepal. Since that time we have been saddened to notice a return to the same style of ineptitude, corruption and political bickering that marked the previous 15 years under this same leadership.

Under your tenure of the past year, Nepal has begun to spiral downwards towards anarchy and the complete disregard for the rule of law; threatening not only Nepal’s sovereignty, but also the safe existence of the very citizens who entrusted you with their protection one year ago. It is because of this current untenable situation that we now must withdraw our support for your leadership and express our opinion of “no confidence” towards this Prime Minister and Parliament.

We also refuse to cooperate or give legitimacy to any force that uses brutality and coercion as a mean of furthering their agenda under the guise of restructuring Nepal. Be it Maoism or any other unbending ideology-based group, we further strongly object to welcoming such groups into government with their violent adherence to their own sense of ideological supremacy undeterred and unchanged by our constitutionally established rules for society.

We demand that Nepal’s Municipal Police Forces, Armed Police Force, Nepal National Army, or any legitimate national or international security force requested, begin operations that will directly lead to the restoration of law, order and peace in Nepal. These operations include but are not limited to: establishing the active presence of Army forces wherever possible, a commitment to fair adjudication of disputes and the active suppression and confiscation of all firearms displayed publicly by those not directly employed in Nepal's army, police or authorized security services.

Your failed leadership has contributed greatly to the present dire security situation in Nepal. As a result, we demand that an interim Government, composed of members from all major political parties lead the country until Constituent Assembly elections are held. Should these elections not be held as scheduled this November, it will be considered as a final confirmation of our “no confidence” opinion and result in our strong insistence that the Prime Minister and Parliament suspend operations and immediately refrain from further deliberations or acts of governance.

Concerned Citizens and Friends of Nepal

To give you just a bit of a sample of the types of places where our letter will surface, blogdai submits a partial list of sites to receive our LETTER. This is partial to prevent mass mailers from our numerous gremlins. This is about 10% of the total list:

(Nepal Monarchy and Nepal Army have “guest book” comments sections to which we shall submit individually)
feedback@mos.com.np, contact@nepalmonitor.com, editorial@thehimalayantimes.com, corporate@kantipur.com.np, :narayan@kantipur.com.np,prateek@kantipur.com.np,akhilesh@kantipur.com.np, subas@kantipur.com.np, kishorenepal@kantipur.com.np,pradumna@kantipur.com.np, finance@kantipur.com.np,kedar@kantipur.com., info@opmcm.gov.np,info@nepalembassyusa.org, info@cpj.org, info@nepembassy.org.uk,,, ,info@nepalconsulate.org.au,ne@nepalembassyegypt.com.,neberlin@t-online.de, britemb@wlink.com.np, info@nepalembassy.org.cn

Also, blogdai submits a sample of around 300 of our petitioner's names so as not to get too long-winded here. Sorry, e-mail tag names only. Even those have been shortened where necessary. Seems we have quiet a few devious posters here who would just love to get a hold of our lists. Sorry, spam someone else. We will submit full e-mail names to those official recipients who give verifiable names and requests. Independent verification by those with legitimate concerns can be accommodated. They MUST have an email address verified as coming from one of our selected recipients like those in green above.

comforts
;pattie2433
fear742
Shellbells512
Bogey0920
designerchick32
;lmscranton
;angela.sims;
janice.jenn;
Kat24545
kwindle
;kroelinger
Carl.Clar
Zabuk
cobraqb8;
wcomer
;jeebs16
.wagner.sr
dximg
;raysul
irongr
;hawktue
Stephanie;
andres
;traci.wagn
andrewsreid07
OneLittle
richsherman
;Pgustav
sl_c
Ale
;memo
lilliem
Yvette.Sm
;mmmdesig
LiNdSaY23McK;
nancylo
;vena10rr
xux
;petedo
thomas_p_bur
;pullen
;Aegent00
MREED3020
;garyredkathy.yea
chicagoc
LBurns8
billw
tigger68
CrRaAc
mikeyrux
omecinemas
mamaho
rmbradl
alejandrob
Dan.Br
donal
cafer
vryde,
njai
Jnel
nels,
msoren
jusmil6
macp
kvn
judiema,
chet.pers
erp
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btabor
alan
Apimoi
Bubl
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DEWint
Diego
dnecraso
singy
sevangel
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Fallschirm
Flymo
Formers
Gretchenrol
Grani
Hammon
hanuma,
heidi
hernandezm
ibt
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jacquefi
Jennifer
Joebri
Jonri
Jor
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keven
keving2
kingdom
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lesismo
ludimilape
mad
Olimari
maugu
newwin
melanimike
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Mirana
msangu
NadjaSt,
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nboh
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nepali
pakipaulomia
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Matt
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bhunc,
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cannibalzo
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chawan
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shivagu
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yozinda,
son
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sundar
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i grg

Enjoy this first look, WE SUBMIT IN 24 HOURS!

-=blogdai

Monsoon Predictions

I don't know how this little tradition started, but it seems blogdai issues predictions about the coming year during the monsoon season. This year is no exception. If you see last year's predictions, you'll know that we here at blogdai have an average to good accuracy with anticipating events of the coming year. So, here we go... -=BD




Blogdai predicts the following for Nepal over the next 12 months:



1. No Constituent Assembly elections will be held. Period.





2. Prachanda and the Maoists will be banned from government.





3. Girija Prassad Koirala will finally die.





4. The 7-party alliance will dissolve and government will fail.





5. Ian Martin will leave Nepal in disgrace, having accomplished nothing.





6. The Nepal Army will assert itself as a powerful third political force.





7. Paras will come out of hiding and do something stupid.



That's it. Can't think of anything else. Most of these are no-brainers, however. Oh, forgot, I usually have a wild off the chart prediction as a finale'. Try this.



8. King G. will abdicated and name his grandson King.




-=blogdai

Party at Blogdai's: Everyone's Invited!

Welcome. Come one in, have a beer.

What's the occasion, you say? Why the festivities?

AMBASSADOR JAMES MORIARTY HAS LEFT NEPAL.

Praise be to Lord Pashupati. He's done. Gone. Never again to leave his cowardly, inept, poorly conceived and universally inflamatory opinions on Nepal again.

But enough of the past. Ol' Saint James the Timid never could bring himself to publicly commenting on the facts until he was on his way out. Dear God, all one has to do is Google Moriarty's public interviews over the last month to see that he's finally telling the truth: The Maoists are thugs and can't be trusted. Jesus, James, you wimp pansy, you KNEW this from day one. Hell, we ALL did. Were you so worried about getting a bomb threat from Prachanda that you conveniently tucked away your Maoist criticism these past years?

Save your own skin. Done like a true "China hand" as you proudly call yourself.

You pathetic idiot. Any, repeat: ANY level of preparation or remedial reading done on Nepal prior to your tenure would have told you that the Maoists have NEVER lived up to any commitment and have NEVER waivered from their desire for absolute power. NEVER! How wonderful that you finally realized this in your last two weeks of service.

So, the big result? You've dumped a heap of controversy on your new replacement, Nancy Powell. She, no stranger to controversy herself from her Pakistan years, will have to deal with the political fallout from your parting shots. Coward!

Lives could have been saved; international attention could have been more focused and stability could have been realized if you had only spoken up earlier. No, you had to bide you time, save your skin, and hope for a better future for yourself.

And, so sorry about your sour grapes over King G's snubbing. he played you like the cheap, inexperience fiddle that you are. This ain't the States, rookie; playing golf with the Prince does not guarantee Royal confidence. G. heard your reckless comments and wrote you off as the paper-pusher that you are. Is it any wonder that your counterproductive pro-party stance during the April disruptions angered G? So now, in another parting coward's shot, you pity the ol' King for not having any intention of forming a democracy? Excuse me? What do we have now, you fool? Greedy inept old retarded men blindly running into walls, that's what.

It was always an open secret that you had no love for Nepal. You pouted about your posting here so vehemently during your first years as ambassador that many of us thought you'd defect back to China, where you could win yet more awards for filing useless paperwork on time. (Google Moriarty's resume for facts on this)

So, good riddance you counterproductive fool and ineffectual career bureaucrat. Nepal can breathe a sigh of relief now that you are gone. You have obviously bided your time at the expense of the Nepali people hoping for a better posting- perhaps back in the China you love-and have saved all of your concrete, real diplomatic statements until they were safe from Maoist retribution.

BUT, OOPS! Blogdai's State Department contacts tell me that your career path is at its end. No more cushy postings and do-nothing ambassadorships for you, little Jimmy. You've screwed up one country and now it looks like even the Bush administration won't give you a chance to screw up anything more significant than Banghladesh. Nothing left for you but the cocktail party circuit. See you at the Haznar's?

The big tragedy is that you may be an envoy again. I'm sure the minute you land in Dhaka, you'll start with your sarcastic pouty remarks designed to, once again, piss everyone off. The bigger tragedy is that the Bush administration is so pathetic that they think you are the best man for any job in a south-Asian country. blogdai weeps at such a lapse in perception.

Anyway, thanks again, Jimmy, for your tenure. As the representative of the United States of America, your utterances gave hope to a Maoist ramble. Just any old public acknowledgement from you told Prachanda that he was for real. You've almost single-handedly elevated the stature of the Maoists in the world community.

Now get out of Nepal and stay out. blogdai's only lament is that you can't take that moron Ian Martin with you

-=blogdai

Panchayat II: "Guided Democracy"

They're at it again. Our boys in parliament can't wait to destroy any form of citizen representation or fair election. Blogdai buddy Keshab Poudel outlines the new fiasco perfectly below . blogdai commentary in blue. -=BD

The second amendment in the interim constitution and passage of Constituent Assembly Members Elections Act, pushes the country’s political system to tilt towards a guided democracy in which basic elements of democracy like right to dissension, right to contest the election, right to choose and independence of judiciary are denied

By KESHAB POUDEL

With the introduction of new Constituent Assembly Members Elections Act and second amendment of Interim Constitution, Nepal's political system is tilting towards the form of a guided democracy where there is no place for the voice of dissensions, independent judiciary, right to contest the elections and right to choose. Just like in Panchayat days, people have only the right to vote.

After the passage of the Act, there are now only two classes of people - one who have privileges to vote and also contest the elections and others who are given only the right to vote. (Let's hear it for Nepal's new caste system. Thanks India!)

The article 45(2) has already made persons ineligible to be a member of legislative parliament who had stood against the popular uprising of 2006. Now the clause 19 (h) of Constituent Assembly Members Elections Act 2007 bars those (from contesting the polls) who were indicted in the report of fact finding commission constituted to inquire abuse of authority, loss and damage in popular uprising of April 2006. ("If you cannot tolerate freedom of speech for those you disagree with, you cannot tolerate it at all" --Noam Chomsky)


"The members of parliament passed the bill with a reference of inquiry commission report which is still secret even to them. Without knowing what is there in the report, they inscribed a restrictive provision in the act to debar the people. As parties issued the whip, members of parliament had to follow whip rather than their own conscience," said a political analyst. "As the commission report has taken a statutory shape, the common people have the right to know the content of that inquiry commission's report, which is now referred in the statute." (Aside from a total misinterperatation of the term and role of the whip, this is a classic, arrogant abuse of power designed to make the current constitution so convoluted and restrictive that constituent assembly elections will have little force. Girija, as blogdai has mentioned MANY times before, will never, NEVER allow any constituent assembly to reduce his power.)

This is not for the first time when Nepal has experimented the practice of guided democracy though. During the whole period of Panchayat, the constitution and laws, in one way or the other, had followed the practice of guided democracy placing certain clause in constitution barring the entry of other candidates who held dissenting views.
The second amendment of Constitution of Nepal in 1975 added many provisions to restrict persons from opposition. In the name of consensus, power to elect and contest the election were monopolized by a small group of people.
According to Article 38 (1) of the interim constitution, prime minister and cabinet shall be formed under the political agreement of eight political parties. The article makes it clear that political understanding means consensus among eight parties - Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepali Congress Democratic, People's Front, Nepal Sadbhvana Party (Anandidevi), Nepal Peasant and Workers Party, United Left Front and CPN-Maoist, which developed political understanding on November 9, 2006.
The article 45 (3) says the business of Legislative Parliament is conducted under political consensus. (Who's consensus other than Girija's will carry any weight?)

Back in Panchayat days, u nder a political organ of 'Back to Village Campaign,' a large section of opponents were barred from entering into the political system and the second amendment of Constitution of Nepal 1962, too, stressed for political understanding and consensus to hold all the business from village to central level. In a phase wise political nucleus called 'Back To Village Campaign,' selected persons solicited support for their views, mobilized the public opinion and emerged as the political force in the elected bodies from top to bottom. That was a form of guided democracy with all flowery adjectives.
Even after the third amendment of that Panchayati constitution –which took place following the great democratic exercise of national referendum - there was a restriction for opponents to contest the elections.
During the period, present vice president of Rastriya Janashakti Party Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani's nomination was rejected on the ground of selecting the candidate with consensus. Scholar like Dr. Lohani was barred from politics to allow semi-literate and illiterate in the politics.

In that old constitution, according to article 35(C), in order to become a member of the National Panchayat, a person had to be a member of a Class Organization or professional organization pursuant to the provisions of article 67 b which said membership of any of the class organizations or professional organizations as determined by an Act shall be compulsory in order to be elected as a member of local Panchayat or National Panchayat,

Similar provision is now added in the act. According to the clause 19 of the CA Elections Act, one shall be ineligible to contest the election of CA if indicted in the Rayamajhi Commission's Report. Similarly, political parties which opposed the Popular uprising of April 2006 are also barred.
People can be barred from contesting elections on the basis of their ideology and views. Political parties have to express complete faith in Popular Uprising to get party registration for the elections.

"People of Nepal have been granted a new form of democracy which is appropriately termed as Loktantra. The essence of this democracy is that the people have been declared as sovereign but they have been deprived to choose a representative of their own choice following the second amendment, of the interim constitution," said the political analyst, who closely monitors political and constitutional development.

According to preamble and article 2 of the interim constitution, the sovereignty of Nepal vests upon the people of Nepal . It means the people have given right to choose his/her destiny. However, the new act restricted the right of individual to contest the elections. Nobody knows the logic behind this restrictive provision to deprive persons - who are not prosecuted in the court and convicted by it.

"After all why they needed this stringent clause to debar a person to go to the people and compete with others," said the analyst. "The essence of democracy as it is universally understood lies in a right to dissent as well as choose a form of government- which means right to vote as well as right to contest the elections." The interim constitution which was promulgated on January 15, 2007 already had some provisions to deny the right to differ as well as right to get elected. With the experiences of past few months, a fear psychology has haunted the leaders of present and inclusion of new article to abolish monarchy through amendment is the result of that. As the army has been quarantined from the command of the King and no role has been left for that traditional institution, there was no reasonable cause to apprehend any serious obstructions from the king to accomplish the task of contesting the constituent assembly except some invisible machinations but political leaders are still afraid of the King. (Finally! A bit of insight. This analyst has hit the nail squarely on the head. There is absolutely NO impediment for holding elections. Why the delay? Are our boys too busy whipping up legislation to punish the King? They seem to be able to accomplish THAT task efficiently.)

"Committed Judiciary"

One of the most objectionable articles in second amendment is regarding the legislative examination for the appointment of the judges of the Supreme Court. In article 155, a new word is added making parliamentary hearing necessary for the appointment of judges of Supreme Court. Whether it is just coincidence or some link, these clauses were added just under the strong insistence of CPN-UML leaders who proposed these things following their highly publicized visit to India . (This completely destroys an independent judiciary and its ability to check Girija's run away power grab)

Enough damage has been done during the last one year to the independence of judiciary as well as the court by a series of humiliating orders and ordeals. This latest clause will further weaken the judiciary.
Although senior advocate and MP Radheshyam Adhikary and advocate and MP Harihar Dahal had made vehement efforts to change this clause, CPN-UML and other communist factions turned deaf ear to their logics.
"They have hardly any confidence and reason of having a permanent tenure with dignity. Now after this second amendment, Nepal is forced to have "committed judges" even in the supreme court level," said the analyst. "Members of parliament with varied ideologies or prime minister with a dominating role may have a natural tendency to get such judges to be appointed who may not be hurdle in their political push and drives."

The concept of committed judge was vigorously pleaded in India during Mrs. Gandhi's alliance with former Soviet Union as well as communist lobbies within the country. In a political background of Nepal when every appointment by the political executive is made by a political bias, the impact of this clause is anybody's guess.

