Govinda Neupane
In Nepal, these days, the political field is one of the most fascinating arenas to watch out. The society and the state are in the process of fundamental change. There are many pessimists who love to preach inevitability of doomsday. They are the champions of negativism. They say that Nepal is at the verge of collapse as a state. That is not the case. Instead, the society is passing through the phase of great transformation. Feudalism is fast disappearing in the rural areas. In urban areas, the workers, professionals and people from lower middle classes are agitating for better living conditions and unrestricted exercise of their civil and political rights. Hence, allover Nepal, new information as well as awareness are giving birth to new organizations. New productive forces are emerging and the new production relations are in the making. True, there are difficulties. However, it is equally true that the pace of fundamental change is momentous and historic.
The aspirations of the people and strategic positioning of the major political forces have been heralding the beginning of a new era. The palace is clear on its mission, strategies and methods. The Maoists are equally clear not only on their destination but also the roads and pathways that they have to travel through. However, the 'mainstream' political parties are the divided houses. Therefore, there is the greater need to analyze objectively the problems, positions and prospects of the parliamentary political front in general and the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) in particular.
To unite their divided houses, the parliamentary political parties sometimes raise abstract slogans such as "Total Democracy" and sometimes they swing between the stated ideals of the parties and the personal needs of their leaders. These needs include "save your skin yourself", "change colors like lizards to adjust with" and "spread thin so as to collect benefits from everywhere". The base of such needs is their past, full of controversies, corruptions and conspiracies. Clinging on power to collect benefits was their mission during those days when they were in power. They not only enjoyed power but also misused it. And, they corrupted themselves together with many others around them. It should be noted that the term "leaders" here refers to a large majority of central leaders of the parliamentary political parties including the Congress and the UML. Now, it would be the most natural and prudent course if they leave the scene voluntarily and spend times repenting for all the wrongdoings they were and are responsible for. This could be the single most valuable contribution from them. Through a process of purification that includes expressing genuine regrets, declaring the wealth they have amassed illegally, volunteering for investigation and accepting judgments of the court of justice, they could get another opportunity to reclaim their positions in the galaxy of better political leaders. Some of them could come clean and the others could be rehabilitated once they go through the purification process. However, accountability is not much in practice in Nepal. The feudal mindset certainly limits their motivation to experiment with truth. Therefore, they are simply trying to cover their ugly past with some cosmetic words of regrets.
Now, the upheavals have started to surface in the political parties too. The opposition within Nepali Congress and the former student leader's alumni in UML are the new faces of a new reality. They may not prevail in their own parties. They may even have to swallow the bitter pills of defeat. However, as a trend, they have already registered their strong presence. The Congress has seen two radically different political lines, perhaps, first time in its entire history. The UML also once again has been proceeding to go through the two-line struggle. Lately, the UML has developed administrative mechanisms to quell opposing voices within the party. Hence, the prevalence of the political process is in question.
There could be four probable courses of actions of the on-going struggles inside the Congress and the UML. 1) The struggles, if conducted in a political and professional manner, could give birth to a new Congress and a new UML. Even after the rebirth, the Congress will continue to occupy the center-right and the UML the center-left portion of the political space but they could develop as the genuine democratic parties. In this scenario, they could participate in the valuable process of socio-political and economic change. Moreover, they could go beyond catch phrases such as "Total Democracy". These phrases may not represent the transformational needs of the state and the society. One has to remember that the transformational agenda includes inclusive democracy, cooperative federalism, multiparty system and the radical agenda for socio-economic change. 2) The second scenario could be that that the opposition within Nepali Congress and the alumni within the UML will be thrown out from their respective parties. This is quite possible as their parties have taken such actions in the past. Or, they may be silenced as the minorities. Some members of the new alumni in UML have shown submissiveness of its extreme nature in the past. Also, this time they may walk along the same road. If that would happen, the history will repeat itself in an ugly fashion. 3) In case of their ouster from the parties or they leave on their own, they may form the new political organizations or venture into the political oblivion by joining the civil society. If they decide to form political parties, they may have to struggle hard. However, the new political environment may offer opportunities to gain ground fast. 4) In case, if the opposing factions from both the parties leave their parties, they may come together to form a center-left party. Hence, the opposition within Congress and the alumni could put their energies and resources together to advance the progressive agenda. This formation may get tremendous boost if some of the prominent personalities (like Dr Devendra Raj Pandey and Shyam Shrestha) of the extended civil society join hands with them in a functional politico-organizational arrangement.
The political process that has been seen in the form of upheavals is taking shape by creating divisions in the 'mainstream' political parties too and may result to realignments of the political forces. However, if the political leaders who remind the misrule and corruptions of the past continue in the leadership positions, if the political parties swing to this and that side and use cunning tricks to fool the general people, if the transformational agenda is not adopted, if the rectification and democratization process in the political parties does not take place and if the 'mainstream' parties shy away from championing the cause of the mass movement, nobody can save them from further marginalization. In that situation, new political formations could emerge and the political process will continue to move forward. However, more recently, the 'mainstream' parties have shown some character and motivation towards reclaiming their mass base by adopting the democratic agenda and by leading the popular agitation at least in the cities.
Also, the media advocates of the multiparty system and the powerful movement launched by the civil society should share responsibilities by offering their ideas and services to clean up the mess in the political formations. The improved politico-organizational health of the 'mainstream' political parties certainly will contribute to realize the democratic aspirations of the people and attaining the goal of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Nepal.
Posted on www.nepalresearch.com, September 17, 2005.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Constituent assembly: beyond slogan mongering
Govinda Neupane
Recent developments in Nepal are interesting. The ever non-interfering Chinese are equipping the royal Nepal army with the supply of arms. Perhaps, the Chinese want the palace stronger not only to deal with the Maoists but also to look out the Indians. The Americans with all their tough-talking are busy bridging the gap between the palace and the parties. The Americans want to see the king and parties together to defeat the Maoists. The Indians want to keep the political situation fluid so as to maximize their gains particularly in areas of boundary disputes, water resource, security and trade. It is not clear, how the Indians intend to deal with the Maoists – peacefully or militarily; directly or through their Nepali alliance partners. They may wait to clarify such confusion. Sometimes, confusion plays as the best strategy particularly when the time has not come to expose the unjust or unpopular policy. The recent visit of the Indian foreign secretary and his expression of giving the benefit of doubt to the palace have provided the evidence of such strategy. It would be a big joke to believe that India or any other international power favors democracy in Nepal. Their bed-fellows - 'Their Majesties' in Arabia and other Gulf countries and many more 'Presidents' and 'Prime Ministers' around the world simply expose this myth. Any internal political player who dances according to external instructions certainly shall harm the interest of the Nepalese people. With this remark, it would be better to concentrate on the internal political dynamics.
