Somethin's Brewin'

Something is in the air. All 7-party honchos, plus U.S. ambassador James Moriarty have converged upon Delhi. Looks like the Maoist's Babu Ram Bhattarai and Prachanda will we there as well. This is democracy, 7-party style. "We must give Nepal back to the people, and let them decide," we often hear from the Parties. Looks like they mean the people of India.

(Pictured) The Apollo Hospital: Delhi. Future home and parliamentary seat of the proposed 7-party/Maoist government of Nepal.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, UML big-shot cannot even come up with a decent lie for his frequent travels to Delhi. Seems he wants everyone to think he's going to Delhi's Apollo hospital for heart treatment twice in as many weeks. In a lame proclamation Nepal says that "we were unable to get an appointment with the proper doctor so we had to come back." Now, wait a minute Mahdav, you supposedly tout yourself as being able to restore democracy in Nepal and you can't even get your medical appointments straight? Two trips? It's one thing to be snubbed by Sonia Ghandi, but by your doctor as well?

No, Girija and Mahdav and the rest must really think "the people" they are charged with representing are quite stupid: pulling this contiuosly unfunny joke time after time. Quit lying all of you and admit that you are talking to the Maoists and the Indian government because you don't have the intellectual capacity to make decisions on your own. No one buys this "health check-up" crap anymore. Really, this type of behavior talks downward to Nepali citizens.

Analysis: So, here we go. Big meeting on foreign soil to discuss the future of Nepal. It is clear that the parties will do anything to hold on to power. The last chance they have of holding any type of relevance in Nepal is through brokering a deal with the Maoists. They will sell their souls for this. Already the rough sketches of this alliance are emerging with some frightening concessions to the Maoists: Maoists are to get a substantial number of seats on an "interim" government prior to any constituent assembly election. They have also conveniently agreed to "stop thinking over the King's position" with regard to such elections. No provisions are being made, either, for independent third-party monitoring of any elections endorsed by the parties, so it looks like such elections will be open for manipulation, and in remote regions, Maoist coercion.

It's a good thing to have Maoists lay down their arms and join the political mainstream, sure. But what IS the political mainstream in Nepal? The parties and many in the Western media decry the loss of "democracy " in Nepal; but let's look at the actions of the parties responsible for this loss and ask ourselves if we want to return to the type of "democracy" where:

1. Political leaders refuse to talk, hear or compromise with opposing or royal views.
2. Political leaders cannot form even the most rudimentary national agenda.
3. Political leaders openly practice nepotism and favoritism.
4. Political leaders ally with terrorists.
5. Political leaders admit their inability to run a democracy by constantly submitting to the
will and judgement of a "big brother" neighboring nation.

All of this will increase pressure on the King. But really, it will be outside pressure. The parties will still be irrelevant, and the Maoists will still be despised. The Yanks threat to withold humanitarian or military aid is hollow; they won't leave such a big hole for China to fill. The U.S. must and will stay engaged with this King's government or risk losing an ally and a foothold in the region.

Any Maoist attacks on Nepalis, from now on, will be looked upon as Maoist/7-party sponsored attacks and open Girija and his lot for arrest and detention. We all know that Maoists in the field cannot control themselves under any circumstances, so this alliance will eventually lower (if that is possible) the esteem of the 7 parties in the eyes of Nepalis. They will be seen as the sanctioning body behind any attack occuring after their Maoist alliance is formed.

A new member: Blogdai thinks that the big NGO's who are bitching about Nepal's new regulations should join the 7-party/Maoist alliance. NGO's in Nepal run rough-shod over the landscape with their $100, 000 SUV's and total lack of accountability. No wonder they oppose a code of conduct. In this respect they have much in common with their Party/Maoist counterparts: They want to do whatever it takes to make money. Considering that hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid has poured into Nepal since 1950, resulting in NO appreciable increase in the living standards of the average Nepali (2000 Nepal Multiple Indicator Survey) one has to wonder where all the money goes? Well, one look at the ICIMOD complex in southwest Kathmandu will give you a clue; it is, at first glance, larger than the royal palace. Same for all the big NGO's and UN organizations. USAID's motor pool alone is bigger than most hotels, so no wonder these people are against regulation. They basically want to walk into a country, do whatever they please and never leave. Is it too much to ask for a little oversight?

In a typical feat of NGO arrogance, Nepal NGO Federation president Dr. Arjun Karki chimes in with: "(NGO's cannot tolerate government intervention." So, basically, Dr. Karki, some foreign aid agency in a far off land can plan Nepal's development future and the government should just bow down to its wishes? Let's open a nuclear weapons factory in Dailekh so that underpriveledged women will have full employment. How dare a sovereign nation try to regulate foreign activity on its own soil, right?

-=blogdai