"These amendments in the constitution and some clauses of Constituent Assembly Elections Act have violated the basic essence of liberal democracy. The clauses added in the constitution turned the judiciary like that of committed judiciary of communist regime. Similarly, barring the persons from contesting the elections on the basis of the report of a fact finding commission violates the essence of rule of law," said member of legislative parliament Homnath Dahal. "As a member of liberal democratic party, I will always oppose the move to weaken independence of judiciary and violation of rule of law."
The concept of Judicial Council was introduced by the last constitution to guard and protect the independence and integrity of judge. Even article 113 of Present Interim Constitution also has this mandatory provision.

"One fails to understand what role and obligation the council will fulfill if the parliament would examine and approve the appointment of judges of Supreme Court. This basic feature of the second amendment has created a widespread resentment which has no credible outlet to get ventilated," said the analyst.

Most of the widely circulated media have their own corporate diktat to be followed which has its own inexplicable compulsions. Persons having in-depth knowledge of the working of the constitution has no ways and means to make their pressures effective.
Persons like Jimmy Carter may come with one declared mission and amusingly return back with different impressions.

"But, all these things will have far fetched serious consequences in the hard earned experiments of democratic exercise as well as in the life of citizen. Unfortunately, not only the people but their leaders too don't know what next is waiting for them," said the analyst. (Nepal never really had a decent experiment with democracy. It was all a greedy sham from the beginning)

Under the amendment in the constitution, new clauses are incorporated in the article 159 of the interim constitution. Under a new clause 3(a), two-third majority of members of legislative parliament can abolish the monarchy in case members of parliament find King is working against the elections of Constituent Assembly and involved to sabotage it. Under the article 159 (3) (b), the right to present such proposal in parliament is given to the cabinet. (A pure diversion designed to cover Girija's and congress's ineptitude. These guys could drum up any reason or any verification against the King whenever they want, according to this provision. They'll use this article to abolish the monarchy at the earliest possible time. How shallow; the King has no power or influence to effectively sabotage anything. However, he still has the loyalty of the RNA, so let's wait and see..)

According to the article 155 (3), the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly will decide about the fate of monarchy on the basis of simple majority. The second amendment in the constitution was made in such a rush as nobody knows why so many new provisions were amended. When the first amendment was passed, this idea had not crept in as the first amendment was to address the issues raised by regional uprisings in the south launched by several factions of Madhesi fronts. (What kind of constituent assembly will this be if members are forced to determine the fate of the King immediately? Shouldn't such a free and independent assembly establish its own agenda? Arrogant, autocratic, facist, megalomaniacal: how else can I describe thee Girija?)

Since then no significant event has occurred. However, after sometime the trends indicated what is being staged in the name of Madhesis may occur in the hills on the north under the over of Janjatis. A phase of ideologically oriented communist insurgency was over and a new low intensity trouble has been introduced in a stage-managed manner beginning from terai with a distinct possibility of spreading up all over the country.
"If that ideological insurgency could continue for a decade, this low intensity upsurge may go on for more than that. People in Nepal have to endure this "durable disorder" for a decade to come. But the most pertinent question is: Will this volatile region could endure this kind of instability for long in Nepal ?" asked the analyst. (Wave after wave of movements demonstrates that there is no effective governmental control on a national level; and worse, people are beginning to take the law into their own hands. Is this Loktantra, little boy? More like a classic case study in a failed state slipping into anarchy.)

"The amendment has not only deprived the right of King but much more seriously it has deprived the people from their right to decide about the form of next constitution as well as the fate of institution of monarchy," said the analyst. "Once the people have been declared to decide the fate of monarchy through the Constituent Assembly, these kinds of round about way to deal with this institution is a betrayal to the people. Fraudulent act of this kind is a violation of oath and elegance of the people."

Whether one likes it or not, the present day reality is that the country is functioning on the model of guided democracy.

Article Courtesy : Spotlight
(One bright note in all of this is that people with half a brain in Nepal are finally recognizing the exact nature of the problem. No more starry-eyed little stone-throwing students waiting for acknowledgement from Girija. No, we now see the unilateral power grab naked, and on legislative terms. This administration has no clue on how to run their so called "absolute democracy" so they re-work old Panchayat ideas and call it "Loktantra" hoping Nepalis are too stupid to know what's going on.

Trash it, trash the government right now. Burn Singha Durbar to the ground. This whole process and the scum who claim to be in charge have ruined Nepal. Scrape them all off the table and begin again. It is too late for anything else...

-=blogdai

Taking Back Our Voice

Madhesi's show what they've learned about government in Nepal

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It's beginning to get a little chaotic, isn't it? Today Prachanda mustered thousands of Maoist thugs for a run on Nepal's parliament. They are demanding the formation of a Republic immediately. One has to wonder just what kind of "Republic" Prachanda has in mind

when he fails to use actual republican channels and representation to plead his case. No matter, it's obvious to all that he's on a one-way bender towards total communist domination of Nepal. Has he ever given a hint of doing anything else?

And, once again, the Madhesi's held up a session of parliament. One can't be bothered with normal protocols when the only model of successful governmental action one knows is the street protest and mob violence, now, can one?

It's Girija's fault. His blind obsession with removing an inert King is turning Nepal into a failed state. Also, Koirala taught everyone in the country--the Madhesi's are a prime example-- that the only way to get your voice heard is to cause a big disruption. Plus, Babu, you've allowed a lot of Maoist hot-heads into the government who are not going to be satisfied with your policy of constant delay and postponement. You've got a day of reckoning coming, old man. Blogdai hopes you live to see it.

What does this all boil down to? There is now no rule of law or respect for any governmental procedure or practice in Nepal.

NEPAL IS FALLING.

So, here we go. Thousands of readers feel something must be done and done quickly. We in the blogosphere do not normally carry guns and such, but we do carry the weight of public opinion, world scrutiny and the potential for raising mass consciousness through a coordinated media effort. Our very public opinions have influenced thinking and policy in the past, so here we go again, with one big whopper of a program, designed to raise the bar and change Nepal's fate.

THE LETTER

By now, many of you have heard of our letter campaign. Rumors of its existence and content have made the rounds on the Nepal blogs and perhaps gotten ol' blogdai banned in Nepal. (Who said this stuff doesn't work?)

We are attempting to get as many signatures of support for our letter as possible. blogdai has already compiled an extensive list of media houses and governmental entities in and out of Nepal for distribution. Now, we only need your support. Below, in blue, lies the Letter. If you agree with the basic presumptions contained therein, post an e-mail address here in the comments section. If you do not want your address published in such a way, e-mail me directly at blogdai@nepalimail.com

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Aside from giving your e-mail address as a sign of support, send a copy of the letter to all those on your e-mail contacts list. Have them reply with a "yes" for agreement and have them send the letter out to everyone on their contact list and so on. Compile all the names from this personal "network" and send them to blogdai@nepalimail.com or have your contacts do this themselves.

There is power in volume. Innundate the Nepal media houses and governmental websites with your support for the Letter. blogdai will finish compiling their e-mail addresses and post them in the comments section for your use.

Send the letter to someone in Nepal, just in case we are banned. Tell whomever is compelled there to reproduce the letter in Nepali, print out as many as possible, and distribute or post wherever they can. Send me an e-mail and a photo of the process. If our independent spotters can verify the letter's posting,

we'll pay for the printing and your efforts! Remember, blocked or not, blogdai can always get a message in or out of Nepal.

We seek to make the contents of this Letter unavoidable to those in a position of power and influence in Nepal. It is a mass effort that will require a little time and attention from each of you. We will distribute the letter immediately. We will follow up with a re-distribution and supporters list as the numbers grow.

Jaya Nepal

-=blogdai

COPY, REPRODUCE AND DISTRIBUTE THE FOLLOWING LETTER:

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To the Seven-Party Alliance and Maoist leadership:

We, the concerned citizens and supporters of Nepal placed our trust in the Seven Party Alliance just over a year ago. It was our hope that the leadership entrusted with bringing Nepal into a new era of democracy and freedom through the Jana Andolan movement would continue in the spirit of last year’s demonstrations and re-introduce effective and competent governance to Nepal. Since that time we have been saddened to observe a return to the same style of ineptitude, corruption and political bickering that marked the previous 15 years under this same leadership. Under your tenure of the past year, Nepal has begun to spiral downwards towards anarchy and the complete disregard for the rule of law; threatening not only Nepal’s sovereignty, but the very safety of its citizens. It is because of this current untenable situation that we now must withdraw our support for your leadership and express our opinion of “no confidence” towards this Prime Minister and Parliament.

We also hereby refuse to cooperate or give legitimacy to any force that uses brutality and coercion as a mean of furthering their agenda under the guise of restructuring Nepal, be it Maoism or any other movement. We strongly object to welcoming such groups into government with their violent adherence to their own sense of ideological supremacy undeterred and unchanged by our constitutionally established rules of governance.

Your failed leadership has contributed greatly to the present dire security situation in Nepal. It is to this fact that we must demand that the Prime Minister and Parliament suspend its operation and immediately refrain from further deliberations or acts of governance.

We demand that the National Army (NA), or any legitimate security force requested, begin operations that will directly lead to the restoration of law and order and peace in Nepal. These operations include establishing the active presence of NA forces wherever possible, a committment to fair adjudication of disputes and the active suppression and confiscation of all firearms displayed publicly by those not directly employed in Nepal's army or police or authorized security services.

Concerned Citizens and Supporters of Nepal

Nepal's Last Option

ESTABLISH LAW AND ORDER.

Blogdai is tired of trying to get you stirred-up, angry or whatever. Mulling around and debating obscure points means nothing in a debate-starved country like Nepal.

So, from the high-handed arrogance from Koirala that serves only to spur Prachanda onward, to the Maoist's recent call for a single communist party to run Nepal's "republic," time is expiring on Nepal's sovereignty. We are just about on the edge of losing it all, people.

We have NO effective form of government. We have murderous Maoists on the verge of ascending to the highest seats of power; we have big brother India sitting back and supporting it all with their deliberate inaction; and we have a clueless world community that couldn't care less about understanding the complexities of Nepal's situation--choosing instead to rely on an inattentive Western media for the one sound-bite that will command a sea of short attention spans long enough for them to draw over-simplified conclusions.

ESTABLISH LAW AND ORDER

We are incapable of making decisions beyong those that affect out day-to-day needs. Politics is shunned in Nepal and people are apathetic and unmotivated towards National issues. In essence, Nepal is unfit to govern itself and unfit for the rigors of maintaining a democracy.
We need to be told what to do and when to do it.

The only question is: do we want to be told what to do by India as one of its satellite states, or do we have enought spine to self-determine our future? Do we care? If not, let's start calling ourselves "Nepal Pradesh" right now and forget the whole thing, shall we?

But, if there is a glimmer, a hope, of retaining Nepal's independence we must start NOW with building the foundations that lead to self-determination and independence. These are painful steps, but in the right hands-- newer hands than those we currently possess-- we can establish a new legacy of Nepali courage and democracy that will be worth maintaining and preserving.

ESTABLISH LAW AND ORDER

There is no dialogue now. Was there ever? Nepal must be torn down to square one in order to rebuild it in an image that all can be proud of. Dialogue is a luxury reserved for those countries that have established the ability to honor dissent and respect the rules and balances established for the preservation of fairness and equanimity. Dialogue and debate improve the political process in such countries by leading politicians down the very democratic road towards compromise. Our politicians have never so much as given a hint as to their understanding of this concept.

ESTABLISH LAW AND ORDER OR NEPAL IS FINISHED.

Groups are all clamouring to be heard. The ivory autocratic tower that Koirala has constructed around his arrogance and self-interest has led the average citizen to believe that only through agitation, violence, and today from the Terai, incessant interruption and badgering of a Parliamentary session, will their needs be met and voices heard. Time to clean house.

1. Immediately begin military operations in the Terai to restore order and establish a government presence.

2. Immediately ban Maoism and use the army to enforce such a ban.

3. Ban protests, bandhs, and demonstrations until further notice.

4. Suspend all foreign aid until order is restored.

5. Invite world powers to send military advisors to assist with the process. (Not India!)

When will we learn that Nepal is not suffering the"growing pains" of a restored democracy; rather, the very splintering of it's national identity by self-interested factions and intolerant ideologues.

-=blogdai

Nepalis are Stupid

Got your attention? Good.

Once again, Prachanda steps up to a podium and proves that each and every Nepali is a Moron.

In his latest statement, the Unbowed One reiterates the fact that the Maoist movement will go on without compromise and without hesitation. Only the "form and front" of the "struggle" has changed as a result of the Maoists joining the government. He further says that his party was following the dictum of Mao Zedong that struggle does not end even if the party joins government.

Oh, and isn't it nice that we finally have a "unified" government that will allow us all to work together? Not according to Prachanda who slaps Girija in the face by ridiculing his remarks. Gathering steam, Prachanda says of Girija: "He said that he has mainstreamed terrorists but it is clear that the coming days will show who has (mainstreamed) whom," Prachanda said. He also termed seven parties as spineless, according to Nepalnews.com. Funny how he doesn't discount Girija's labeling of the Maoists as "terrorists," only that they refuse to be classified as mainstream.

Stupid Nepalis.

During every step of this process, Prachanda has been unbowed, uncompromising and unwavering in his Maoist ideology. What ridiculous sliver of unfounded hope leads us to believe that he would ever change his ways? When given to speechmaking, he's never once failed to mention that should the peace process not fall into his vision of the Maoist master plan, he'd take his guns back into the hills. At least he's honest about it. Plus, the government, world community and especially Ian Martin have given in to his every demand, so what better outcome could possibly emerge for him should he change his ways at this point?

Lazy Nepalis.

We keep hoping. It is a lazy fool's hope. It is based on no past record of cooperative behaviour from Prachanda and no level of intelligent research or theorizing. It is just hope. Hope is for lazy people who don't care to do the real thinking necessary to find a real solution.

*

Nepalis are even too lazy to read. All the warning signs are and have been plain to see. Anyone with a pen and half a brain has published an article outlining Nepal's potential for disaster with this unholy alliance with Maoism. Blogdai has been writing for years about Prachanda's inflexibility. All I get in response is that the Maoists "must be brought into the mainstream." Idiots. Can we finally see that the Maoists chaffe at being brought into ANY mainstream? They want to BE the mainstream. Blogdai defies any of you to prove the contrary.

Nepalis are stupid. Be offended and be angry.... nothing else seems to get you to think.

-=blogdai

I Say it Again: Maoists Must Go!

Ready for peace? Not a chance.

We just saw the Maoist's attempt at a mini-coup yesterday when they held up parliamentary debate and made threats from the podium demanding action. Can we now finally cease the debate about persuading Maoists to give up violence and join the mainstream? They just won't do it. Witness the good article below. It frames the ideological problem with Maoism nicely.