The internal political players are busy adjusting with emerging realities. But, some of them are too rigid to adjust with. The palace either is totally isolated or it has reached to the point to surrendering to China internationally. No major powers other than the Chinese (Russians and Pakistanis to a lesser extent, perhaps. India may jump in its favor in future to counter the Chinese influence) are supporting the palace. The internal support base is also eroding due to its own policy of creating multiple battle fronts – basically against the media and the civil society. The parties are popular among major international powers other than China and probably Russia, but they do not command any sizable support inside the country. On the other, the Maoists command mass support to a large extent inside, whereas they are unpopular among the major international powers. In this situation, perhaps, they also have to retreat a bit and start the strategy of creating confusion as a tactical policy.
The political situation is confusing not only for the general public but also for the political analysts and some of the political players themselves. Where they are heading to? The palace has been intending to consolidate its power by bringing its supportive political institutions in the 'parliament' through the process of 'general election'. The seven-party-alliance wants the power back by restoring the dissolved parliament. The Maoists want to establish a people's democracy by bringing the non-monarchial or anti-monarchial forces together to attain the first-phase goal of establishing a democratic republic. Every political player has differing goals. The strategies and policies to attain the goals and the process also vary.
The election of the constituent assembly could be one of the best unifying political process but as the political environment is heading for check-met, it is difficult to accept that the forces will not try to subvert or create escape routes for them in the process of implementation. If any force sees that its victory in the election of the assembly is not sure or if it reaches to the conclusion that its defeat is imminent, certainly that force either will try to subvert the process or will find out an escape route. Presently, the palace is opposing the election of the assembly and the other two forces are favoring it, but in the inception or implementation stages any force may walk out. There are mainly four escape routes. The first could be the disagreement in the formation of a neutral interim government. The second could be the modalities to organize the election that includes the status, role and position of the election commission. The third factor could be that they may bring the issue of suspicion on the role of the bureaucracy or army or police or Maoist army. The forth could be the allegations of rigging of the election itself. Therefore, just reaching to certain agreement primarily in principle to agree on the election of the constituent assembly as a common relying program of action may not result in the resolution of the conflict. Moreover, until and unless the issues of broad social transformation and the management of the arms have been addressed, the process could not move forward.
It is natural and only a good strategy of the Maoists to utilize the opportunity provided by the agitation and pass through stages. But, if the Maoists will depart from their stated line of workers' democracy (a new form of multiparty system that overtly favors working class, oppressed nationalities, communities and groups and provides special constitutional protection and political, economic and cultural rights to them), they may face revolt in their own ranks and will split or will degenerate as in the case of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist). The seven-party-alliance too will utilize the courtesy of the Maoists till the Maoists will cooperate particularly in the area of mass mobilization to restore the parliament by agitation, court order or election. The palace which is isolated and cornered nationally and internationally would depend more and more on the army but may not give up power. Therefore, the solution of the conflict or the civil war in Nepal is not as simple as the armchair intellectuals, civil society barons and political opportunists believe or propagate.
In brief, there are four issues to address - a) agreement in the transformational socio-political agenda, b) management of arms and armed forces by agreeing to keep them staying there where they are now, c) agreeing on the structure, process and methods to hold election, and d) accepting the sovereign right of the people and their General Will expressed through the election and empower the assembly to design the structure, decide philosophical and ideological foundation of the state, insert values and visions and finalize the system. Without broadly agreeing on these critical issues, the election of the assembly would be a farce and the players will start the blame-game once again and walk out through the escape routes. For this reason, there should be a roundtable conference represented by the main political institutions, major political parties and federations of nationalities as well as oppressed sections such as women, Dalits and backward regional groups. The conference may discuss and short out the major differences and would clear the sky. The second step could be the formation of an independent election commission and an interim government. Is all this possible by consensus? This is where the problem crops up. Hence, this political course may not force the political players to participate in this process to its logical end unless one or some of them are in a position of imminent defeat. Here comes the importance of mass agitation. Even after all this, the process may not guarantee the resolution of the conflict but at least this could be an honest try. Otherwise, the solution would emerge through military means or militant agitation in the form of victory for some and defeat for others.
The Telegraph weekly, June, 16, 2004
Recent developments in Nepal are interesting. The ever non-interfering Chinese are equipping the royal Nepal army with the supply of arms. Perhaps, the Chinese want the palace stronger not only to deal with the Maoists but also to look out the Indians. The Americans with all their tough-talking are busy bridging the gap between the palace and the parties. The Americans want to see the king and parties together to defeat the Maoists. The Indians want to keep the political situation fluid so as to maximize their gains particularly in areas of boundary disputes, water resource, security and trade. It is not clear, how the Indians intend to deal with the Maoists – peacefully or militarily; directly or through their Nepali alliance partners. They may wait to clarify such confusion. Sometimes, confusion plays as the best strategy particularly when the time has not come to expose the unjust or unpopular policy. The recent visit of the Indian foreign secretary and his expression of giving the benefit of doubt to the palace have provided the evidence of such strategy. It would be a big joke to believe that India or any other international power favors democracy in Nepal. Their bed-fellows - 'Their Majesties' in Arabia and other Gulf countries and many more 'Presidents' and 'Prime Ministers' around the world simply expose this myth. Any internal political player who dances according to external instructions certainly shall harm the interest of the Nepalese people. With this remark, it would be better to concentrate on the internal political dynamics.
The internal political players are busy adjusting with emerging realities. But, some of them are too rigid to adjust with. The palace either is totally isolated or it has reached to the point to surrendering to China internationally. No major powers other than the Chinese (Russians and Pakistanis to a lesser extent, perhaps. India may jump in its favor in future to counter the Chinese influence) are supporting the palace. The internal support base is also eroding due to its own policy of creating multiple battle fronts – basically against the media and the civil society. The parties are popular among major international powers other than China and probably Russia, but they do not command any sizable support inside the country. On the other, the Maoists command mass support to a large extent inside, whereas they are unpopular among the major international powers. In this situation, perhaps, they also have to retreat a bit and start the strategy of creating confusion as a tactical policy.
The political situation is confusing not only for the general public but also for the political analysts and some of the political players themselves. Where they are heading to? The palace has been intending to consolidate its power by bringing its supportive political institutions in the 'parliament' through the process of 'general election'. The seven-party-alliance wants the power back by restoring the dissolved parliament. The Maoists want to establish a people's democracy by bringing the non-monarchial or anti-monarchial forces together to attain the first-phase goal of establishing a democratic republic. Every political player has differing goals. The strategies and policies to attain the goals and the process also vary.
