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