Reprinted from Kantipur online, of all places. A good realistic take on the debate (or failure of) with Maoism. -=BD
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Time For Some Soul-Searching
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By Akhilesh Tripathi
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At a recent casual debate between a few students affiliated with ANNISU-R, the student wing of the CPN-Maoist, and students affiliated with the Nepali Congress at Patan Campus, the pro-Maoist students were defending Sunday’s beating of a hotelier by Maoist cadres. “He is against workers’ rights and is a royalist. A jali-phataha like him deserved it. There is no effect of sweet-talking to these people, you know. They need special treatment,” passionately asserted a youth in his early twenties who was apparently leading the Maoist students in the debate.
His opponents, as expected, disagreed with him. “See friend, this is not the first incident of its kind from your party which is going to join the government soon. You should mend your ways, at least now. You don’t have the right to coerce, intimidate, extort or thrash anyone. What if everybody starts beating everybody they don’t like?”
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The obstinate ANNISU-R activist again defended. “It is because of this very thinking of yours and your leaders that nothing has changed in this country for all these years. You guys never did anything to discourage those who have been blocking our society’s and our country’s progress. And again, we are not going around beating just about anybody. You know that. But why are you acting as if you don’t know. See, it’s easier to wake up those who are really sleeping, but much difficult to those who are pretending to be sleeping,” he said in an ever-rising voice, agitatedly pointing his index finger at his opponent.
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“Please don’t shout. Your arguments don’t convince me. Instead, they smack of militaristic thinking. You have no right to go around kidnapping and beating people, whoever they are. Why don’t you realize this simple thing?”
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“What did you just say? Militarist thinking? What is militarist thinking? What is a military or an army? What do you know about all this? You know nothing. Why are you talking about something you don’t know? Don’t you know a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?” said the unbending pro-Maoist student activist, as if ready to pounce on his opponent any moment.
Then somebody from the pro-NC students said that they were wasting their time over a debate which was going nowhere. “Let’s go to class guys, there is no point in wasting any more time. Will talk later,” they said and were soon gone.
*

The above little dialogue shows the kind of attitude the Maoist cadres carry on the streets. It goes a long way to show their bullish nature. The Maoists still haven’t learnt to admit mistakes. They defend anything and everything against them as if they can never be wrong. “Say yes, or else…”
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From the premises of Patan Campus to the eight-party meeting rooms, to the rest of the country, it’s the same situation. The same attitude- I am above and beyond criticism! When the business community announced an indefinite strike (which was withdrawn on the third day) in protest of the “kidnapping and torture” of the above-mentioned hotelier by the Maoists “for refusing to cough up 10 million rupees in donation”, the pro-Maoist trade union took out protest rallies in the capital- in protest of the business community’s protests! The Maoist-affiliated hotel and restaurant workers’ union ordered workers to leave hotels in advance “as the hotel industry, too, was contemplating halting services for some time in support of the business community’s strike.”
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When the glaring disparity in the registered number of Maoist arms and combatants is questioned, Prachanda can blame a fire destroying them or a river sweeping them away. And if you question these unique reasons, then you are either “conspiring” against the Constituent Assembly elections by “blowing out of proportion something very trivial and unimportant,” or you are “against a democratic republic.” Or even you are a “royalist.”
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When you raise the issue of the Maoists not returning the belongings of those forced out of their homes and villages during the last 10-11 years even after expressing commitment for the same in the historic peace agreement, you are again “raising a non-issue.” Similarly, when lawmakers of other parties draw government attention towards Maoist MPs and their bodyguards entering Parliament with arms, a Maoist MP growls, patting his waist, “Here I have a gun. Do what you can!” A brazen display of the same attitude.
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This belligerent attitude was also put on show last week when dozens of Maoist activists, including cadres of the seven parties, attacked a gathering of RPP-Nepal, a pro-royalist party, in Jhapa. The monarchists were severely beaten up and their faces were blackened. RPP-Nepal Chairman Rabindra Nath Sharma was forcibly draped with a string of shoes around his neck. Here if you say the monarchists, too, have the right to put forward their voice in a peaceful way, you risk being labeled a royalist. A free and fair atmosphere (one catchword being oft repeated) in which to conduct any business means just that, free to be allowed to express different opinions and to be fairly treated in regard. This is what is Loktantra.
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If one set of rules is allowed for just one set, then you can just throw democratic principles out the window. Because it will smack of discrimination.
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With the Maoists now on the threshold of joining the interim government and their top brass bargaining hard for maximum ministerial berths inside the eight-party meeting rooms, it’s time for some soul-searching. Outside these decision-making corridors, their cadres must stop their excesses. Those who are selling the dream of transforming the country within a few years should first transform themselves, rejecting what is in effect bigotry and accepting and practicing the culture of tolerance and co-existence.
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Who knows better than the Maoists themselves about the consequences of not being listened to. After all, they themselves had started their People’s War when their 41-point demand was turned down by the then government in 1996.
Posted on: 2007-03-21 12:58:29

The Way to National Unity

Hari Lal Shrestha, owner of the Hotel Woodlands, sporting the Maoist-approved eye badge given to all business owners in Kathmandu these days.

Perhaps now we can all agree on one thing: The Maoists are bent on doing things their way and their way only. Unfortunately, their way involves-- and always has involved-- coercion and violence.

Witness the most recent beating of Hari Lal Shrestha, owner of the Hotel Woodlands. As if that crappy hotel didn't have enough problems, Maoists abduct ol' Hari and beat the shit out of him for suspending two workers.

This is the Maoist approach to any form of dissent.

Maoists control and have forcibly "unionized" hotel workers across the Kathmandu valley. Demands of even the laziest workers start from an extortive 20% pay increase to drastically decreased duties. Plus, insubordinate, late, inept or dishonest employess can no longer be disciplined or fired for fear of Maoist retaliation.

Basically, the inmates are running the assylum. Unfortunately, in a typical Maoist nation-building mis-cue, this will hit Nepal in one of its only functioning and profitable industries: Tourism. Nepal will no longer be that nice haven of inexpensive yet quality lodging. Now, all we'll get is bad service and high prices thanks to the "Fierce One."

But alas, there are the stirrings of national unity in all of this. The Nepal Internet servers have gone off line for a while in a protesting show of solidarity with poor ol' Hari the hotel owner. Plus, business owners have allied and are demanding protection from the government (fat chance) against such Maoist intimidation. Could this be the rumbling of a true populist movement?

Those of you who, in the past, have insisted on showing off your English educations by comparing your little Jana Andolan farce of last April with the French revolution may want to take note. The French revolution only succeeded when the Proletariat and business classes were brought on board-- just like we are seeing in Nepal now. The bottom line is: you need rich and influential business people on your side if you want a good coup; business leaders in Nepal are getting fed up now so we are approaching the boiling point. We are witnessing the formation of the foundations of a REAL revolutionary movement, thinks blogdai.

We are also just now starting to wake up to the fact that the Maoists:

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-Have never honored any ceasefire, peacetalk or agreement with Nepal's government or King, NEVER!

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-Maoists have never backed down one inch from their violent ideological madness.

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-Maosts have increased their presence and violence throughout Nepal.

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-Maoists have used every contact with the world community to further their aims rather than compromise. (Cantonments abandoned, arms falsified)

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-Prachanda has no clue about how to run a government. If you can't control your own cadres, how you gonna' control a parliament? You can't expect to govern with ideological nonsense and conspiracy theories.

*

-And above all, Maoists don't compromise and DON'T NEGOTIATE.

So, let's start our journey towards national unity by agreeing on one thing:

THE MAOISTS MUST GO!

THE MAOISTS MUST GO!

THE MAOISTS MUST GO!

Put out the fliers, and spread the word to every village: this may be the only rallying point we will ever see.

-=blogdai

The Big Democracy Smack-Down

Norman Rockwell's famous "Freedom of Speech" (Image and concept forbidden by order of SPAM)

The first glimmer, the first hope. A real democratic principle forced its way to the surface of Nepali politics this week--for the first time.

Ironically, it was SPAM, that "Axis of Idiots" who set the wheels of this holy apparition in motion.

Ol' deposed King G. started this thing by simply giving a speech on Democracy Day. It was a heartfelt effort that showed a flawed man in turmoil saying he was "compelled" to take over the government when he did. He tacitly acknowledged his flaws yet eloquently revealed a fairly good sense of democratic philosophy and practice. His speech didn't reveal State secrets, it didn't directly harm anyone, and it DID sound like a plea for political sanity. This was no more than a citizen exercising the most democratic of freedoms: the freedom to criticise one's government--more commonly known as Freedom of Speech.

So, what do our boys at SPAM do? Denounce the whole speech as undemocratic, counterproductive, smelly and everything else they thought applicable. Something had to be done, they all said. We must punish the King for speaking out against us. (My how the boys are starting to sound more like Maoists every day). Let's pass some sort of decision to officially go after the King for this travesty. Let's get him good this time. No one should be allowed to criticise us, said the boys at the pig-trough.

But then it came. A clear and beautiful strike from the sword of Manjushree. Thursday, the Chairman of Nepal's Bar Association (NBA), Bishowkanta Mainali said that there is no legal provision to penalise the King. Basically, all the government can do is condemn the speech and that's that. The King is no longer the head of state and is simply stating his opinion.

Perfect, beautiful. You can't hold a good democratic principle down when there's someone sane ready with the proper interpretation.

But blogdai fears we haven't heard the last from our royally punitive SPAM (or should I say, spaM). Look for them to go around the sound advice of the Nepal Bar and pass some meaningless law or amend their phony interim constitution once again so that anyone speaking ill of the government can be punished. They'll keep fudging their little piece of paper until they've conceived a document that Mussolini himself would be proud to sign.

When will the lazy and the moronic members of the world community come to their senses and realize that spaM continues to reject all things democratic?

-=blogdai

The Problem With Guns

The Problem With Guns

--In Nepal, we don't even know Prachanda's troop strength and yet Ian Martin feels he can adequately measure and lock up Maoist arms.

--We have no estimate and count of the number of weapons Maoists posess so Ian can claim his shallow success even if Prachanda brings him plow-blades; and the Maoists can maintain their strike capability and power without anyone holding them to any form of real accountability.

--The Maoist can use anyone to turn in anything and it makes them look like compliant heroes.

--The comprehensively futile exercise of locking them up shows just how bereft the UN is of tangible, credible ideas for solving Nepal's crisis.

--The very act of trying to lock up Maoist arms give an impression to the world that the Maoists are a credible, unified force--they are not.

--The very fact that a UN troglodite like Ian Martin is sent to Nepal specifically to deal with the arms threat posed by Maoists, elevates the prestige and stature of Prachanda's rebellious rabble to that of cohesive entity capable of effecting events on a national level--they cannot


The Problem With Guns

--Is that, even though they may be locked up, THEY ARE STILL AROUND. This fact alone is enough to intimidate villagers in the coming(?) Constituent Assembly elections.

--Lies in the fact that locking them up means nothing when those who use guns to brutalize and intimidate possess the keys to the locks.

--They are attention-grabbers. So much so that ineffective organizations like the UN feel they can score major credibility on the world stage by pretending to effectively deal with weapons issues.

The Problem With Guns is that Prachanda controls the process. He threatens to thward CA elections unless he's in the interim government; Girija says no way until arms registration is finished; and the very next day, Ian says: "ok, we're finished".

No matter what Ian or anyone tells us, we should remember this: Maoists are not Maoists without guns. The two are inseparable.

-=blogdai

Blogdai's Radical Idea

"The Donald" calmly discussing plans for his new "Trump Durbar Towers" with a local real estate developer.


We can't seem to govern ourselves--thugs and crooks are running the country-- and foreign media pundits and journalists don't have enough stake in Nepal's problems to worry about an accurate reporting of events. So what can we do to save Nepal and make ourselves impossible to ignore?

1. Make Nepal an international tax haven. Rich foreigners fleeing tax reporting rules in their home country will take a keen interest in preserving Nepal should their little tax shelter be compromised. Allow corporate and maritime registration, if possible, to further benefit the greedy dodgers.

2. Eliminate all visa and foreign employment restrictions, to a point. Nepal has already mulled-over this idea, but greedy bureaucrats just couldn't bring themselves to releasing their grip on all those visa fees. Give everyone 6-months free, like Thailand only better. Let foreigners hold jobs that Nepalis either can't or won't. Give Nepalis first hiring preference, of course.

3. Encourage foreign investments. Allow foreigners to own property outright. Or, like Mexico, have 30-100 year land leases available to foreigners. Let anyone who wants, open a business in Nepal as long as there is a Nepali partner. And, for God's sake, make the Rupee something that is readily convertible on a world exchange. Stop tying Nepal's currency to the Indian exchange. Allow the free transfer of funding to other countries. This alone has been perhaps the single greatest impediment to foreign investment. You can put money into Nepal, you just can't get it out. Throw in an independent economic oversight board with extra-governmental authority and strict anti-trust laws and that should go a long way towards stabilizing Nepal's business climate.

4. Allow foreigners to enter the political process. Give them a limited number of voices in Parliament. Just having a few foreigners will make the world pay more attention to Nepal's political landscape. Nepal desperately needs some political expertise on the governmental front. Smart people from around the world with smart ideas can only improve the competency of our parliament. ANYTHING would be an improvement.

5. Open Nepal's doors to foreign media bureaus. Build a Media Center at the government's expense. A catch-all complex. Give Reuters, Bloomberg, the BBC and all the other Western media giants, who've been getting the story wrong because of their over-reliance on SPAM-biased Kantipur, a free media space. Let them live on the ground and get their own stories.


All of this is designed for one purpose: to make the rest of the world an actual stakeholder in the success of Nepal as an independent nation. Isolation and restriction are Nepal's worst enemy and, consequently, Girija and Prachanda's best friend. To get the world's attention, sympathy and accurate appraisal, Nepal needs a jump-start.

Time to let the barbarians through the gate.

-=blogdai

In Quite a State

“In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”

More than two hundred years after Karl Marx made this observation about modernity, I observe the same dialectic in Nepal:

Nepal is a nation unique; where democracy gives birth to unelected oligarchy and peace agreements lead to continued violence. Nepal is a country where terrorists are hailed as hero’s and thieves are appointed to govern. I submit this because:

1. The mandate of parliament has run its course and a handful of unelected men now govern Nepal. Make no mistakes they are an oligarchy. Together they decide the future of our nation but their promises always seem to be tomorrow.

2. At the centre of this oligarchy are two men: Koirala and Prachanda. The former is seeking to impress upon history his importance before he dies of ill health and the other is the most skillful politician of his generation. When Prachanda becomes a widow, what then?

3. They have no mandate other than to 1.) bring peace and then 2.) hold elections. Aren’t they claiming to do in a year what the King claimed to be able to do in 2?

4. A peace agreement was signed but violence has not ceased; Maoist continue their rampage of violence throughout the countryside, abducting, persecuting and bribing their way to influence. Do you not remember the behaviour of the Maoists before they became our heros?

Nepal is a state unique; where justice is rewarded with persecution and law is forged with crime. The cornerstone of any demoracy is law and order and the stability that it brings. In our nation, protest is a form of election. If you would like to be heard and for the government to yield to your demands then protest is the finest form of democracy. Burn tires, vandalise buildings, throw stones, attack people –who began this political practice?

This is a government unique; democratic politicians are eroding democracy with their contempt for the people. They offer us solutions to problems that they have created over the last decade and they describe themselves as leaders of men. Is it not patronising for them to think that we can not see that we are where we are because they can not govern?

I can overlook the corruption of men who govern and manage but I refuse to overlook incompetence and ignorance in my politicians.

Nepal is a country unique; were governance leads to the erosion of state authority. The people point at the politicians and the politicians point at the system and fill the constitution with problems. The problem, you must understand, is that the autocratic King, the constitution, India, the Madheshi’s, the American government and Charlie Chaplin are to blame for our failings to govern.

In my humble opinion our problems are symptomatic of a deeper illness-

Our failure to govern ourselves.

New Years News and Nothings

A new flag to go with our new Constitution

We do this from time to time. Blogdai likes to mop up stray thoughts that don't seem to fit into a proper column anywhere. Lots of debate fuel, nonetheless. -=BD

----150 days and counting until the Constituent Assembly Elections officially do not occur.

----Thanks Girija for covering your ass at our expense. Giving a weak, token objection to the new constitution's provision for absolute PM power and then passing the damn thing through anyway tells us a lot. It tells us you know its wrong but you'd rather have the power.

----Gotta love Bangladesh president Iajuddin Ahmed. In a very Nepal-like gesture, he suspends elections indefinitely yet decided to stay in power. Now he has finally been removed, but, nonetheless, there seems to be an uncanny aversion to democratic elections in all of India's satellite states (oops!) these days. No wonder, free elections lead to independent thought and governance--can't have that now, can we India?

----Anyone wonder just what power this alleged Constituent Assembly will have now? It has never been mentioned, in light of this new interim constitution, just exactly how much power the CA can wield. Will they provide an actual check and balance mechanism? Since they are not party members, they will have no lawmaking authority whatsoever according to Girija's new constitution. Hmmm....

----Home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula seems idealy positioned to take over after Girija croaks. He's nasty. He hasn't a clue about democratic ideals, and he blends well with Maoist absolutisms. So, Sujata will make a brief run, but blogdai thinks Sitaula will be the new man-- provided the Maoists don't just cancel the whole process and install their own government.

----It's been eerily quiet here at blogdai on the screaming-little-boy-idealist front. Haven't heard a peep from them in months. It must be tough waking up from your little Jana Andolan bender only to get yourselves arrested by protesting in front of Girija's house.

----Come to think of it, where are those loud-mouthed "restore press freedom" canaries now that the Maoists have threatened to silence the press if they go against the party line? I guess it's ok for the Maoists to beat the crap out of you when you try to enter their meeting; at least it's not mean old King G., right? No surprise, since Kantipur is loyal to Girija, that the press is silent on such issues.