The election of the constituent assembly could be one of the best unifying political process but as the political environment is heading for check-met, it is difficult to accept that the forces will not try to subvert or create escape routes for them in the process of implementation. If any force sees that its victory in the election of the assembly is not sure or if it reaches to the conclusion that its defeat is imminent, certainly that force either will try to subvert the process or will find out an escape route. Presently, the palace is opposing the election of the assembly and the other two forces are favoring it, but in the inception or implementation stages any force may walk out. There are mainly four escape routes. The first could be the disagreement in the formation of a neutral interim government. The second could be the modalities to organize the election that includes the status, role and position of the election commission. The third factor could be that they may bring the issue of suspicion on the role of the bureaucracy or army or police or Maoist army. The forth could be the allegations of rigging of the election itself. Therefore, just reaching to certain agreement primarily in principle to agree on the election of the constituent assembly as a common relying program of action may not result in the resolution of the conflict. Moreover, until and unless the issues of broad social transformation and the management of the arms have been addressed, the process could not move forward.
It is natural and only a good strategy of the Maoists to utilize the opportunity provided by the agitation and pass through stages. But, if the Maoists will depart from their stated line of workers' democracy (a new form of multiparty system that overtly favors working class, oppressed nationalities, communities and groups and provides special constitutional protection and political, economic and cultural rights to them), they may face revolt in their own ranks and will split or will degenerate as in the case of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist). The seven-party-alliance too will utilize the courtesy of the Maoists till the Maoists will cooperate particularly in the area of mass mobilization to restore the parliament by agitation, court order or election. The palace which is isolated and cornered nationally and internationally would depend more and more on the army but may not give up power. Therefore, the solution of the conflict or the civil war in Nepal is not as simple as the armchair intellectuals, civil society barons and political opportunists believe or propagate.
In brief, there are four issues to address - a) agreement in the transformational socio-political agenda, b) management of arms and armed forces by agreeing to keep them staying there where they are now, c) agreeing on the structure, process and methods to hold election, and d) accepting the sovereign right of the people and their General Will expressed through the election and empower the assembly to design the structure, decide philosophical and ideological foundation of the state, insert values and visions and finalize the system. Without broadly agreeing on these critical issues, the election of the assembly would be a farce and the players will start the blame-game once again and walk out through the escape routes. For this reason, there should be a roundtable conference represented by the main political institutions, major political parties and federations of nationalities as well as oppressed sections such as women, Dalits and backward regional groups. The conference may discuss and short out the major differences and would clear the sky. The second step could be the formation of an independent election commission and an interim government. Is all this possible by consensus? This is where the problem crops up. Hence, this political course may not force the political players to participate in this process to its logical end unless one or some of them are in a position of imminent defeat. Here comes the importance of mass agitation. Even after all this, the process may not guarantee the resolution of the conflict but at least this could be an honest try. Otherwise, the solution would emerge through military means or militant agitation in the form of victory for some and defeat for others.
The Telegraph weekly, June, 16, 2004
Palace, Parties and People Power
Govinda Neupane
The Ranas led the coalition of upper classes during their rule till 1951. After they were compelled to share power at leadership level, the new tussle began between the Shah Kings and the political parties. Due to the prevalence of feudalism in the society and the king’s control over the army, the parties were pushed to the background for more than 30 years. A ‘lofty’ word Panchayat was invented to cover the king’s direct rule. Although the parties continued low intensity resistance for fairly a long time, the palace was in total command. Thematically, the battle between them revolved around the system of governance. The palace was in favor of party-less system so as to actively control over the leadership, whereas the parties were for sharing the power with the palace by establishing a multiparty polity. They were in favor of constitutional monarchy as one of its ingredients. Other than some factions of the communist party such as the Jhapalies and the Fourth Congress, no political party was taking issues of fundamental changes in the society as its agenda during the 30 years period. Therefore, at the core, the political mobilization by the mainstream parties had nothing related to the structural issues.
People starved and died. People rebelled and failed. People tried and tested defeat. But as a collective mass, they never succumbed. The historic movements of 1970s, 1980s and the early 1990s offer evidences to justify this conclusion. The parties sided with the people. They never led them; neither had they launched movements effectively at the national level. But, people power expressed through the movements launched by the students, professionals and general people was overwhelming and the ruling class realized the need for sharing power. Hence, the contradictions between the palace and the parties related to the leadership had been managed by bringing temporary halt of animosity. They agreed to introduce multiparty system with essentially a powerful monarchy which had its total control over the army. The mainstream parties chanted loudly that the system they introduced was multiparty with constitutional monarchy. The arrangement announced that time in a document called constitution simply reflected the agreement for power-sharing. The document was neither the product of people’s general will nor it was the product of the reconciliation. Therefore, the contradiction between these two forces continued.
In the mean time, in 1996, the Maoists started armed insurrection, which progressed to a full fledge war. The two forces – the palace and the parties got divided over the method and leadership in dealing with the Maoists. For the parties, it was the opportunity to take control over the army at the most and have a say on its mobilization at the least. The army, as it had been traditionally getting orders from the palace and was loyal to it was reluctant to come under the control of the party’s government. Hence, the palace saw this opportunity to regain control over the leadership. They started the grand fight once again, sometimes clandestinely and sometimes publicly. The Maoists happily utilized the opportunity provided by the wrangling among the ruling elites. The fire was further fueled by the inefficiency, corruption, loss of credibility and division within the parliamentary party camps. As a result, the yesteryear’s heroes degenerated to the meanest villains making them vulnerable to any external push.
The palace enjoys the support of the army and has a traditional support base outside. It was reluctant to reconcile with the parties. The parliamentary political parties are on the defensive due to their misrule of several years. Their party leaderships are discredited. People do not trust them. Even, their own party cadres are reluctant to respond to the calls given by these parties. The so-called international community publicly supports the parties and clandestinely supplies resources to the palace-led government. The palace, perhaps, believes that the more the Maoists gain strengths, the more the so-called international community shall come closer to it.