----Oh thank the heavens for girija's wisdom. He says that the only way to solve the Mahdesi problem is through dialogue. Funny, all the Mahdesi are doing is following Girija's brand of jana andolan "dialogue" by taking to the streets. You create the culture of riots, babu, be prepared to govern with them as well.

-=blogdai

A Gllimmer of Hope....Dashed

Blogdai almost chewed on the predictions made last year. Almost.

Prachanda sporting his new "People's crown" for use in the near future

We read today that Prachanda is dissolving all his "People's" army units and administrative centers in the villages and cooperating with full force to "Make the Constituent Assembly elections a success.."

Blogdai was heartened, encouraged and ready to eat crow at this pronouncement. Could Prachanda really have thrown in the towel? Was my long-standing suspicion that Prachanda was playing tough-guy only so that Girija would take him seriously as a political force confirmed? If so, I was ready to slam Girija, yet again, for his marginalizing of any political force that was not in his inner, corrupt circle of greed. Lives were lost, I would have written, because of Girija's obstinance and its resultant Maoist violence. It could have all been solved by just acknowledging a fledgling Maoist movement years ago and inviting them to the parliamentary pig-trough.

Couple Prachanda's announcement with the actual, official recognition of the CPM-Maoist party as part of the new constitution; and the fact that Ian Martin might just have stumbled into doing something useful by documenting the names of each Maoist. (Forget arms cantonments--they are a ridiculous shell-game) and things were starting to look pretty good in the eyes of cynical ol' blogdai.

BUT.... hang on, there. As I eagerly read through the article I found that "The Fierce One" is only re-configuring the same old Maoist party line he's always spouted. When asked if his new concession means that he'll be joining the government and acting like a good boy, Prachanda replies--in what could only be described as a frighteningly comical contradiction--with:

"We want to reach the ultimate aim of communist system based on Marxism, Leninism and Maoism," he told BBC Nepali service, adding that the democratic republic system and people's democratic system will lead to that final aim. "

He hasn't budged. When will we learn that he never will. Characterizing democracy as a precursor to a Communist government is pure madness.

Prachanda is playing us all like a cheap Thamel saranghi. Now that his party's name appears in the interim "constitution," he can work to take over the government from the inside. He's still got his guns if he needs them. Locked-up means nothing if Ian gives you the key!

And oh, yes, the forward-thinking Prachanda cannot contain his joy at his future prospects. He states that "in case of his party coming to power, he would not live in any 'palace' ".

-=blogdai

"Interim" Anarchy

Time for a little reality after the major Western media outlets like Bloomberg and the Washington Post trumpet the Maoists giving up arms and joining the parliament. What a sad joke this is. The lazy Western media has never once waivered from their "we don't care what happens in Nepal, as long as they call it democracy" stance. Blogdai is sick of it. So, I've reprinted a very fine analysis of Nepal's interim constitution from one of the managing editors of "The Spotlight," Keshab Poudel. Look for blogdai's blue comments in places where I just can't keep my mouth shut. -=BD


Dictatorship of Eight Parties?

The interim constitution is definite to pave the way for the dictatorship of eight parties denying the basic rights of citizens to share power

By Keshab Poudel

Despite the glaring lacunae in the draft of interim constitution, the leaders of eight political parties have agreed to promulgate it on January 15 undermining the concerns expressed by lawyers, judges and other members of civil society and ethnic groups.

A summit meeting of top leaders of eight political parties on January 8, 2007 at prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar unanimously fixed the date for announcement of new constitution.

According to the agreement, the draft will be presented in the House of Representatives on January 15 and it will be promulgated after brief discussion. The same day interim parliament will be formed and it will endorse the interim constitution. (right, no consultations, no checks and balances; how autocratic King Girija)

“After the promulgation of this interim constitution, I as a citizen of this country cannot be a member of parliament, if I don’t belong to the SPA+Maoists alliance party. As I cannot be the member of parliament, I cannot be in government too. They have gracefully provided me an opportunity to cast my vote for the elections of the members of Constituent Assembly,” said a political analyst. (which will never happen, and if it does it will be kept separate and away from the reins of power--an ineffective and token body)

Seven parties plus Maoist have changed the popular word democracy to Loktantra and by that they say they are going to build a new Nepal . As morning shows the day, on the auspices of eight party alliance, one can easily guess how the elections for the Constituent Assembly would be held and what would be the results coming out of it.

Objectionable Parts

There are many objectionable things in it. Most unprincipled and unwise article is related to the eligibility of a citizen to share power. A person who does not belong to any of the eight parties will have no right to be the member of parliament as well as in the government.

“Most objectionable part in the present draft is that people have been deprived to be the members of parliament as well as to be in the government if they don’t belong to any of the eight party alliance constituents,” said the analyst. “The previous constitution of 1990 had made the common people sovereign with power as well as dignity too. The present draft has created two categories of citizens - one who belong to eight parties alliance are to make laws to govern and rest of the population are supposed to put them into power by casting their votes and abiding by their laws and pay taxes.”

Former prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, who was popularly elected for several times in parliament, now will not have a seat in the parliament in case eight parties find his role is ‘against Loktantric Andolan.’ “Compared to that, the present constitution of 1990 gives opportunity to every Nepali to be the member of parliament as well as run the government without any discretion of the political faith and alliance,” said the analyst. (sounds a bit like old Soviet Russia. Thanks Prachanda! It's clear Girija has sold the Nepali soul to the communist ideal)

Similarly, Pashupati Sumsher Rana’s RPP, too, will have similar fate though they have nationwide party organizations and had opposed the Royal take over. Thapa and Rana will have to prove their faith and commitment in front of eight party leaders who under the constitution can decide qualification and disqualification of their membership. On the ground of holding different views, several other such members who had not committed any crime or offence would also be denied entry to the new parliament. (so much for opposing views as a counterbalance to runaway power. No checks and balances here. Facism anyone?)

“In this new version of democracy and in the map of new Nepal , persons will be deprived from their due positions mainly because of their views and not due to any omission or commission,” said the analyst. “At par with the one idea state, a blue print has been laid down which would prevail over the future shape of constitution after the restricted and guided process of Constituent Assembly.”

According to analysts, in this new Nepal, leader of one-man party Narayan Man Bijujkchhe Rohit, who has always been criticizing his alliance parties alleging that they are being instrumental to diminish Nepal’s position to Sikkim and Bhutan, will be in power. But not the party with national presence like Surya Bahadur Thapa’s Jansakti and Pashupati Sumsher Rana’s RPP.

Eight Parties’ Monopoly

The article 38 of the interim statute states that prime minister will be chosen under the political understanding of eight political parties. The article explicitly says eight parties will include Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepali Congress (Democratic), United People’s Front, Nepal Sadvabana Party (Anandidevi), Nepal Workers and Peasant Party, United Left Front and CPN-Maoist. (meet Nepal's new Politbureau)

Monopolizing power further, the article 45 says there will be 330 members in the interim parliament including 209 members of previous parliament, 73 nominated by Nepal Communist Party - Maoists and 48 other nominated under various bases. (They've created an insurmountable majority. You can't challenge it unless you are in one of the parties and all the party members are in the majority. This is a clear and classic rubber-stamp puppet autocracy. A complete sham)

Under the article 45 (2), leaders of eight parties can bar any member by terming them to have been affiliated with the group of anti People’s Movement. These clauses restrict other political parties’ to take part in the political process.

Under the party registration, the eight parties secured privileges putting certain conditions including the requirement of 10,000 signatures of voters to register new political parties. Finally, they have to express their faith in the letter and spirit of the constitution, which is again defined by eight parties.

In the eight party alliance, majority of them have no stake of their ideology because they don’t hold a faith in multiparty plural democracy but how the two splinters of Nepali Congress as democratic parties are going to explain to the people as well as build up their image in the history by surrendering to a totalitarian model of governance remains to be seen.

Anger Over Judges

Even before the agreement of the leaders of eight parties, on January 7, Supreme Court judged had made certain unanimous suggestions demanding to make the judiciary more independent. However, demanding the independence of judiciary seems to be a crime in the eyes of eight party alliance.

Though the suggestion for independent judiciary is not for the judges and courts, it is for the protection of rights of citizens, but parties condemned this professional move as a political ploy.

“Judges cannot make decision on the issue of amendment of constitution. Their decision is politically motivated,” said CPN-UML leader Jhalnath Khanal, who even disclosed a week ago that many clauses were added in the draft without their consent. In recent reactions, political parties are looking at the interim constitution as a political document.

“The constitution is not only a political document or peace agreement of eight political parties but it is a principle law of the land of 25 million Nepali people,” said advocate Kumar Regmi.

The judges have not only expressed their disagreement over the draft, they have also proposed practical and reasonable alternatives. For instance, they have proposed that judges should be appointed by judicial council till the position of head of the state is clear, the oath of office should be administered by that constitutional body instead of the prime minister and executive head, the judicial council should have more members from the judges and so on.

“There must be check and balance among executive, judiciary and legislature organs of the state. Democracy cannot function properly if one of these organs is made more powerful. We have to follow this. I think prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has rightly objected against concentrating power on prime minister,” said Nepali Congress leader Govinda Raj Joshi. (It was lip service from ol' Babu. He never intended to change a thing. How hard did he fight for these "checks and balances?" I rest my case. )

Against the Dissenting Opinion

The remarks and reactions of communist and liberal democratic leaders are clear as they are against citizen’s right to dissent - opening a new way for absolutism of eight parties in Nepal .

“Judges are not made to write the constitution and they are not the persons who can say what kind of constitutional system the country requires. It is for the politicians to decide,” said Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula. “The constitution will promulgate as per wishes of eight parties not as per wishes of judges,” thundered Sitaula who even overrode prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s views on certain reservations on constitution. (Scary. Saying that only the corrupt and inept politicians are qualified to write a supposedly democratic document like a constitution, spell disaster for Nepal. India couldn't be happier.)

After observing reactions from various quarters, judges of Supreme Court have been forced to speak their conscience regarding the independence of judiciary and higher values of constitutionalism after serious deliberations among them. “At a time when the leaders of government have been threatening and issuing warnings to all including the judges for their safety of tenure, the judges of supreme court have risked their jobs and security to uphold the ideals which Nepal ’s judiciary has been building up brick by brick since the great change of 1951,” said the political analyst.

When reactions of members of liberal democratic parties like home minister Sitauala is such, one does not have to say anything about the opinion of followers of dictatorship of proletariat like CPN-Maoist and CPN-UML leaders.

“Judiciary still has the hangover of feudalist Ranas. Our demand of reappointment of judges has been justified following the decision of Supreme Court,” said CPN-Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai commenting on the decision of Supreme Court. “Such judges must be removed who oppose the document prepared by eight parties.” (A fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the judiciary from a complete moron. Judiciaries interperet constitutionality. They enforce adherence to the established constitution and protect citizens from wayward autocratic politicians re-writing or ignoring constitutional provisions.)

Other lawyers argue that the independent judiciary is prerequisite for democracy. “Independent judiciary is one of the pre-requisites of any democratic system of the world. We want to see independent and competent judiciary not a committed judiciary,” said advocate Kumar Regmi. “Judges have not demanded that they want increase of salary or their individual facilities but they want to incorporate the fundamental of the independent judiciary in the interim constitution.”

Orwellian Description

“An Orwellian description has appropriately been adopted here declaring all are equals but some are more than equals. Ruling class of eight party alliance has emerged under a leadership of octogenarian democrat Girija Prasad Koirala who had ignored all values and ideals popularized by his own august brother, B.P. Koirala,” said a political analyst.

Although Nepali Congress is claming as a party of B.P. Koirala, they have sacrificed all his ideals for personal gains. “B.P. Koirala is a brand name for the respectable image in the people. But his ideas are difficult to be followed with the same idealism and integrity. Since the demise of B.P. Koirala, all the time Nepali Congress leaders are assuming their followers and common people that they fully adhere to his ideas but people fail to see that in practice,” said the analyst. “The present alliance of Nepali Congress was unholy and therefore unethical. It is a great tragedy of a great legacy that they are going to declare a constitution which creates two categories of citizens one who can be in power due to their political alliances and another who cannot be.”

Two Years of Blogdai

Quiz: Ambassador Moriarty is....

1. Displaying the number of people in his office who do not ignore him.

2. Rating, on a scale of 1 to 10, his concern for Nepal.

3. CELBRATING BLOGDAI'S SECOND ANNIVERSARY

Well, we made it. We've been teasing, infuriating, commenting and pontificating on all things political and Nepali for two full years now. It's been a challenge.

A few blogdai facts on this our anniversary:

1. We've received around 172,000 hits of which, in this past year, roughly 30% are newbies.

2. We've had browsers and commentary from Maoists, anarchists, political gurus, famous journalists, the Royal Palace, the U.S. State Department, various intelligence agencies and the diplomatic community.

3. We've been quoted in the media as being "insightful," "well-written," "leftist," "rightist," "populist," "royalist," "..probably the best blog about Nepal," and "..a complete farce."

4. blogdai has been nominated as person of the year at Sahja.com; considered a positive force for 2006 by nepalmonitor.com; had multiple-copycat blogs spring up as well as more than a few "anti-blogdai" sites; and have seen one of our targets of vitriol tragically pass away.

I've sent out a few anniversary announcements. The tributes (but mostly scorn) are pouring in. Here's a few from some of our favorites:

Why is the discussion that goes on over the net so important? Any stratgeic process today has three dimensions: conceputal, geographic, and virtual. Thus armed politics, as presently being played out in Nepal -- there certainly is no peace! -- takes place in different spaces. First, there is the world of categories -- violence versus nonviolence, the mass line versus the united front, and so on. Second, there is geographic space, such as comparing what is happening in the Kathmandu Valley versus the situation in Nepalgunj. Finally, the dominance of the media means that everything that goesw on tangibly also occurs in virtual space. Creating the impression that a state is not worth fighting for, to use the Nepal case, is the sort of campaign the internet has proved adept at facilitating. Even as we speak, the Maoists have fellow travellers acting on their behalf in the U.S., taking advantage of our political freedoms to push their agenda over the net. Only through continuing the campaign of which Blogdai has been such an important part -- illuminating truth and reality (the first a concept, the second a virtual as much as an actual category) -- can Nepalis desiring a decent future hope to triumph over the forces of chaos and terror.

-Dr. Thomas A. Marks

Always a relevant comment from Dr. Marks.

It is indeed my pleasure to see Blogdai celebrating the second anniversary of his successful presence in Nepali blogging world. I have always quietly admired Blogdai's blog for his ideas on various posts. [The only thing I hate about Blogdai is the terribly long front page of the site which makes it almost impossible for me to see his page from my home connection.] I might not agree with some of his posts but I appreciate his way of putting forward the opinion. Important thing is that all kinds of opinions are necessary for a democracy to be vibrant. There are always differences in perspectives but we are in the same side: the blog side. Blogging is a true form of democracy via which you can voice your opinion. We saw the importance of blogs when democracy was suspended in Nepal. This is what a BBC web site column wrote about the role of blogs in Nepal: "And with Google News, which doesn't generally carry weblogs, including reports from United We Blog!, the stakes are a lot higher. In places like Nepal and Iran , the big questions about weblogs are questions about the future of a free press." ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4111330.stm )
Blogging as a medium of expression is becoming popular in Nepali internet users, especially among Nepali journalists, in the past two years. When I started blogging in Wagle Street Journal (www.wagle.com.np/dinwag) [or latter in United We Blog (www.blog.com.np)] nearly two and half years ago, I could see no blogs about Nepal or from Nepal. If I am not mistaken there were no Nepalis blogging at that time. When I wanted to talk about blogs with my friends in newspaper, they would give strange look to my face as if they were silently telling 'what the hell are you talking about?' The situation has changed. Now I see many young people in Kathmandu and other Nepali students using blogging as a medium of expression. The localized words like Blogdai were so popular that we saw words like Blogbahini, Bloghabadur and Blogmandu in Nepali blogosphere. Nepali blogs are talking about bloggers daily lives, politics, society and what not. Voices are necessary in democracy. They are more important in a transitional situation like in today's Nepal. With blogs, we have got the freedom to express ourselves and we should never forget to use that freedom responsibly. Happy birthday, Blogdai! Keep talking, keep blogging!!

-Dinesh Wagle (United We Blog)

So if any of you screaming little revolutionary boys wants to know about freedom of speech and democracy, consider this last comment. Dinesh dai and I are often, no, religiously on the opposite end of the political spectrum yet we both see the need and importance of expressing good ideas and frommenting discussion. Democracy? You better believe it. It is an honor to have the thoughts of my more-than-my-match adversary presented here. Oh, hell, yes, I'll even let him plug his other sites as well, ha!

Congratulations on your important milestone! While everyone seems to be going gong-ho about the realpolitiks in Nepal, you preserve the virtue of doubt which has become so scarce these days in our country. You remind everyone that there is an important other side in our national consciousness. The mindlessly agitated folks could have learned from you how to use reason with passion, and not just passion without reason. Many happy returns!

-DharmAdhikari (nepalmonitor.com)

Dharma's nepalmonitor.com is the single most informative clearing house for world news regarding Nepal. His commentary is unsurpassed. If you are not reading it daily like blogdai, you are not getting the whole story on Nepal. He is the best at what he does: no one else even comes close.

So, thanks to all our regulars and anon's, keep up the good thoughts and ideas. We will have some surprises this year so hang in there and keep posting. We only have one rule here at blogdai:

It's not who you are, it's what you say.

-=blogdui

The Big Ride

Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokhrel wonders why he has to tell the government to do its job.

We're being taken for a big ride here in Nepal.

Any government that pretends toward democracy will hold elections to prove their committment to the concept.

We have just the opposite occuring in Nepal and we're too ignorant to recognize it.

Rather than do whatever it takes to make sure the voice and will of the Nepali people can be expressed through balloting, our leaders are doing whatever it takes to sabotage the process.

As early as last November and as recently as December 24, K.P. Oli has sounded the alarm that it's the Maoist's fault if Constituent Assembly elections are not held. Rather than chiding the Maoists for their continued brutality or seeking some official parliamentary position on the Maoists behaviour, Oli immediately claims the elections are in jeopardy. What democrcatic courage!

Perhaps the most concrete example of Koirala and his boys having no intention of electing anyone for any reason comes from Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokhrel. Poor Pokhrel dai. He has to plead with his government to send representatives to the districts so that accurate voter roles can be established. Pokhrel needs 26,000 election representatives for each voting district as soon as possible. Koirala has appointed only 12 so far. Blogdai wagers that even these commissioners are patronage favorites of ol' Babu and have no intention of lifting a finger to help along any elections. Plus, a little document known as the "Election Code of Conduct" has yet to be put forth: a document that is necessary to the proper set-up, conduct and tallying of election results. So, essentially, the logistics of holding a fair elections have not even been considered; the rules are not in place and there's no government representatives supervising the process--and this is 6 months from the scheduled CA election!

Even Koirala has jumped on the bandwagon. January 1, he too held the Maoists responsible for any cancelled elections. Seems the old man has a lot on his plate these days. Maoists won't even allow police stations in the VDC's and Babu continues to enrage Prachanda with his refusal to rethink his very imperial ambassadorial appointments.

All of this would suit the Maoists just fine. They'd prefer to have the villages under their control. No need giving people hope through some silly elections, right?

Prachanda will do all he can to thwart the elections. It'll be easy since he's on the same page as Koirala in this regard.

These people never intended to hold elections. They never will. The weight of increased world scrutiny is the only motiviating force behind these fake election promises anyway. Parliament, by their eagerness to pull the plug on elections, is doing nothing more than looking for a face-saving way out of their day of electorial reckoning.

Go ahead, blame the Maoists, great leader Girija. Quit early. Don't fight for the one thing that would actually demonstrate a sense of national unity and governmental responsibility. Use the threat of cancelling your sham elections in the same fashion that you used the word democracy and the way you used the Nepali people through your phony Jana Andolan: as nothing more than tools to keep you in power.

So sit back, Nepal, and enjoy the ride; there's a lot more to come.



-=blogdai

The Big Difference

Thomas Jefferson understood it; Koirala never will

blogdai posted a well-received article here over a year ago. "Democracy and Trust." Check it out below if you have the time. The point is, the big difference between most Western forms of democratic government and the versions pretending to be "absolute democracy" by Koirala and his minions; or the "Republic" ideals loosely blathered by Prachanda, is that, to these men, "democracy" and "republic" are simply terms used to gain political legitimacy with an increasingly scrutinous world body. There was never, nor will there ever be, any sort of trust in the actual political systems that these words represent.

Let's take the Yanks for one example. (And these examples can apply to British Parliament and Franco-democratic principles as well). Just this past November, during a heated election, there was some controversy in a senatorial race in the state of Virginia. Votes were so close that incumbent senator Allen lost by a mere fraction of the popular vote. Now, under Virginia law, Mr. Allen had the RIGHT to demand a recount, and prolong this election to his ultimate satisfaction as it were. The kicker was, the entire recount would have been paid for by the State of Virginia! Basically, a free recount. To his credit, Mr. Allen felt that his higher duty was to respect the democratic process that showed him to be a clear, albeit narrow, loser and concede the election to his opponent. The point? Mr. Allen's goal--and blogdai believes this to be the single most important aspect of a democracy--was to preserve the integrity of the electoral system and thus preserve American representative democracy. Want a bigger example? Al Gore vs. George Bush: 'nuff said.

What we are getting at here is that the ONLY way a democracy or any type of representative or republican government will work is when all citizens and elected officials agree to follow the rules that preserve the system. Failing this, the system breaks down into chaos and self-interest-based posturing. Sound familiar?

So where does that put us and our beloved Nepal?

We have political leaders who were not elected to office. These same leaders say that they will never agree to a republican form of government and that "we will think" for the Nepali people. These same leaders haven't held an election in over 8 years yet claim a "mandate" from the citizens of Nepal.

We have their partners in crime, the Maoists, who have never once hinted at a compromise in their absolutist, outdated, communist principles. These same Maoists repeatedly violate the terms of a fairly negotiated ceasefire. They dictate their own rules, ignore Nepal's laws with their brutality, and are actively operating a parallel government.

What we have, in reality, is a pair of Kings, Koirala and Prachanda, trying to out maneuver each other for absolute control of Nepal.

Yet here they both stand, trumpeting to the world their committment to democracy and the "will of the People" while keeping their actions as far away from these ideals as possible. Couple that with the fact that there is not enough centralized agreement, in any form, to run and implement government policy in Nepal or follow through on any UN brokered agreement, and you have a questionably failed government just waiting for someone to properly slap the anarchy label on it.

The big difference? A sane, funtioning democratic form of government has an internalized committment from its citizens to preserve the system over all. In Nepal, self-interest and enrichment have always ruled the day.

-=blogdai

A Fundamental Disconnect

Ah yes, Nepal is on the road to peace. Stop being a pessimist, blogdai and get with the program, you say.

Well, let's just see what the "program" has to offer. Hmm. Today Richard Ragan of Nepal's brand of the World Food Program decried the petty transportation strike that is preventing vital food shipments from reaching the hungry in Jumla, Rolpa and Dolpo. So, where in our new government's agenda lies the resolution of this transport strike? Nowhere, that's where. The day-to-day issues facing Nepal are of no concern. We'll ignore them as always and maybe they'll go away.

And what about the fact that we seem to have two very different parties operating their own brand of government at the same time, without even a hint of compromise? Let it go. Things will work themselves out under this new atmosphere of hope. Just because none of these people have ever given the slightest indication of a willingness to compromise in the past does not mean that they won't now, miraculously, work out their differences and give up their individual power centers for the good of the common man, right?

Yes, let's get on the peace train with this new agreement with the Maoists, shall we? We in Nepal are so blind that we will trust these thugs again and again because we are too stupid to differentiate between what sounds hopeful and what the momentum of our own recent history has tried to teach us. Give the bums all the chances they want. They've never once gotten it right, but maybe this time....

Governments, democratic ones, allow for equal representation from all sectors of society through the election process. Elections? What are those? Forget the fact that the NC and the Maoists have unilaterally nominated--rather than elected--their own cronies to all governmental and interim government posts. The future is full of hope, who needs elections?

And what of democracy? We in Nepal think it means that we have the freedom to do whatever we want without responsibility to other members of society. Sounds like utopia! Governments, laws and Constitutions are mere formalities. If we truly want something, we take to the streets and throw stones until we get our way; how democratic!

Yes, this is the best chance for peace we've seen in a long time. So what if it turns out to be a shell-game to fool the UN and once all the moderators and peacekeepers are gone, Nepal goes back to the same ineffective "business as usual" corrupt government. Oh, and we'll just ignore the fact that Maoist atrocities are increasing; wouldn't want to put a gloomy face on such a historic and landmark peace agreement, would we?

I like democracy in Nepal. It's easy. All one has to do is give up. Let those with money and guns tell us what to do. Who cares if all the big democratic nations of the world are full of citizens who take a critical view of legislative actions and a keen interest in political ethics. That's just too much work for us Nepalis.

Blind trust is a lazy man's alternative to holding his government accountable.

-=blogdai

Winds of Change

Can you feel it?

Nepalis are getting fed-up. Maoist atrocities are increasing and it's the same old inept "business as usual" from Girija and his cronies.

An actual "People's Movement" is starting to take hold. For the first time, we see what appears to be mass, spontaneous outrage and intolerance of Maoist cruelty. Just a few days ago, thousands of citizens took to the streets in Jhapa in a mass display of disgust at Maoist atrocities. It seems one band of clueless cadres thought that playing dice and cards during Tihar was a Maoist moral no, no. Oops! For a group of violent little boys who claim to represent "The People," how could they have miscalculated so? Everyone knows you DO NOT mess with traditional gambling games during Dashain or Tihar. The little Maoists were subsequently thrashed and paraded naked through the streets.

Listen Prachanda, looking the other way and claiming that atrocities by your cadres is "not authorized" no longer holds sway in the villages. Retalliations for Maoist acts are increasing in numbers and people are tired of living in fear. Witness this report off Mercantile's site (paraphrased):


Irate by the continuous excesses of the Maoists, local people of Sarlahi vandalized two barriers at Ranijung area of the district put by the Maoists for collecting taxes from the vehicles plying at the street.
Local vandalized the barriers and chanted slogans against Maoists, protesting the Maoist’s act of taking into control a local youth and beaten him seriously in the charge of consuming alcohol on Tuesday.
The locals also warned Maoists not to collect any form of taxes in the area and also warned of dire consequences if they did not obey.
In another incident, seven people including four Maoists were injured, when villagers protesting the Maoist atrocities clashed with the Maoists in eastern Jhapa district on Tuesday evening, radio reports said.
Three locals and four Maoists were injured, when a group of 15 Maoists attacked locals, who were protesting against Maoist excesses at Kumari bazaar of the district.
The villagers taken into control four Maoists injured in the incident.
In yet another incident local people of Situwa bazaar of Dhankuta district organized Situwa bazaar bandh (Shut-down) and also blocked the Koshi highway protesting the Maoist excesses.
They protested the rebels move to take into control people playing cards in Tihar festival and confiscating money from them.
Maoist leadership however refutes such reports of Maoist excesses saying it is against the party policy, but they remained indifferent from the acts of their cadres. nepalnews.com pb Oct 25 06

Perhaps people are finally realizing that there is no central controlling mechanism running the Maoists. They are no more than roving gangs of autonomous thugs that must be dealt with on the ground level where they operate.

And then there is the Nepal Jana Tantrik party. blogdai loves this because such an organization is formed and gets its support under the same mandate that launched the Maoists to power: dissatisfaction withs the status quo. In this case, the dissatisfaction is not only with SPA ineptitude again, but with Maoisms brutal hand in the villages.

"An armed struggle has been declared from the far west to show disagreement with the current political activities under which all others except the seven political parties making up the SPA and the Maoists are being treated badly..." says the party. They plan a series of "sabotage" programs that will begin this December. We need to watch this closely.

First off, as Dr. Marks has told us, the Maoists will broach no rivals in the field. That is why they loved to knock-off UML's rural representatives. If this Jana Tantrik party is for real, look for real clashes with the Maoists. If this is in fact a true people's front, this could spell the end for Maoism in Nepal.

Next, and more critical, the Jana Tantrik party needs to downplay their "royal" support. This could turn them into no more than just another violent faction with its own unilateral political dogma. Maoists in different stripes, if you will. No, this party will succeed only if it is inclusive. It is enough to portray oneself as the lone voice willing to stand up to Maoist tyrrany and government inattention on behalf of rural citizens. These themes alone are enough to unify Nepal and get a wide base of public (not coerced) support. Is Jana Tantrik the catalyst for unity? Only time will tell.

The important thing is that there is a palpable realization that people are moving past their fears and taking matters into their own hands. Perhaps a true leader will emerge from this. A leader with public service and national unity as a goal.

-=blogdai

http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/oct/oct25/news10.php

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1211576.phP

Sabotage!

He's done it again. That ol' scenile reprobate can't keep his imperious tongue quiet.

Dammit! Why doesn't he just curl up and expire?

In a monumental act of singular hubris and sabotage, Girija Koirala says flatly that the Nepali Congress will not, under any circumstances, go for a republican form of government; and, oh, this will not affect either the peace talks or the 7-party alliance.

He's said it and done it all along; it's Girija's way or the highway. Remember back last year when Ol' Babu puffed out his ailing chest and proclaimed that only HE could bring the Maoists to the table? (See blogdai: "Absolutely Insane") He has only one speed and it's as autocratic as any monarch with a mean streak.

Now, do you think he's going to let any citizen have a voice through elections and possibly disrupt his unilateral proclamations? Not on your life. Girija never cared for the idea of a constituent assembly and as long as he's alive, there will NEVER be an election held for such a body. This is his fiefdom and he is King; make no mistake about it.

What does this say about the state of Nepali politics when we can find no one better than this insane old man to speak for us? Whether his statements were his "personal views" or not, the timing of their release shows a monumentally remedial grasp of the political process. You don't alienate people who are already half-way out the door, you warped old fart.

So now today, UML's number two elf, Bam Dev Guatam says that the UML will go for a republican government with or without the NC. Couple that with the fact that the Maoists are already strutting around Kathmandu issuing orders like they own the place; and yes, Girija, I can see what you mean when you say that the "alliance" will hold and that you can amost guarantee that talks will be a success. How absurd!

Let's take an inventory shall we? Talks break off and no concrete date is set for their resumption; Maoists are issuing orders and conducting police actions in the street; and a major fissure is developing in the "alliance" with the UML making multiple overtures about same. Freedom from responsibility pundits might say that this is just "messy old democracy" finding its way, but we might as well call this new government and their vigorous non-attempts at anything what it is:

A FAILURE!

-=blogdai

http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/oct/oct26/news10.php

http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/oct/oct26/news12.php

The Little Elf Makes His Play

Best buddies Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal joking about how much the guy behind them looks like Kunda Dixit


blogdai knew it. Some of you criticize blogdai for always making predictions and prognostications. Why do I do it? Simple; the players in our little drama have never learned from nor altered their past behaviours so it becomes easy to predict their future movements.

When we last mentioned Madhav Kumar Nepal we predicted that he would directly align with Maoist philosophy and politics. Well, today, The Little Elf's UML party throws a wrench into parliamentary unity(?). Today, the Himalayan times comes out with this ditty:

Saying that it should “play a vital role” in arriving at a deal with Maoists, the UML has made it clear that it will stand alongside the Maoist leadership on crucial questions.“We will have to focus on political issues tomorrow. "

This really is Madhav's only play; his only chance at political relevance. His UML has always talked the pro Maoist line and Madhav knows he is nothing without their partnership. Plus, if The Little Elf becomes a Maoist, he gets GUNS and the whole spectrum of political credibility and autonomy that military capability in Nepal provides.

This could bring about a big power shift in parliament. See what you get, Girija, by not compromising and not seeking concensus?

Those of us with wandering minds could easily forsee a huge political chasm forming with Girija and his increasingly feeble coalition on one side and Madhav and the Maoists on the other side. The RPP can't stand Girija either so it is not impossible for them to jump ship as well.

"Maoist Kumar Nepal:" Kinda' has a ring to it, don't you think?

-=blogdai

Prediction: Failure!

Prachanda gets off on the wrong foot at peacetalks by claiming to be able to "see right through" Girija's ears.


Maoist atrocities increasing, governmental ineptitude and stagnation firmly in control: What better condition could one ask for on the eve of the "talk of all talks" parley between Girija and Prachanda?