The palace, after taking absolute power in February this year, boldly elaborated its priorities. The priorities included bringing peace by quelling the rebellion, controlling corruption and taking action against the corrupt officials of the previous regimes, restore democracy and reinitiate development programs. The palace set a time frame of three years to complete the restoration process. To achieve these goals, the palace introduced state of emergency, implemented censorship regime, quelled opposition voices by imprisoning political leaders and interfered in the means of mass communication. The cabinet formed after the king’s address of February 01 did not justify the beginning of clean governance. The collective face of the royal government was no different from the previous one. Those who were hoping against hope were frustrated when the anti-corruption commission was formed. Legal framework, operational instruments and personalities nominated all added to their hopelessness. This was one of the most important strategic errors. Rather than closing down the strategically less important enemy fronts, the royal government expanded them by introducing new fronts. The palace, perhaps, believed that single-minded determination alone can produce results. The parties, bewildered initially, got some respite not because of their actions, but due to the arrogance of the new ministers, missing credibility of the commission and the so-called international community’s moral support. Finally, they had some sense of confidence back after their pilgrim to the Indian capital and the sympathy-led support of the Maoists. After these ICU medications, their heart has started to pump blood, at least to keep them alive.
The government is ruling effectively in urban areas. The rural areas are under strong influence of the Maoists. Now, there are three possibilities – the government will regain control allover Nepal, the Maoists will win or a new mechanism will effectively end the divide and reunify the governance. The first two refer to the military solution, whereas the third is related to the political solution. The political solution could be achieved only by bringing people power into play and designing a system that could address the transformational agenda, which includes but not limited to inclusive democracy, federalism and radical socio-economic changes. The election of the constituent assembly could be the new starting point that may herald the beginning of a new Nepali political amphitheater. Not only the palace, the parties, the Maoists and the people could participate in this democratic process, but also the structural issues could be resolved in the new environment. Are the political players ready to listen and participate to resolve the structural issues proactively? Or, they simply wait to succumb to the people power?
Posted on www.nepalresearch.com, August 03, 2005
The Ranas led the coalition of upper classes during their rule till 1951. After they were compelled to share power at leadership level, the new tussle began between the Shah Kings and the political parties. Due to the prevalence of feudalism in the society and the king’s control over the army, the parties were pushed to the background for more than 30 years. A ‘lofty’ word Panchayat was invented to cover the king’s direct rule. Although the parties continued low intensity resistance for fairly a long time, the palace was in total command. Thematically, the battle between them revolved around the system of governance. The palace was in favor of party-less system so as to actively control over the leadership, whereas the parties were for sharing the power with the palace by establishing a multiparty polity. They were in favor of constitutional monarchy as one of its ingredients. Other than some factions of the communist party such as the Jhapalies and the Fourth Congress, no political party was taking issues of fundamental changes in the society as its agenda during the 30 years period. Therefore, at the core, the political mobilization by the mainstream parties had nothing related to the structural issues.
People starved and died. People rebelled and failed. People tried and tested defeat. But as a collective mass, they never succumbed. The historic movements of 1970s, 1980s and the early 1990s offer evidences to justify this conclusion. The parties sided with the people. They never led them; neither had they launched movements effectively at the national level. But, people power expressed through the movements launched by the students, professionals and general people was overwhelming and the ruling class realized the need for sharing power. Hence, the contradictions between the palace and the parties related to the leadership had been managed by bringing temporary halt of animosity. They agreed to introduce multiparty system with essentially a powerful monarchy which had its total control over the army. The mainstream parties chanted loudly that the system they introduced was multiparty with constitutional monarchy. The arrangement announced that time in a document called constitution simply reflected the agreement for power-sharing. The document was neither the product of people’s general will nor it was the product of the reconciliation. Therefore, the contradiction between these two forces continued.
In the mean time, in 1996, the Maoists started armed insurrection, which progressed to a full fledge war. The two forces – the palace and the parties got divided over the method and leadership in dealing with the Maoists. For the parties, it was the opportunity to take control over the army at the most and have a say on its mobilization at the least. The army, as it had been traditionally getting orders from the palace and was loyal to it was reluctant to come under the control of the party’s government. Hence, the palace saw this opportunity to regain control over the leadership. They started the grand fight once again, sometimes clandestinely and sometimes publicly. The Maoists happily utilized the opportunity provided by the wrangling among the ruling elites. The fire was further fueled by the inefficiency, corruption, loss of credibility and division within the parliamentary party camps. As a result, the yesteryear’s heroes degenerated to the meanest villains making them vulnerable to any external push.
The palace enjoys the support of the army and has a traditional support base outside. It was reluctant to reconcile with the parties. The parliamentary political parties are on the defensive due to their misrule of several years. Their party leaderships are discredited. People do not trust them. Even, their own party cadres are reluctant to respond to the calls given by these parties. The so-called international community publicly supports the parties and clandestinely supplies resources to the palace-led government. The palace, perhaps, believes that the more the Maoists gain strengths, the more the so-called international community shall come closer to it.
The palace, after taking absolute power in February this year, boldly elaborated its priorities. The priorities included bringing peace by quelling the rebellion, controlling corruption and taking action against the corrupt officials of the previous regimes, restore democracy and reinitiate development programs. The palace set a time frame of three years to complete the restoration process. To achieve these goals, the palace introduced state of emergency, implemented censorship regime, quelled opposition voices by imprisoning political leaders and interfered in the means of mass communication. The cabinet formed after the king’s address of February 01 did not justify the beginning of clean governance. The collective face of the royal government was no different from the previous one. Those who were hoping against hope were frustrated when the anti-corruption commission was formed. Legal framework, operational instruments and personalities nominated all added to their hopelessness. This was one of the most important strategic errors. Rather than closing down the strategically less important enemy fronts, the royal government expanded them by introducing new fronts. The palace, perhaps, believed that single-minded determination alone can produce results. The parties, bewildered initially, got some respite not because of their actions, but due to the arrogance of the new ministers, missing credibility of the commission and the so-called international community’s moral support. Finally, they had some sense of confidence back after their pilgrim to the Indian capital and the sympathy-led support of the Maoists. After these ICU medications, their heart has started to pump blood, at least to keep them alive.
The government is ruling effectively in urban areas. The rural areas are under strong influence of the Maoists. Now, there are three possibilities – the government will regain control allover Nepal, the Maoists will win or a new mechanism will effectively end the divide and reunify the governance. The first two refer to the military solution, whereas the third is related to the political solution. The political solution could be achieved only by bringing people power into play and designing a system that could address the transformational agenda, which includes but not limited to inclusive democracy, federalism and radical socio-economic changes. The election of the constituent assembly could be the new starting point that may herald the beginning of a new Nepali political amphitheater. Not only the palace, the parties, the Maoists and the people could participate in this democratic process, but also the structural issues could be resolved in the new environment. Are the political players ready to listen and participate to resolve the structural issues proactively? Or, they simply wait to succumb to the people power?
Posted on www.nepalresearch.com, August 03, 2005
Crisis in Nepal: Political Circus vs. Politics of Transformation
Govinda Neupane
For the last 13 years, Nepal is experiencing turmoil, uncertainty and instability. More particularly, after the historic democracy movement of 1990, the situation has continued to remain fluid. During this period, the people created either extreme optimism or pessimism for themselves. The politicians of the gifted parliamentary school marched for their own prosperity. The radicals vanished to the jungles and came back to the villages, towns and cities heavily armed with modern weapons. And, the palace also got change of face after the tragedy which took lives of several royals.
After the democracy movement, the change of heart and mind started from the people. During the movement and immediately after that period, the people were so optimistic that they were expecting the opening up of the flood-gate of prosperity. In their "dream-Nepal", everybody will have a decent job, children will be in schools, health facilities will reach their door-steps, poverty will disappear, inequality will vanish and physical facilities would match that of Singapore. This will not take long time as the magical multiparty was there and their leaders had promised so. Some of the leaders, even publicly, had declared that Nepal will be at par of Singapore quite soon. They were making speeches as if Nepal will start just cultivating smile, satisfaction and prosperity. But, the results did not support the loud talks. Therefore, optimism did not last long and the people changed their expectations rapidly. Hence, pessimism started to run high. In this way, the first party changing their side, expectations and fantasies were the people. They were away from the reality just for two to three years.
The second party noticeably faster in the competition of change was the galaxy of political leaders of the parliamentary school. They changed their goals, roles and assets in an unbelievably faster speed. They created oasis for themselves whereas people continued to starve. All of the sudden, they became powerful as the Ranas (a dynasty which ruled for 104 years), wealthy as the Marwaris (an influential business community migrated from Rajasthan) and unpopular as the Panchas (former ruling clique). They changed themselves dramatically.
The third party to change was the ginger group among the Nepalese left, the radicals. They were hanging around the parliamentary system talking some complex theoretical mysteries. One fine day, they discovered that nothing significant change is possible without arms. They vanished to the jungles. It was strange that one dark night the creamy layer of the Nepalese communist politics disappeared from the main roads of Kathmandu valley. They started either walking on the narrow lanes during the darkness of night or marching towards the lap of the majestic mountains. The gossip-loving Nepalese communists who had spent 47 years talking about armed struggle as a joke, this time did not tell a lie. A sea-change!
The fourth party to change was the palace. After 1990, the tamed king was residing in the royal palace. The king became so compassionate that it started to behave like a royal monk – loving, caring and above all gentle. The people started to feel close to that obedient, rule-abiding king. But, in the infamous June-One tragedy, not only the king but also all of his immediate family members were killed. As it happens in a monarchy, a new king ascended to the throne. The new king, overtly, expected an active role to play. In this way the forth and final party was the palace, which offered evidences of its change by expecting a dominant role in the coalition politics.
The leaders and their parties of the parliamentary school were discredited. The radicals in the jungles and remote areas were gaining strengths. And, the palace was trying to assert its dominant role. In this period of extreme fluidity, there was an infamous and weak government of a spineless leader who was surrounded by notorious political gangsters. The hunters, trained and motivated, overpowered this gang of political hooligans and gave them the marching order. Some termed this as a constitutional coup d'état. After this incident, in the political circus, roles changed. The yesteryear's tigers, the crooks of parliamentary school, were on the run. The political drama continued to unfold several mysteries, roles and events. One old political crony, who had already lost the teeth, was brought to chew the hard nuts of complex-make. As an obedient crony, he tried to chew. Predictably, he failed to break the nut and accepted to vanish in the wilderness. There was no problem, another crony replaced him. The second one also witnessed the same fate and disappeared. Once again, the dethroned spineless leader had the lady luck on his side. He got the chair back. In this way, the game of the musical chair has been continuing.
The people are fed up with the activity of changing the masks. For them, everybody who enters into the game park called Singh durbar (the central secretariat) is the same type of animal with a different human mask. The animal is well known as it is blood thirsty, voracious and greedy. The animalized human faces in the parliamentary school are also the same for the people and the nation as they looted the society and the state in the past. They also killed thousands of people and declared state of emergency to curtail all civil liberties and human rights whatever they were there. Only the difference is that, they do not feel tired while making lofty lectures. There will be no surprise if the former Panch's team and the parliamentary parties' team will join hands to share the booty.
What will be the net gain from such change for the people? In real sense, neither there will be any difference nor are the people expecting for. Even the radicals who have developed a habit of coming to surface for negotiating a peaceful takeover may book the ticket once more. There is no harm in trying as they will keep the mountain boots ready to disappear if the new political dolls behave differently.
The politics in Nepal has become a strange puzzle needing a large amount of neuron cells in the brain to understand and to play with. If nothing is going to change, why the new dramas are being staged? In reality, the same crowd wearing different masks will start another Tandab Nritya (a form of destructive dance). As usual, the dance will have the blending of vulgarity and utopia. All killings, commissions, bribes, nepotism, favoritism, etc. will be camouflaged by idealistic speeches and the auction of dreams. The people will be forced to watch the real action achievements of the ruling crowd – their laughter and smiles, bungalows and luxury cars, foreign trips and family shows, addition of fat in their body and brain, etc, etc. The people shall continue to watch this type of real actions with envy, jealousy and hatred till the ruling crowd will be decamped together with their rule.
The intellectuals, mostly befooled by strange schemes, talk about crisis in Nepalese political scene. They say that there is total absence of political stability. But, Nepal has not been entering into a crisis situation only because a toothless vegetarian old wildcat left the animal park or another crony vanished or a dethroned spineless leader might have the same fate. Nepal has been and will continue to be in crisis. Because, we Nepalese are 'Veer Gurkhas' (we, Gorkhalis are brave because we are stupid, we did not know to be brave without being stupid – Bhupi Serchan). If Nepalese people will get success to say good bye to the "stupid" part of the British colonial label of 'Veer Gurkhas', only then they can get rid of the crisis which is the byproduct of the criminally vulgar political circus. Therefore, the need of the day is the enlightened politico-ideological intervention further supported by strategic vision, sincerity of purpose, collective heroism and mass actions. Looking at the prevailing situation at the grassroots, there are reasons to be optimistic. The heightened level of socio-political awareness has created opportunities for change and has expanded the scope of qualitative difference at the grassroots level. Just the change of face at macro level doesn't add value. There is the need of transformation of the society. Also, there is the need of a mechanism that generates synergy to accelerate the process of change and gets rid of crisis. The most democratic and peaceful way out of the crisis and also the new departure point for the politics of transformation is to design a system accepting the sovereign right and General Will of the people. The election of the constituent assembly could be the most logical democratic process to recognize the General Will and to institutionalize the mandate. As a nation, are we ready to practice democracy?
The Telegraph Weekly, Kathmandu, June 16-23, 2004.