Let's see where we are as we stare into the abyss:

Girija's Government: In command of its own status quo, will not give up one ounce of governmental power to the Maoists. Girija has NEVER compromised his place at the head of the corruption table and will not start now. But, one small glimmer of hope: Girija knows he's under more scrutiny this time and is under pressure to actually accomplish something; but he just can't seem to bring himself to do anything useful. The talk of re-uniting with Deuba's NC factions are merely decoys designed to distract from the surging public cries that Girija's government is fractionated and worthless, so we can't look on this as an article of substance. SPA is becoming a marginal entity at best. They can't govern and they don't have guns. Girija needs guns and will be under pressure to find a way to get them.
Girija's failure scenario: The public will become increasingly anxious by Girija's dithering---and then, perhaps, the REAL REVOLUTION will gather some steam; or, the Maoists simply walk away from the table.

Prachanda' Maoists: Have never enjoyed so much power, recognition and world support (thanks UN!) as they do now. They may agree on paper for a disarmament, but they will NEVER give an inch in the countryside. With complete bufoons like Ian Martin telling Nepalis that the Maoists don't have to give up their guns until a political settlement is reached, Prachanda must feel fairly good about his chances. He's not only back-doored his murderous cadres into making a viable challenge for government control, he's had the backing of the world community to boot. Prachanda really has nothing to lose during this time of negotiation. blogdai thinks he'll use every excuse in the book to forward his position. Moriarty's meddling comments and SPA delays are the current finger-pointing exercises he's using as levereage to eventually get out of compromise and disarmament. Prachanda's failure scenario: Eventually, even the meat-headed fools at the UN will not be able to ignore the constant tally of atrocities committed by Prachanda's barely-controlled cadres and be forced to act on the international level.

The Weapons Issue: The only issue. In a land such as Nepal where government is worthless and inept, eventually, control will come down to those who can impose their will most convincingly. That leaves the Maoists and the King. Forget the army fighting for Girija and forget Maoist factions being a part of the army. None of this will ever happen because all involve one or both armed factions ceding at least some of their power; and armed power is increasingly becoming the only viable political currency.

The Final Failure Scenario: We all lose. Girija, once again facing his own political obscurity, will let the Maoists keep their guns. (Remember: Ian Martin said it was OK!) Girija needs to align himself with some group, any group, with the power of armed enforcement or else he's finished. Forget the army. They're still electing their own leaders and functioning autonomously while being fiercely loyal to the King. Nope, Girija has the Maoists at the table and will give away the farm to bring their guns on board and keep himself in power. How will he do it? Through some ineffective language that provides for something like "self-monitoring" of arms and an agreement "not to adversely influence" any rural politics.

blogdai says it here: The Maoists will walk away from these talks with everything they need-- and fully armed.


-=blogdai

Hey King: You Blew it!

No question. The King handled his little takeover poorly--but not for the reasons SPAM would have us believe. Blogdai has other views on G's Waterloo and why it evolved into the fiasco it became.

G. failed to prepare for his takeover. Had he done so, blogdai feels he would have incorporated something like the following strategy:

Never listen to the world. G. had the Parties and the Maoists looking for a place to hide and finding comfort in each other's ideologies. Would two such opposing political camps have allied had they not felt tremendous pressure and a need for self-preservation? G. should have kept going. Kept looking for the Maoists, kept up the fight and kept marginalizing and ignoring the parties. The fickle world community would have lost interest in Nepal soon enough and would have moved onto something more "news worthy."

Be different. Just visiting villages and shaking a few hands does not convince Nepalis that you are a man of the people. G. should have done something that would have showed everyone he meant business. First, offer any concrete initiative that would deal with and alleviate the Maoist support base--namely, land reform. Pull a George Bush and offer give aways to appease the masses. Eliminating the rural land barons would have guaranteed a larger base of citizen support and directly nullified one of Maoism's chief selling points. No? Then, how about offering some economic incentives like freer foreign investment? How about a stream-lined guest worker program? Progressive thought would have gone a long way in establishing G. as a new type of Royal.

Be sensitive to history. Only a fool would ignore the deep-seeded mistrust Nepalis have for royalty. G. compounded this suspicion after the royal massacre of beloved King Birendra. A statement, any statement acknowledging this sentiment and perhaps a gesture of transparency such as a re-opening of the incident to public scrutiny would help. Royal history is also a wealthy history. People despise Kings for this. G. should have addressed this by giving back portions of the royal fortune--very publicly--to citizens, groups, or to ideas that foster national unity. Eliminate the "greedy" exploiter label once and for all.

Throw out the bad apple. The people of Nepal will never get over the murder of a beloved artist at the hands of Paras. Plus, his exploits and thuggery shame Nepalis daily. Time for him to go. Send him abroad for an extended period of time on an extended mission of "diplomacy" or whatever. He loves taking bribes from China, so appease Big Northern Brother by sending Paras on repeated trade missions or what have you. The important thing is to get him out of Nepali consciousness for an extended period of time.

Control your army. When fighting a guerilla war, no participant is entirely clean. But, where was the outrage last week when Prachanda, when asked on a BBC call-in show what crimes innocent women and children committed that resulted in their torture and murder, said that "shit happens" in a war, and it's not his problem? No. The Western media is trained to see official soldierdom as a representation of world repression and the fact that these soldiers in Nepal serve a monarch naturally makes them all the more guilty. If G. had any foresight at all he would have anticipated this perspective and the microscope his troops would now be under and briefed his military accordingly. Absolute care should have been taken to avoid civilian casualties where possible, and absolutely no incidences of verifiable army atrocities tolerated. Very public disciplining of wayward or cruel military personnel would have sent a powerful message.

Don't hire imbeciles. Bringing back idiots from the Panchayat era to run the government was a major mistake. Tulsi Giri was a loose cannon early on and only stirred up dormant resentments among citizens. SPAM used these resentments to help mobilize people for their April protests, so reminding people of past repressive regimes created an easily manipulated rallying point around which SPAM crafted their protests. G. should have solicited the best and brightest new voices for his government. Those with an eye on the past, sure, but with a definite vision for the future and an actual understanding of the democratic process. This alone may have been enough to stave off protests. It certainly would have given a comparison point for citizens to guage the ineffectiveness of past Girija/Deuba governments and help them consign those two inept fossils to the dust-bin of obscurity.

-=blogdai

Democracy: Get Rid of It

Billions and Billions deceived daily!


I've had it. Finished. Sick of it. Democracy is worthless. Every two-bit dictator and government with something to hide knows they just have to use the word "democracy" to describe any action or atrocity, and the world Media, UN and human rights agencies will bend over and drool like a drunken prom date in a limo.

Democracy. She's become a cheap whore to the world's despots:

1994: Genera Sani Abacha, dictator of Nigeria repressed his people under the banner of democracy by holding fake elections that insured his victory and subsequently murdering pro-democracy supporters.
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1965: Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire had, according to our buddies at Amnesty International, vowed to keep Zaire "safe for democracy" only to use the statement as the usual cloak to torture his opponents and ignore the starvation of his people.

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Today: Anyone out there bother to check who's running the People's "Democratic" Republic of Korea?

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The U.S., supposedly the world's shining beacon of democratic practice insists on forcing their version of the term on a non-compliant world. How ironic. The Yanks can't even bring themselves to give other nations the freedom of choice to select their own systems. What has this done to the world's perception of democracy when its supposed greatest practicing nation uses a democratic banner to cloak its hegemony?

No, all that democracy can provide these days is another strategic tool that anyone can use to leverage any political position and stall world condemnation. I say, let's let the despotic autocrats and warlords of the world call whatever they want a democracy. We'll let them have the term. We've cheapened it enough.

I say, get rid of democracy! It's done, used up. We're now at the critical point in world history where just about everyone has lived by or heard about democracy long enough to know how to manipulate it for their own personal gains. There is no longer any novelty to democracy. Gone are the days when democracy meant public responsibility and public sacrifice. Enter now the new definition: mob rule. Let's see, how many "people power" movements have overthrown the Phillipine government since their initial successful effort? And, for that matter, since April has any group of Nepalis with an "issue" not chosen to take to the streets?

Girija and Prachanda have used democracy masterfully. They professed that the April movement would restore (the comically oxymoronic) "absolute democracy." Well Nepal, seen an election yet? Seen any attempt at democratic compromise or reconcilliation yet? Seen any kind of equal representation even being proposed yet?

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No, what we need is a breath of fresh air. Start a movement that incorporates all the beloved and sacred ideas of democracy as we knew it and just call it something else. I miss old favorites like: rule of law, the committment to the peaceful resolution of disputes, equal representation under the law, respect for minority opinions and rights and a few of those other pillars of old-school democratic thought. It would be nice to find a new home for such noble ideas.

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How about this: EQUALISM

Or this: UNITEDOCRACY

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Really, any term will work, as long as it's not democracy.

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-=blogdai

Utter Foolishness

Well, pat yourselves on the back, UN. Another job well botched.

I'm sure you feel just peachy about your accomplishments in Nepal. Through your influence and diplomatic skill you've managed to:

1. Give the Maoists exactly what they want.

2. Insure that any constituent assembly election will be neither fair nor reflect the will of the people of Nepal.

The little 5 point agreement submitted by SPAM to the UN is full of the usual boilerplate politician-speak--fully designed to be neither taken seriously nor acted upon by anyone. That is, until we come to point #3 which deals with the decommissioning of Maoist arms:

On the basis of the agreement to seek UN assistance in the “management of arms and armed personnel of both the sides”, qualified civilian personnel will be deployed to monitor and verify the confinement of CPN-M combatants and their weapons within the designated cantonment areas. Later, the modalities for all arrangements, including of arms and munitions, will be worked out among the parties and the UN.

And the UN bought it. If history tells us anything, when Nepali politicians or Maoists use the word "later" in a proclamation, it means "never." The only thing significant about this statement is that Steffan de Mistura and his UN delegation to Nepal were the ones who suggested this language and thus, gave world legitimacy to the Maoist's armed struggle.

Prachanda must be very pleased indeed. His army is now legitimized by the world community!

How pathetically naive and tragically sad. Unless the UN is prepared to maintain a permanent monitoring presence in every Nepali village, this is a recipe for disaster.

Having Maoists wait somewhere on the sidelines with guns still in hand ruins any chance of a fair constituent assembly election. Villagers have lived with Maoist threats and intimidation long enough to know that if they don't elect a Maoist representative to the constituent assembly, somewhere down the line, there will be Maoist retalliation. Maoist have already said they are not necessarily bound by any election results so any anti-Maoist election statement by any district is an invitation for Maoist violence.

This UN conceived, endorsed and implemented monitoring idea is going to get a lot of people killed.

Maoists must be fully disarmed before any election can be counted as fair. Their intimidation factor is too high. Witness the municipal elections of last year: candidates were threatened, abused and even killed by Maoists and their SPA minions.

Try telling any of that to the UN. They love to give away the house to appease any group, call it a compromise and claim a mediation victory.

This move will come back to haunt them.

-=blogdai

What We Must Do Part III: Hammer the Bastards

OPEN FORUM. Due to increased requests, blogdai will turn off the moderation feature and let everyone just go at it. We will do this from time to time and see how it evolves. We will, I'm afraid, have to reinstate the word verification function, lest we get innundated with blog spam. -=BD

Nepal is messed-up; or so the world keeps telling us. We do (did) get shoddy treatment in the Western media by all manner of pundits who have never been to Nepal, never seen or talked to a Nepali and never bothered to study Nepal's vast and complex history. Still, many of these Westerners feel they have some proprietary duty to comment on events and conflicts there as though they were perfect, serene experts. With an absolute straight face, these political conjurers insist on applying Western history lessons and Western political and military theories to Nepal issues. It doesn't work. Add to that the scores of Kathmandu-based journalists and shout-fest Nepali blog sites-- all spouting bias, rage and innacuracy--that further confuse perceptions of Nepal, and we have a media culture that is driving an already teetering Nepal further towards chaos.

Well, NO MORE. Let's use our substantial readership here at blogdai to HAMMER THESE BASTARDS. Bad, innacurate reporting has actually forced perceptions and events in Nepal; the tail has been "wagging the dog" over the last few months and it's time to put a stop to it.

Time to fire-up the BMW: Blogdai's Media Watchdogs.

With Bavarian thoroughness and efficiency, let's go after all those who misrepresent, misreport and claim to be experts on Nepal issues. These folks do real damage on the political scene in Nepal and it's time their brand of journalism and reporting came under scrutiny.

How to do it:

1. Scan Googlenews. Type in "Nepal" or any other related topic and see what comes up. Usually, Googlenews is a clearing house for the most basic and insipid of Nepal reporting that makes its way through the wires to the computers of fat Westerners. Find the news and commentary that just doesn't make sense to you and reply to it. If you don't want to reply, post it here and our readership will decide what to do. The BBC runs a heavily-monitored thread on Nepal issues, as does Scoop.com. Check out Wikipedia for their current wave of Nepal "facts."

2. Scan Nepal news sources. Nepalmonitor.com is the best cache site. Nepalnews.com, thehimalayantimes.com, kantipuronline.com and others. Pay Kunda Dixit a visit over at The Nepali times site as well. Again, look for bias and comment on it. Doesn't feel right? Post it here.

3. Follow the idiots. Look for political pundits who just can't shut up about Nepal. (OK, I'm included in that group). We've had a good history of calling fools on the carpet here at blogdai, so we're more than happy to repeat the process with someone you find on your own. Far right-wing and revolutionary sites are good hunting grounds for these types. It sounds trite, sure, but these opinions are the germ of more widespread thinking. Catch them early and often.

4. Get on the sites. I disagree often with Dinesh Wagle's "United We Blog" yet his commentary is vital and necessary to the Nepal discussion in general. But, don't give him a free pass! Waves of ridiculous and often pro-Maoist thinking goes unchecked on UWB, post after post. Get in there and make your opinions known. Also, try to get an intelligent word in at samudaya.org and the insipid and frightening democracyfornepal. Find some new Nepal chats and report them here. All momentum (even blogdai's) must be checked with an opposing viewpoint from time to time. Remember, we win blog arguments because we research, prove the facts, and don't shout. If you find yourself getting slaughtered by screaming little boys, post it here and we'll go over to the thread and help you out.

These are the trenches. This is where democracy is frommented. Point/counterpoint discussions are vital. Right now we see a lot of agenda-driven one-sided commentary from Western commenters. We also see a lot of angry people looking for the catch-phrase that will help them form the next mob to hit the streets in Kathmandu. Our job is to balance and inform the discussion. Unchecked reporting and commentary is an invitation for factional abuse.

Also, vocal support of commentary that actually presents a well-argued opinion--pro or con--is valued and worthy of acknowledgement. We're big fans of Preety Koirala and Thomas Marks here at blogdai. Certainly, there are others out there who "get it right." We love to hear about any new writers that actually have something to say.

What do we say? Say what you feel, but the most important thing is to let those who post crap about Nepal understand that their views will no longer go unchecked. Some talking point I like to make when arguing are:

1. There is no "people's movement" or public mandate without elections. Girija and his mob haven't held one in 8 years so how can they possibly claim a mandate?

2. Don't fool yourselves. The King and the army are still intact and still buddy-buddy. All he had to do was pull the trigger and this whole story would have been different.

3. Don't rely on the babblings of any American diplomat. The U.S. relies on India for its Nepal moves.

4. Look at Nepal's recent history. Does anything even give us a remote clue that the Maoists will lay down there arms and join the mainstream? The Maoists won't compromise, period.

5. Nepal needs to wipe the slate clean of these old-guard politicians and start the process anew with fresh ideas and people who are committed to public service over personal enrichment.

6. A Nepali's traditional dislike for the excesses and cruelty of past royal regimes must not be an excuse for mob action. We live in modern times and the Panchayat and Rana eras of dominance will never be repeated. Let it go and move forward. Leave the King alone and move forward.

Just talking points, but you get the idea. Ok, this is an open forum so let's see what you can come up with. Let's get this BMW rolling. Happy hunting!

-=blogdai

What We Must Do Part II: Clean House

We've come a long way with U.S. ambassador to Nepal James F. Moriarty here at blogdai. Today, ol' James waded once again into the fray by sticking his polarizing nose where it doesn't belong. Using his usual diplomatic "cattle prod" style, Mr. Moriarty bluntly throws his and the U.s.'s weight around the peace process by calling flatly for the Maoists to lay down arms before any interim government can be formed http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=6a6Ua8ua.9amal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20060729 Next, in a typical self-contradiction, ol' James chimes in with: "...the rebels could someday endup overpowering the state, given the way they are casting their influence in every walk of life.” http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aFanata0sa3qzpga8Ra0a8a.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20060730

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Does this man have any idea about the level of confusion he is causing by his conflicting statements? Moriarty says that, in order for the Maoists to get what they want, they must lay down arms; yet almost in the same breath he says that their armed campaign has a real chance of giving them what they want.

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U.S. ambassador to Nepal, James F. Moriarty, illustrates with his hands how close Nepal is to achieving peace and stability as a result of his meddling.

Contradictions aside, it's a little too late for ambassador Moriarty to call for the Maoists to disarm or cease anything. These are the same Maoists that he helped usher through the back-doors of power with his cheerleading encouragement. What more can Prachanda ask when the spokesman for U.S. policy in Nepal says things like:

May 24, 2005: “There is a very good chance that the Maoists could find a way to turn all of this to their advantage and ultimately end up marching in the Singh Durbar."

July 2005: "Why would the Maoists be willing to give up now? Their party fought insurgency for nine years and now they see their opponents crumbled, dividing themselves, mired in acrimony." "If I were a Maoist, I'd think I was making good progress...I would try to put differences between the parties and the palace, and get them to do the Maoist business of tearing down the political structure,"

February 2006: "Maoists will feel no need to abandon their goal of absolute power as long as they believe they are winning and as long as the King and parties remain divided. The Maoists will rightfully conclude that they are winning.”

April 2006: " I have a gut feeling that ultimately the King will have to leave if he does not compromise. And by ultimately I mean sooner rather than later. The King will lose his kingdom, if he does not move fast". Moriarty is also reported to have said in an interview with CNN that the "US did not want to see King Gyanendra forced to flee clinging on the wings of a helicopter".

Very Bush-like "gut feeling" James, but what makes you think that the Maoists will now heed the turncoat advice of their biggest fan and give up their weapons? Are you trying to scare Nepali politicians into doing something? I've got news for you James, they're already scared but still too inept to do anything.

Yes, by all means the Maoists should disarm before any interim government can be formed, but this statement from Moriarty has lost all credibility in light of his other counterproductive and uniformed rantings.

He should have played the part of neutral broker yet he has inflamed and frustrated all parties in the peacetalks and blogdai feels the damage from this is not yet done.

Prachanda, who has been an outspoken critic of Moriarty, will use the ambassador's utterances as a catalyst for his upcoming withdrawal from the peacetalks. On the other side, the inept SPA can claim they had everything worked out until Moriarty threw a wrench in the mechanism. Koirala and the boys love to point the finger at others-- it shifts attention and blame away from their own failings. It looks like it will be Moriarty's meddling comments that will get SPA off the hook this time.

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blogdai has noticed a shift in attitude among those foreign service workers in Nepal who have contact with the ambassador. Previously, there was a light-hearted contempt; lots of grousing about how difficult is was to work for such an aloof and detached individual. Now, blogdai's friends are zipped-up and quiet. Something is in the works here, people. Moriarty is either an isolated pariah, or there is an official edict of some sort that forbids any public discussions about the man. We are under no such shackles here at blogdai. In fact, I feel a large, obnoxious proclamation coming on...

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AMBASSADOR JAMES F. MORIARTY, BY HIS STATEMENTS AND ACTIONS, IS NOT ONLY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO THE PEACE PROCESS IN NEPAL BUT HAS GIVEN AID AND COMFORT TO TERRORISTS AND MUST BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE.

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The Bush administration is on "India autopilot" when it comes to a cogent Nepal policy. Basically, Moriarty apes the administration's position, i.e. India's position. This was fine for a while, but ol' James is a bit of a maverick. He likes to shoot from the hip and spout off. He locked horns with Donald Rumsfeld over Taiwan once and lost. You'd think he would learn his lession...you'd be wrong. Moriarty once rightly condemned the SPA/Maoists 12-point agreement as a lot of fluff; then a funny thing happened: Bush visited India to welcome Singh into the nuclear "boy's club" and, like magic, the next thing coming out of Moriarty's mouth was how useful the agreement between SPA and the Maoists was as an instrument for cooperation.

blogdai speculates that Moriarty may get another one of his high-level slap-downs and be forced to come off the disarmament statement a little. After all, a fully disarmed Maoists movement in Nepal runs contrary to India's vision of an unstable and dependent Nepal.
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By his own admission, James F. Moriarty knows little or nothing about politics in Nepal. What he does know is how to destabilize, frustrate and disrupt a process with uninformed and often contradictory rhetoric. We need to start a process that ultimately leads to his removal from office. Ambassadors supposedly represent the best and most rational nature of a country's foreign policy. They are sent to nations as a means to calm disputes and clarify the stances of the governments they represent. They are NOT supposed to antagonize or provide blythe, inflammatory commentary. To this end, ambassador James F. Moriarty does not represent the feelings of either the U.S. government or its citizens. He is a loose canon that is ill-suited for a volatile Nepali political climate. He is the wrong man for the job and he is doing it the wrong way at the wrong time. He needs to go. Let's begin our campaign to help Nepal clean its house of one of the most counterproductive diplomats in history.
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So, loyal readers, below are listed some very basic addresses to which you can voice your opinion on ambassador Moriarty. Take a few minutes and, if you are so inclined, send off your opinions of the man and his agenda to the U.S. embassy in Nepal. Say what you want but it might be good if we all mentioned something about Moriarty's destabilizing influence and the sense of an unfocused U.S. Nepal policy we all feel from his utterances. Most of all, politely ask for his permanent recall to the United States.

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Try these addresses and good luck:
usembktm@state.gov (E-mail for the U.S. embassy in Kathmandu)

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If you're feeling ambitious, Send a letter or call Moriarty's boss at:

U.S. State Department
Public Communication Division: PA/PL, Rm. 2206 U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20520
202-647-6575

Update: August 7. blogdai's friends at State say that Moriarty has no future schedules or "postings." Meaning, and entrenched bureaucrat like Moriarty is now out of options. His career is up after this Nepal blundering. Look for the 9 month out-of-Nepal prediction we made here to shorten up a bit. Maybe 6 months?

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-=blogdai

Predictions and Prognostications

It's been a while since we rolled the dice and stuck our neck out here at blogdai. Time for a few predictions:

1. The Maoists will break off peacetalks sometime between now and Dashain.

2. Madhav Kumar Nepal will align himself directly with Maoist philosophy.
Update July 30: It's starting. http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/jul/jul30/news09.php
3. Old man Girija Koirala will die within a year.

4. Sujata Koirala will assume the prime ministership.

5. The current Koirala parliament will never hold an election for anything.

6. Paras, not the King, will go into exile.

7. The RNA will allow Maoists to seize government before they act.

8. James Moriarty will resign as U.S. ambassador within 9 months.

9. India will not act against any Maoist coup attempts, attrocities or actions in Nepal.

10. China will ally with the guns and tacitly support the Maoists.

Some fun, eh? blogdai has been batting a little better than average in the prediction department, so look out Nepal, chaos is on the way.

-=blogdai

Real Thoughts on Real Corruption

blogdai can't resist reprinting this article. This is good stuff. It is that rare article where someone actually applies real THOUGHT to a problem. Mr. Basnyat is the future of Nepal. Without ideas like this coming from Nepal's best and brightest minds, Nepal will be finished. I'll contact Mr. Basnyat and see if he'd be willing to write another article just for us. In the meantime, I won't be able to keep from commenting (in blue) after some of these thoughts; after all, we've said a lot of this stuff here at blogdai over the past year. -=BD

CURBING CORRUPTION: THE INNOVATIVE APPROACH



By Nischal M. S. Basnyat

“It is not that Nepal didn’t have the money,” said the young UNDP officer with a sinister sneer “Why do you think your leaders ride fat cars and walk on Persian carpets?” In fact, the only economic Index we seem to be ascending is the Corruption Perceptions Index commissioned annually by Transparency International. Ranked as the 47th most corrupt country on earth by 2005, Nepal enjoys the prestigious position of being more corrupt than historically corruption-ridden nations like Malawi and Libya.

So, whom do we blame for the decades of unprecedented corruption? Of course our initial finger pointing goes towards our leaders, and rightly so. Our philanthropic leaders have set an example for all charity workers worldwide; successfully dividing up the nation’s scarce riches, not only among themselves but to family members and friends alike. Domestic and foreign policy in the country lacked innovation because our judicious heads of state were busy spending all their creative input in managing their abundance of cash. Some hid it in their walls, some spent it on their daughters’ lavish weddings, some used it to buy apartments outside the country and of course some hid it in their water tanks. Although such dim-witted ones might have been exposed, the cunning, I’m sure, still hold large foreign bank accounts, from Indian banks to the impenetrable Swiss. (No favorites here. This problem affects both royal and SPA governments alike. It will require some cultural re-thinking and a sea change before the situation improves. Remember, we live just north of Baksheesh-Central)

Who could forget the nepotism? Army generals started promoting cousins and started sending the rest towards Maoist territory, ministers started appointing their relatives as ambassadors and national laws were twisted to favor a family member’s promotion in the government. All-in-all Nepal became a massive network of family run businesses. As the poor lay starving, even those that had worked so hard to get into power soon forgot their national duties.

So, how do we eradicate this crippling social illness? Many say that in the end it lies in the hands of our leaders and that their honesty and dedication decides the fate of the nation. True, yet how long are we willing to wait for the next Mahatma Gandhi or our very own Nelson Mandela? From ministers asking for ten crores to clerks asking for ten rupees, the culture of corruption has become deep-rooted in our society. Although every nation, from the most developed to the least, has their share of corrupt leaders, many of these countries are still prospering. By human nature one will try to exploit their position in power, so the solution comes in acknowledging that the system needs to be redesigned to keep the leaders on the right track. If there is room for corruption it will inevitably take place. Our country is corrupt and corruption flourishes because there are people in power who benefit from the present system. The answer is not to cross our fingers and pray that the leaders will be sincere but rather to blueprint an arrangement that would make bribery and fraudulence unattractive to persons of power.

The following schemes, tried and tested in other nations, are vital to ensure that corruption no longer impedes the crucial developmental work that is needed for the country to move forward:

First, an anonymous anti-corruption unit should be established. Often referred to as the ‘Hong Kong method’, this exceptional solution to corruption was adopted by the island in the early 90s. A secret team of corruption fighters, many of whom actually worked in the government offices and ministries themselves, caught acts of corruption in their own respective ministries with irrefutable evidence. Hence, not knowing who is an anti-corruption agent and who isn’t will play a psychological toll on individuals involved in corruption. Such a method will play head-games with government officials, and even if this small team of secretive informants doesn’t do their job, the idea that anyone in the office could be watching your move will deter officials from bribery and deceit. It’s like saying: if a driver knows where the cops are in the highway, he’ll slow down when he sees them to avoid a speeding ticket, but if the driver doesn’t know, chances are he’ll drive slow throughout the trip.
A person in power should know how long he or she is to remain in that position and should be appointed to a definite period of time. When one sacrifices their entire life for politics and finally comes to power for a brief stint of time they will obviously seek to milk the benefits of their struggle..... term wise selection of politicians and top bureaucrats is a must, not just for tackling corruption but also for long-term development and planning.

Secondly, the government should not fund anti-corruption agencies itself. The government and its politicians should have no hand in appointing or running the day-to-day activities of agencies such as the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), nor should it have the slightest clout upon such an organisation. The personnel involved in the anti-corruption task force should have no history, affiliation or relations to political parties. The solution can be establishing an independent organization with no association with the government or giving the job to organizations like CW (Corruption Watch) or TI (Transparency International). This approach has been taken by a handful of countries and also by the World Bank in order to monitor its money. When political leaders have the chance to pick the people watching over them or when the anti-corruption officers themselves start playing politics we will end up back at square one.

Third, a watchdog agency should be established to make sure that the main anti-corruption agency like the CIAA itself is doing the right job. This “watchdog for the watchdog” approach exists in various Asian countries where there is an anonymous taskforce established to track the work of the main anti-corruption organization and to make sure that the anti-corruption agency itself is not corrupt, which is often the case in Nepal. (I'd go one step further. Have this watchdog group actually research the connections between any anti-corruption official bringing charges and the person/agency that is being charges. No favoritism, family or grudges should be found.)

Fourth, the government should increase the salary of ministers and top bureaucrats. This technique was famously adopted by Singapore during the height of its economic instability and corruption in the late 80s. By paying the decision makers a large salary it took away their need to earn under the desk. Foreign aid and national income from industries like tourism and customs were put back into the nation without a large chunk being taken out of it from the powerful elite in the country. In addition, subordinates were found less likely to be corrupt if their bosses were faithful. Although the nation will loose money by increasing the incomes of these top officials, if we do our calculations right, the country can benefit greatly from this pioneering approach. (Interesting, but may serve to further drive an economic or class wedge between those who govern and those governed. Remember, we live just north of Caste System-Central)

Fifth, a person in power should know how long he or she is to remain in that position and should be appointed to a definite period of time. Corruption in most countries, especially ours, is often based on lack of job security. When one sacrifices their entire life for politics and finally comes to power for a brief stint of time they will obviously seek to milk the benefits of their struggle. Although such a step requires massive renovation of the political structure in Nepal, term wise selection of politicians and top bureaucrats is a must, not just for tackling corruption but also for long-term development and planning. (Term limits for politicians has been a blogdai favorite since we first logged on. They also are a great tool for increasing citizen participation in the election process and government in general)

Sixth, we must separate politics and bureaucracy. Post 1990, politicians started appointing government officials who would give them a commission once they were appointed to power. Certain ambassadors and consul generals would often give a portion of their corrupt earnings back to the political party that appointed them. Such “dalal politics” where politicians and bureaucrats do favors for one another has to be eliminated. In India where they have the same kind of unfaithful politicians from Bihar to Madhya Pradesh, politics rarely obstructs bureaucratic appointments or promotions. In this way, this emerging superpower of a billion is run efficiently not by politicians but by bureaucrats. Thus, detaching the bond between politics and bureaucracy will slowly alleviate corruption and nepotism from our own system.

Seventh, the deep-seated tie between our industrialists and politicians needs to be severed. From VAT regulations to fiscal strategies, many of our economic policies are geared towards favoring certain business moguls, knowing that there are benefits for the politicians for doing so. Whoever has come to power has ended up favoring his own business or the businesses of those closest to him. Monetary policies have to be reformed to make sure they favor the interests of the “average-Ram” and not favor the family and friends of the powerful.

Finally, the media, which has become the leitmotif of anti-corruption in recent years, has to abandon political agenda. It is unfortunate, but all of us know that some of our biggest media houses have political agenda and are giving the people what they want the people to know instead of what the people deserve to know. Media ownership along with the independence of editors must be under scrutiny to make sure they don’t turn a blind eye to reports of corruption or wrongly accuse political enemies of corruption. In a way, the media, as the supervisory body of society, has the greatest role to play in slaying corruption. ("Kantipur" always did sound like "Koirala-pur")

In the end, our Nepali cultural mindset of looking up to those that amass wealth and our tendency to agglomerate property for our sons, grandsons and if possible our seven generations also leads to corruption in higher offices. The four “pillars of integrity”; the justice system, watchdog agencies such as the auditor generals office, the media and law enforcement agencies should all work to uphold the nation’s dedication towards fighting corruption. Along with adopting novel approaches for combating corruption, we must remember that in an already deteriorating system, even if one “pillar of integrity” fails to be vigilant and do justice to the people of Nepal, the entire structure is at danger of collapse. (Absolutely brilliant. You need these "pillars of integrity" before you even have a chance at establishing any "pillars of democracy")

Although the same people whom we may call “fathers of corruption” are back in power today, they have been granted a second chance. If corruption and mismanagement of government was their greatest crime post 1990, correcting that mistake will be their greatest victory. (It depends on how well we can regulate the uncontrolled influx of foreign aid: A politicians favorite pig-trough. -=blogdai)

Currently studying in La Sorbonne (Paris), Basnyat is a student at Harvard University. A senior editor for the Harvard South Asian Journal, his writing has been featured in an upcoming book with eminent author MBI Munshi. He can be reached at nbasnyat@fas.harvard.edu)

Seven Points

Separated at birth? Prachanda and Hezbollah's Sheik Hassan Nasrallah

We have been on this planet for almost a generation without a major war or global conflict that reminds us of our need to shake ourselves and realize a few things about the world we live in and the nature of humanity. In today's view, every conflict can be solved with meetings and money. Failing that, we take away the money and see if that does the trick. We believe that everyone, even the most hardened terrorist, has desires and needs and can be appeased once we determine the parameters of these needs.