For the last 13 years, Nepal is experiencing turmoil, uncertainty and instability. More particularly, after the historic democracy movement of 1990, the situation has continued to remain fluid. During this period, the people created either extreme optimism or pessimism for themselves. The politicians of the gifted parliamentary school marched for their own prosperity. The radicals vanished to the jungles and came back to the villages, towns and cities heavily armed with modern weapons. And, the palace also got change of face after the tragedy which took lives of several royals.
After the democracy movement, the change of heart and mind started from the people. During the movement and immediately after that period, the people were so optimistic that they were expecting the opening up of the flood-gate of prosperity. In their "dream-Nepal", everybody will have a decent job, children will be in schools, health facilities will reach their door-steps, poverty will disappear, inequality will vanish and physical facilities would match that of Singapore. This will not take long time as the magical multiparty was there and their leaders had promised so. Some of the leaders, even publicly, had declared that Nepal will be at par of Singapore quite soon. They were making speeches as if Nepal will start just cultivating smile, satisfaction and prosperity. But, the results did not support the loud talks. Therefore, optimism did not last long and the people changed their expectations rapidly. Hence, pessimism started to run high. In this way, the first party changing their side, expectations and fantasies were the people. They were away from the reality just for two to three years.
The second party noticeably faster in the competition of change was the galaxy of political leaders of the parliamentary school. They changed their goals, roles and assets in an unbelievably faster speed. They created oasis for themselves whereas people continued to starve. All of the sudden, they became powerful as the Ranas (a dynasty which ruled for 104 years), wealthy as the Marwaris (an influential business community migrated from Rajasthan) and unpopular as the Panchas (former ruling clique). They changed themselves dramatically.
The third party to change was the ginger group among the Nepalese left, the radicals. They were hanging around the parliamentary system talking some complex theoretical mysteries. One fine day, they discovered that nothing significant change is possible without arms. They vanished to the jungles. It was strange that one dark night the creamy layer of the Nepalese communist politics disappeared from the main roads of Kathmandu valley. They started either walking on the narrow lanes during the darkness of night or marching towards the lap of the majestic mountains. The gossip-loving Nepalese communists who had spent 47 years talking about armed struggle as a joke, this time did not tell a lie. A sea-change!
The fourth party to change was the palace. After 1990, the tamed king was residing in the royal palace. The king became so compassionate that it started to behave like a royal monk – loving, caring and above all gentle. The people started to feel close to that obedient, rule-abiding king. But, in the infamous June-One tragedy, not only the king but also all of his immediate family members were killed. As it happens in a monarchy, a new king ascended to the throne. The new king, overtly, expected an active role to play. In this way the forth and final party was the palace, which offered evidences of its change by expecting a dominant role in the coalition politics.
The leaders and their parties of the parliamentary school were discredited. The radicals in the jungles and remote areas were gaining strengths. And, the palace was trying to assert its dominant role. In this period of extreme fluidity, there was an infamous and weak government of a spineless leader who was surrounded by notorious political gangsters. The hunters, trained and motivated, overpowered this gang of political hooligans and gave them the marching order. Some termed this as a constitutional coup d'état. After this incident, in the political circus, roles changed. The yesteryear's tigers, the crooks of parliamentary school, were on the run. The political drama continued to unfold several mysteries, roles and events. One old political crony, who had already lost the teeth, was brought to chew the hard nuts of complex-make. As an obedient crony, he tried to chew. Predictably, he failed to break the nut and accepted to vanish in the wilderness. There was no problem, another crony replaced him. The second one also witnessed the same fate and disappeared. Once again, the dethroned spineless leader had the lady luck on his side. He got the chair back. In this way, the game of the musical chair has been continuing.
The people are fed up with the activity of changing the masks. For them, everybody who enters into the game park called Singh durbar (the central secretariat) is the same type of animal with a different human mask. The animal is well known as it is blood thirsty, voracious and greedy. The animalized human faces in the parliamentary school are also the same for the people and the nation as they looted the society and the state in the past. They also killed thousands of people and declared state of emergency to curtail all civil liberties and human rights whatever they were there. Only the difference is that, they do not feel tired while making lofty lectures. There will be no surprise if the former Panch's team and the parliamentary parties' team will join hands to share the booty.
What will be the net gain from such change for the people? In real sense, neither there will be any difference nor are the people expecting for. Even the radicals who have developed a habit of coming to surface for negotiating a peaceful takeover may book the ticket once more. There is no harm in trying as they will keep the mountain boots ready to disappear if the new political dolls behave differently.
The politics in Nepal has become a strange puzzle needing a large amount of neuron cells in the brain to understand and to play with. If nothing is going to change, why the new dramas are being staged? In reality, the same crowd wearing different masks will start another Tandab Nritya (a form of destructive dance). As usual, the dance will have the blending of vulgarity and utopia. All killings, commissions, bribes, nepotism, favoritism, etc. will be camouflaged by idealistic speeches and the auction of dreams. The people will be forced to watch the real action achievements of the ruling crowd – their laughter and smiles, bungalows and luxury cars, foreign trips and family shows, addition of fat in their body and brain, etc, etc. The people shall continue to watch this type of real actions with envy, jealousy and hatred till the ruling crowd will be decamped together with their rule.
The intellectuals, mostly befooled by strange schemes, talk about crisis in Nepalese political scene. They say that there is total absence of political stability. But, Nepal has not been entering into a crisis situation only because a toothless vegetarian old wildcat left the animal park or another crony vanished or a dethroned spineless leader might have the same fate. Nepal has been and will continue to be in crisis. Because, we Nepalese are 'Veer Gurkhas' (we, Gorkhalis are brave because we are stupid, we did not know to be brave without being stupid – Bhupi Serchan). If Nepalese people will get success to say good bye to the "stupid" part of the British colonial label of 'Veer Gurkhas', only then they can get rid of the crisis which is the byproduct of the criminally vulgar political circus. Therefore, the need of the day is the enlightened politico-ideological intervention further supported by strategic vision, sincerity of purpose, collective heroism and mass actions. Looking at the prevailing situation at the grassroots, there are reasons to be optimistic. The heightened level of socio-political awareness has created opportunities for change and has expanded the scope of qualitative difference at the grassroots level. Just the change of face at macro level doesn't add value. There is the need of transformation of the society. Also, there is the need of a mechanism that generates synergy to accelerate the process of change and gets rid of crisis. The most democratic and peaceful way out of the crisis and also the new departure point for the politics of transformation is to design a system accepting the sovereign right and General Will of the people. The election of the constituent assembly could be the most logical democratic process to recognize the General Will and to institutionalize the mandate. As a nation, are we ready to practice democracy?