Is it any wonder then, that we are so befuddled by these current world conflicts that seemingly have no end? What's the deal with all these angry people? Can't reasonable humans figure a way to resolve their differences? Perhaps not. Certain aspects of current events stare us right in the face every day and repetitively demand acknowledgement; yet we refuse to see the patterns and willfully ignore the warnings. If we take a long cold look at events it is apparent that:

1. Some groups do not want peace.

2. Some groups seek only to further their narrow agenda.

3. Some groups see peaceful resolution as a sign of weakness.

4. Some groups see ceasefires, peacetalks, arbitration and high level meetings as nothing more than a means to delay, regroup and rearm.

5. Some groups have no intention of honoring or listening to alternative viewpoints.

6. Some groups understand only violence.

7. Some groups do not want equality.

So the next time someone tells you that the "Maoists must be brought into the mainstream," give them a sharp smack in the head. Hope and optimism are wonderful things, but patterns and past practices are what should inform our judgements. The seven points we've made above have manifested themselves over and over again in the actions of Hezbollah, North Korea, Africa, Afghanistan, and yes, the U.S. and Britain. Why should we, for an instant, believe that Nepal's Maoists will someday miraculously decide to "play nice"when their current and past behavior suggests otherwise?

Fair play, like democracy, is not a natural state or human trait; it goes against our survival instincts. Tribalism, warlordism, disruption and blind self-interest are a human's stock in trade.

Perhaps, as the thinkers tell us, the loss of cultural identity through globalization has driven people to group-based absolutism. Perhaps, but perhaps bunk as well; blogdai is no anthropologist. Perhaps our increased access to everything just gives us more of a selection of things to hate. Perhaps some groups believe that compromise is just one more step towards loss of identity.

blogdai will commit the above seven points to memory. I want them to be clear and easily accessible so that they can help me clarify the recent Maoist threats and atrocities, the constant and divisive punitive measures SPA is relentlessly pursuing against the King, and the current impasse and impending failure of the SPAM peacetalks.

-=blogdai

Nepal for Dummies

(This is a reprint of an article I submitted at the request of Dharma Adhikari and his excellent nepalmonitor.com. It ran on June 9th of this year. I was reluctant to reprint it here, but I've just had a run-in with another Nepal know-it-all nut case and feel it is important to get this out to our readers. I'm weary of refuting every blow-hard with an agenda and a press credential, but life goes on. -=BD)

NEPAL FOR DUMMIES

Zilch. Zip. Nada, can't find it anywhere. Where are the big follow-up stories and coverage on Nepal from the Western media?

Dropped like a hot potato, Nepal was.

Googlenews.com, as good an indicator as any of what the World media find to be the story of the moment, made events in Nepal their number one covered story for the week of street protests leading up to the King's restoration of parliament. From that day on, no longer considered sexy, Nepal coverage dropped off the map--used and discarded like a busted rickshaw.

Prior to this--created, tweaked, embellished and spun for those sitting on comfy democratic couches who don't know Nepal from Naples--the troubles in Kathmandu, with all their nuance and political complexity, were somehow distilled down by a lazy and uninterested Western media to:

"Despotic King Stifles Vibrant Democracy."

It played. It had legs. It was a simple, accessible tale of good vs. evil, opined the Washington Post, Western pundits and virtually all Indian dailies. Most importantly, it became a seductive mantra that would be used to explain all current events in Nepal. The Western media had found their "hook." In their minds, further insight and research on the story was unneccesary and all future reporting on Nepal would reflect the new mantra.

Today, Nepal can't buy a headline from the Western media; they've all retreated to the comfort of once again covering all things Angelina and Brad. Now that the West believes that the violence has subsided, Nepal can't be counted on to sell newspapers or keep one from changing the channel on their remote. The novelty and remedial geography lessons supplied during the protests are now passé to short-attention-spanned Westerners. Nepal is returning to world media obscurity. Pity.

I am walking the streets of Kathmandu today, mostly listening. People have a lot of interesting things to say. My questions about the Western media's role in Nepal's crisis only compound as their mantra plays in my head.

"Despotic King Stifles Vibrant Democracy."

Why, during all its frenzied protest coverage, did the Western media go out of their way to vilify the Royal Nepal Army while barely acknowledging any Maoist complicity or wrongdoing?

"Despotic King Stifles Vibrant Democracy."

Next, why was there no coverage or explanation of the corrupt practices of ALL parties, not just the King? The prior governments under Koirala and Deuba were documented and legendary in this regard-- arguably bringing Nepal to the verge of fiscal collapse-- but where was the editorial balance now?

"Despotic King Stifles Vibrant Democracy."

Where is the coverage of the reinstated parliament's decidedly autocratic mannerisms? They floated into power under the banner of restoring "absolute democracy" but instead have forbidden street protests, punished dissenters and jailed members of the opposition: some very undemocratic things.

"Despotic King Stifles Vibrant Democracy."

And, most of all, where is the coverage of the Maoist's uninterrupted rise to power? At the very least, someone should have covered their open and blatant parading and sloganeering through the streets of Nepal, wouldn't you think?

"Despotic King Stifles Vibrant Democracy."

Media influence is a curious thing. In the West, news events are often packaged and encapsulated with an eye towards maintaining the widest reader or viewer interest. Generally, when a competitive and thorough media is present for verification, this method works just fine. Unfortunately, so little credible reporting about events in Nepal actually makes it through the Western wire services that a journalist's best "guess" is often considered as good as source-verified holy writ.

Until this situation changes, all of us are, basically, stuck with whatever reporting we get from Nepal; and whatever that reporting may consist of, rest assured it will be sexed-up and dumbed-down enough so that we won't dare turn the page or change the channel.

Nepal is no longer a source of cheap entertainment for the West. It no longer "sizzles." Don't look for anyone to try and make the 25-point Code of Conduct or the 8-point agreement a compelling sound bite. No, only real issues remain. On that note, the Maoist’s big rally at Ratna Park was a pivotal event in Nepali politics. We learned much about the Maoist’s strategy and strengths. It was covered extensively by the local media in kathmandu.

I doubt the BBC gave it a second glance.

-=blogdai

What We Must Do: Part I

Back in the saddle again... blogdai has received quite a few requests for an actual plan of action to save Nepal. "Let's do something before it's too late" is the cry. Well, what exactly can we do here on a blog? Do we have any power to change events? The answer is not only a resounding "yes" but blogdai argues that, in the absence of a credible "main stream" media presence in Nepal, blogs are actually at the forefront of political innovation and ideas. How many times have our comments here at blogdai and other blogs resurfaced as political rhetoric in the world areana? Quite a few.

Now, we are not necessarily the forum chosen to muster armed forces nor are we pretending to advise either King or government; but we CAN make a difference here. So, now, while we're still in the monsoon season, let's get a jump on the upcoming turmoil in Nepal and move proactively. The next few columns will give out practical suggestions that each of us can use to make a difference in Nepal, right now. These will be suggestions; some obvious, some nasty. Take or leave as many or as few as you like, but GET INVOLVED.

So, without further commentary, the first thing we can all do is to spread the word that....

NEPAL IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

That's right shoppers, each of you tell ten of your friends that one of the best ways to defeat oppressive Maoism and breathtakingly remedial governance is good old fashioned capitalism.

And what is one of the best and most effective means of helping the Nepal economy get back on its feet? Tourism. Funny, while our rabid Western consulates are telling all of us to "avoid any unnecessary travel" to Nepal, Indian tourism has increased by upwards of 15% in the last year. What do they know that we don't?

blogdai was in the thick of the big Maoist protest, as you all know. Hundreds and hundreds of Maoists walked right through the streets of backpacker central: Thamel, without so much as a flinch of a threat to business and property. Why? Because they weren't Maoists, that's why. They were part of that now famous edict laid down by our boys in Red that every household in rural Nepal had to supply at least one participant in the Kathmandu rallies or face the consequences. The point is, the Maoists STILL can't muster enough forces to take Kathmandu or to even make much of a battle--and yes, I stand by my opinions about this, once again, knowing full well that many of you are still starry-eyed by accounts of Maoist power in the field. I say, BUNK! The Maoists know that they haven't the capacity to overrun the RNA and take over the country on their own. That's why they're playing these idiotic bullying games with SPA. Without SPA, the Maoists are isolated, politically and logistically.

So where does this leave a Westerner's favorite pastime, trekking? Everest is now and has always been open and safe for trekking. Maoists routinely get the shit kicked out of them by wealthy Sherpa shop-owners everytime they seek to make inroads into the upper Khumbu region. Go there, hop a plane to Lukla and trek away. Looks like Annapurna is opening up also. We have heard that maoists have stopped extorting rupees from trekkers and things are quieting down, but this still may change. Kathmandu? Even when Maoists were crawling out of the woodwork last May, all the major historical sites were open and harrassment-free. blogdai had no trouble walking down any street in Kathmandu at night. You are more likely to get a smile and some literature from a 15-year old "Maoist" than you are getting useful information from your own consulate.

So what's the simple logic behing all of this? Supporting the economy with your tourist rupees supports and increases wealth and education among Nepal's citizens. An educated populace is an informed populace; not as vulnerable to either Maoists intimidation or inept government promises. Plus, a closed-up and fearful Nepal is an isolated Nepal. Tourists, especially Western tourists help spread an accurate accounting of events in Nepal and provide, to a certain extent, a different and perhaps hopeful perspective to locals. A blogdai favorite is that Western tourists can balance and refute a lot of bad journalism that currently surrounds events in Nepal.

We cannot turn our backs on the Nepalis in this regard. I'm asking each of you to view any warning about travel to Nepal skeptically and with an eye towards secondary verification. Don't take at face value what diplomats say. Do your own research. Why? Because, aside from the protestations of some overzealous Xenophobes, Nepal needs foreigners. Nepal must not be left alone during this time.

Isolation leaves citizens to trust either politicians or Maoists. It creates despair and increases neediness. Those in physical or economic need tend to rally around those who can provide the most tangible and immediate relief. Add a dose of intimidation and that leaves most Nepalis with nothing more than a Maoist choice. Put another way, rural Nepal is poor, isolated and undereducated. Maoists thrive in rural Nepal; 'nuff said.

Not convinced? The best thing you can do is ask someone who has recently returned from Nepal for their recommendation. Specifically, ask them if it was as frighteningly bad as Western diplomats and media painted it to be. You may be surprised at the answer.

The important thing is to GO! Go to Nepal. Bring the weight of your currency and opinions and distribute both freely.

At the very least, spread the word.

-=blogdai

Flash! Update August, 2, 2006: Travel and Leisure Magazine has voted our little Kathmandu 3rd best city in Asia. http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/results.cfm?cat=citiesasia See you all there! -=BD

Ratna Redux

Finally got to the big rally.....

blogdai estimated the crowd to be at 650,000--plus or minus (below).

Streets were blocked off. The entire Ratna park, including the off limits no-entry zone were filled to capacity. Kantipath from Ratna up to the palace and west to Asan Tole was full as well. Durbar marg up to the Royal Palace's "zone of safety" was also chock full of people.

Vendor's were doing a brisk business in jewelry, melons and corn, yet the atmosphere was far from festive.

blogdai stayed directly on the grounds about one hundred meters from the speaker's podium for over an hour. Something was not right. It finally occured to blogdai that the entire gathering was under an eerie pall of silence. I have never heard such silence from a group this large. No smiles no chanting, nothing. You expect the crowd to respond to the speaker from time to time, but again, nothing.

Only one word to describe it: repressive.

From the looks on the faces of those attending, no one wanted to be there, save the small minority of those zealous angry teen Maoists shepherd dogs (above) who handled gate entry and passed out literature. Overall, a very underwhelming "show of force" from the Maobadis. No wonder K.P. Oli was able to muster up the courage to publicly condemn maoist threats today in the Himalayan Times.

We saw it in the April protests and now we see it again at Ratna Park: The maoist's operating tactic of using a few agressive individuals to coerce a large multitude once again worked to a tee. They are masterfully leveraging a small force of activists against a peace-loving and compliant public.

Prepare for the peacetalks to break down. Prepare for more months of conflict. Prepare to be led to the slaughter, Nepalis, if you continue to act like sheep in the face of these violent little boys.

-=blogdai

The Tipping Point

Can't get within a mile of Ratna Park but will try again. It's reaching a critical mass out in the streets. There's been a steady stream of humanity moving towards Ratna Park for the Big Rally. It just started (officially) but blogdai hasn't been able to get close. Even though Prachanda is a no show, there is tension in the air and the whole town is a tinder-box ready to ignite.

Those same bereft stone-throwing little boys we saw in the demonstrations last month are at it again; only this time they're wearing their Maoists finery. Nothing but peaceful co-existence for now, with maoists and security forces sometimes sharing crowd control duties. THERE ARE AT LEAST 500,000 PEOPLE MOVING TOWARDS THE CENTER OF TOWN RIGHT NOW. blogdai has watched this steady progression for the last 5 hours. Groups of young boys are getting increasingly bold now. Every chowk, every intersection and every major thoroughfare is full of them: directing traffic like they own the place. Maoist flags fly all around the ring road which has now universally been reduced to a big bus parking lot (above)---the result of the Maoists commandeering all transport heading into Kathmandu and forbidding any to leave.

A bad day to be in a car. Many new, mostly rural faces are on the streets touching and gesturing towards anything that hints of city-borne wealth. Groups of banner-waving Maoist factions from across the country clog traffic in waves. blogdai estimates there are hundreds of these "mini-mobs" (below) marching and chanting slogans at any given time.

What will happen at the rally? Many citizens are fearful that speakers will incite the crowd and turn them loose on houses and businesses in the capital.

The RNA has established an armed and ready "safe zone" encompassing durbar Marg and the Palace. They're on stand-by. Many feel that if the Maoists try to take over, the army will be turned loose. blogdai says: take aim and shoot straight, RNA.

Overall, the irrepressable Nepali spirit is still hopeful for a positive outcome. We'll see in an hour or so if Prachanda has manipulated this optimism to meet his own ends.

-=blogdai

Mexican Stand-Off

15 minutes ago:

Got a little tense out at Naya Bazaar a few minutes ago. The Armed police found themselves sandwiched between two massive groups of demonstrating Maoists (pictured) on their way to Ratna Park for the Big Rally.

blogdai spent the last hour in the midst of the Maoist multitudes. Got me a free Prachanda tee shirt in the process. A pattern was evident and it showed the Maoist's mastery of mob control. Ninety percent of the marchers appeared to be bewildered villagers who were either forcibly coerced or promised jobs in Kathmandu by the Maoists. Circling the group like a wild pack of Australian sheep dogs were a core cadre of angry looking teenage boys. They kept everyone in line and shouted out the slogans for all to ape.

Standing with onlookers from time to time, blogdai was privy to one of those light-hearted Ironic nepali moments. Lots of laughter when throngs of maoists shouting "Maoists live" were shouted down by a lone poor dalit newspaper seller (with very strong lungs) saying: " The King to visit Patan today." This guy was going to make a living no matter what.

Anyway, tensions escalated briefly as the armed cops initially refused to let one group of Maoists join another at the top of the Naya Bazaar hill. Calmly, a young maoist asked the commander to move his trucks so all could pass (pictured). Politeness paid off because the commander moved five trucks full of armed police out of the way without so much as a threatening glance. Go figure.

Going to the Big Rally at Ratna park in a few hours. Don't anticipate any violence as Prachanda won't be showing his face. This was anticipated by blogdai and is a telling and ominous development. First and foremost, a Prachanda no-show almost guarantees that the maoists will break off peace talks. Surprised? Next, it is a clear indication--to the entire world, finally--that the Maoists have neither the confidence nor the military strength to ensure the safety of their leader and movement in the RNA's back yard.

I know we've been preaching to the choir here, but our predictions are sadly accurate. It's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

-=blogdai

Pay Attention and Open Your Eyes

It's happening, people. The handwriting is on the wall.

The peacetalks will fail if the Maoists don't get exactly what they want. Plus, "The Farce One" himself is virtually tipping us all off to the fact that he is PLANNING for the talks to fail when he warned today that: "a violent storm" of protests will sweep the vall