The Telegraph Weekly, Kathmandu, June 16-23, 2004.
Government – Maoist 'endeavor': Back to battlefield?
Govinda Neupane
It is still too early to conclude that the dialogue has been over. They are still talking about the talks. The exchanges of letters are continuing and some hope has been still there. But, the sign and symptoms lead to a second time failure of the negotiation exercise. Now, there is no mutual trust and very soon the blame-game would surface. The early signals have been shown by both the parties. The government wants to check-met the Maoist by declaring the election of the parliament. The Maoists will stick to the previously agreed provisions including the 'five kilometer' one as their missile. Also they have raised the question of security concerns. Closing down of their contact office in Kathmandu is the most recent expression of their attitude towards the trustworthiness of the government.
The government is busy buying time to make reasonable arrangement to announce the election and is also luring the parliamentary opposition. It has still kept open the greener pastures in its cabinet to bring the parliamentary comrades and the yesteryear's democrats inside the fence. The tired opposition may have no energy to resists the green grass just staying on the other side of the fence. Hence, in an opportune moment, they may jump inside. They say they are very much committed to save democracy. According to them, if they will hold real or nominal power, the very democracy would function. So, it would not surprise anybody if they will line up with the establishment. Anyway, they are the least influencing political forces if judged by their credibility and strengths. A combined parliamentary opposition is taking rest by organizing a Jatra of rely hunger strike at Ratnapark. It makes them totally naked. They, perhaps, can no longer bring the people on the street and have not a single individual who can sit in a real hunger strike. Therefore, joining the ruling coalition could be their choice as they will not be willing to go the difficult path that they may have to travel if they side with the Maoists. From the class perspective also, their joining the upper class governing coalition is normal and natural. Now, the King has taken the leadership of the ruling upper class coalition and he enjoys the support of the army. The army has done all sorts of preparation and is equipped with modern weapons. The rightist elements within the political forces are lining up behind the king. Not only the Rastriya Prajatantra party but also elements within Nepali Congress and the UML are just ready to cross the floor. They are waiting for the final position of their respective parties. In this way, 'a grand realignment of political forces' may embolden the upper class ruling coalition to check-met the Maoists. And, they may use the election as the reconciliation drama for themselves. The Indian government may try to keep the political situation fluid and the Americans will support the government's move. The westerners, in general, will come out in support of the election. In this way, the government may win the battle for the first round. On their side, the Maoists will try not to repeat the Dang syndrome, where many political and apolitical forces blamed them for breaking the ceasefire. This time, the government with its own overconfidence may break the ceasefire. This would give Maoists the same type of initial public relation advantage as Dang gave to the government side. But if the government will wait for a longer period of time without making any significant break-through in the talks, then it would be difficult for the Maoists to wait indefinitely. In such situation, they have to use their social engineering skills to go to the battlefield. By going through their past records, the social engineering is quite possible. This may balance the blame by organizing events which may create all sorts of confusions.
As regard to the balance sheets, the government may feel happy that it got plenty of time to arm and train the army. Politically, by sidelining the parliamentary forces or even lining them up behind it, the government may claim of making a national consensus. These advantages may boost the moral of the army. For the Maoists, the negotiation period could be seen beneficial due to three reasons - reorganizing their party, army and front organizations, keeping their area of governance and the supply lines intact to take off for another phase of armed confrontation against the government army and enhanced public image as they have no more label of 'terrorists' and had wide range of exchange of views with national as well as international actors. Therefore, when their guns start roaring again, they may also have higher level of confidence. If another armed confrontation is inevitable, why the drama of negotiation was staged? This is part of life, part of politics and part of a military strategy. Winning or loosing a protracted war is distributed in several phases. Both sides need to strengthen their fighting capacities, overhauling their supply lines, reassessing political and organizational preparation and above all regenerating a collective will to win. Therefore, they had this break. If somebody blames them for an unethical exercise, he or she has no understanding of a class war. A class war is the confrontation between antagonistic classes and the result is either win or loose. There is no solution in between in strategic sense. Therefore, rather than blaming them, it would be wise to choose his or her own course - side with the Maoists and be part of the process undertaken for the transformation of the society or be with the government and maintain the statuesque or be a critical observer and participate in any actions of your choice or leave the entire process as it progresses and maintain lowest visibility possible. The war may not start tomorrow, or even next year, but it is certain that it will start again. The actors may not be the same but the strategic course shall never stop. Of course, a slower and longer path for societal transformation was available and that could be cost effective in terms of loss of human life and damage of assets and infrastructure. But that course of electing a constituent assembly to resolve the political impasse democratically sounds not a feasible option as the government is not serious at all for this course. Therefore, waiting the day of restarting the war has become a reality.
The People's Review Weekly, Kathmandu, August 7-13, 2003.
It is still too early to conclude that the dialogue has been over. They are still talking about the talks. The exchanges of letters are continuing and some hope has been still there. But, the sign and symptoms lead to a second time failure of the negotiation exercise. Now, there is no mutual trust and very soon the blame-game would surface. The early signals have been shown by both the parties. The government wants to check-met the Maoist by declaring the election of the parliament. The Maoists will stick to the previously agreed provisions including the 'five kilometer' one as their missile. Also they have raised the question of security concerns. Closing down of their contact office in Kathmandu is the most recent expression of their attitude towards the trustworthiness of the government.
The government is busy buying time to make reasonable arrangement to announce the election and is also luring the parliamentary opposition. It has still kept open the greener pastures in its cabinet to bring the parliamentary comrades and the yesteryear's democrats inside the fence. The tired opposition may have no energy to resists the green grass just staying on the other side of the fence. Hence, in an opportune moment, they may jump inside. They say they are very much committed to save democracy. According to them, if they will hold real or nominal power, the very democracy would function. So, it would not surprise anybody if they will line up with the establishment. Anyway, they are the least influencing political forces if judged by their credibility and strengths. A combined parliamentary opposition is taking rest by organizing a Jatra of rely hunger strike at Ratnapark. It makes them totally naked. They, perhaps, can no longer bring the people on the street and have not a single individual who can sit in a real hunger strike. Therefore, joining the ruling coalition could be their choice as they will not be willing to go the difficult path that they may have to travel if they side with the Maoists. From the class perspective also, their joining the upper class governing coalition is normal and natural. Now, the King has taken the leadership of the ruling upper class coalition and he enjoys the support of the army. The army has done all sorts of preparation and is equipped with modern weapons. The rightist elements within the political forces are lining up behind the king. Not only the Rastriya Prajatantra party but also elements within Nepali Congress and the UML are just ready to cross the floor. They are waiting for the final position of their respective parties. In this way, 'a grand realignment of political forces' may embolden the upper class ruling coalition to check-met the Maoists. And, they may use the election as the reconciliation drama for themselves. The Indian government may try to keep the political situation fluid and the Americans will support the government's move. The westerners, in general, will come out in support of the election. In this way, the government may win the battle for the first round. On their side, the Maoists will try not to repeat the Dang syndrome, where many political and apolitical forces blamed them for breaking the ceasefire. This time, the government with its own overconfidence may break the ceasefire. This would give Maoists the same type of initial public relation advantage as Dang gave to the government side. But if the government will wait for a longer period of time without making any significant break-through in the talks, then it would be difficult for the Maoists to wait indefinitely. In such situation, they have to use their social engineering skills to go to the battlefield. By going through their past records, the social engineering is quite possible. This may balance the blame by organizing events which may create all sorts of confusions.
As regard to the balance sheets, the government may feel happy that it got plenty of time to arm and train the army. Politically, by sidelining the parliamentary forces or even lining them up behind it, the government may claim of making a national consensus. These advantages may boost the moral of the army. For the Maoists, the negotiation period could be seen beneficial due to three reasons - reorganizing their party, army and front organizations, keeping their area of governance and the supply lines intact to take off for another phase of armed confrontation against the government army and enhanced public image as they have no more label of 'terrorists' and had wide range of exchange of views with national as well as international actors. Therefore, when their guns start roaring again, they may also have higher level of confidence. If another armed confrontation is inevitable, why the drama of negotiation was staged? This is part of life, part of politics and part of a military strategy. Winning or loosing a protracted war is distributed in several phases. Both sides need to strengthen their fighting capacities, overhauling their supply lines, reassessing political and organizational preparation and above all regenerating a collective will to win. Therefore, they had this break. If somebody blames them for an unethical exercise, he or she has no understanding of a class war. A class war is the confrontation between antagonistic classes and the result is either win or loose. There is no solution in between in strategic sense. Therefore, rather than blaming them, it would be wise to choose his or her own course - side with the Maoists and be part of the process undertaken for the transformation of the society or be with the government and maintain the statuesque or be a critical observer and participate in any actions of your choice or leave the entire process as it progresses and maintain lowest visibility possible. The war may not start tomorrow, or even next year, but it is certain that it will start again. The actors may not be the same but the strategic course shall never stop. Of course, a slower and longer path for societal transformation was available and that could be cost effective in terms of loss of human life and damage of assets and infrastructure. But that course of electing a constituent assembly to resolve the political impasse democratically sounds not a feasible option as the government is not serious at all for this course. Therefore, waiting the day of restarting the war has become a reality.
The People's Review Weekly, Kathmandu, August 7-13, 2003.
Pluralism with difference: A prerequisite for peace and prosperity
Govinda Neupane
In any society, politics is one of the most important topics which should generate debate. Unfortunately, in Nepal, politics is considered as a well understood and already concluded issue and the debate centers around political rituals. In essence, politics is the collective act of one or more non-antagonistic economic class or classes to protect and promote their class interests by blending, programming and packaging their interests in a certain ideology, theory and a pattern of behaviors. Therefore, one has to understand the class-base and the orientation of the ideology, theory and behaviors that their collective act represents. The collective act necessarily relates itself with the existing reality of the society and interacts, influences and interferes by antagonistic or non-antagonistic manner with all other types of collective acts prevailing in that particular time. Since its beginning, the class society is pluralistic politically, economically, socio-culturally, psychologically and organizationally. The plural values, beliefs and practices are not limited to the collective behavior of antagonistic classes; it has been seen within the same type of classes too. In reality, they differ and behave differently within a broad periphery of class interests. To promote and safeguard the class interests collectively, and to represent those interests more effectively, the antagonistic classes fight head-to-head, sometimes in the battlefield when the class contradiction reaches to the boiling point. This is what the Nepalese society is experiencing today.
In the Nepalese society, one can see the fiercest fight. The fight is multidimensional and complex. It has covered ideologies, politics, cultures, values and many more. The fight, primarily, is between the upper class ruling coalition and the working classes. The ruling classes are trying their level best to continue the political, economic and cultural dominance whereas the working classes want to radically reorganize the society including the change of the superstructure. At this moment, the palace has become the leader of the ruling upper class and the Maoists lead the working class majority. In strategic sense, the centrists are the extension of the ruling coalition, but today, in tactical sense, they are humiliated section of the upper class political coalition and use to cry sometimes when a 'friendly-fire' hits them or extreme hunger for power, prestige, wealth and opportunity compels them. This is what the parliamentary opposition's protest movement is all about. Although, they cry to regain their lost glory, this process also may have positive political impact.
Retaining and even strengthening the existing behavioral, programmatic and operational supremacy in all spheres of socio-economic and political governance is the goal of the upper class ruling coalition whereas the leftists led by the Maoists are striving for radical socio-economic and political change. In this way, Nepalese political scene is witnessing a grand fight of unprecedented nature. The contradictions between the antagonistic classes have broadened the scope of struggle, which has entered into the superior level of class war. Now, there are two governing mechanisms. Although, two types of mechanism have been in practice, but that does not necessarily reflect the presence of two systems. The upper class ruling coalition has been operating under the multiparty system whereas the Maoists are going through an experiential course by making several experiments in the area they govern.
During the period of war, any experiment may work, but in a broader political canvas, a comprehensive system alone can provide the appropriate operating mechanism.
The communists all over the world successfully campaigned for a new nature of state power. They were successful in capturing the power in several countries. Once, they were not only a dominant ideology in the world but also the counter-balancing military power. They failed to retain that place. The easy answer is – the revisionists and the capitalists recaptured the power. But why they recaptured the state power so successfully? Was it a policy failure or the failure of implementation? Or, it happened due to more fundamental structural reasons? It is not in one or a few countries the experiment failed. Therefore, the logic of policy or implementation failure doesn’t reflect the reality. This is structural failure of fundamental nature. In the beginning, one of the reasons for the failure of the Paris commune was stated as not effective implementation of dictatorship of the proletariat. This conclusion offered uncompromising stand in favor of dictatorship, which in later years was extended to people with differing views including the communist party leaders and cadres. In the process, most of the communist parties lost their vision, side-lined the values and degenerated as monolithic state bureaucracies. The failure was the outcome of the extension of dictatorship of the party exercised by its leadership. Indeed, the failure was the result of the negation of pluralistic socio-economic and political composition of the society and absence of a superstructure appropriate to address that reality. Certainly, that lesson should get importance, more particularly, during the phase of democratic revolution and reconstruction. Therefore, to address the need of an appropriate superstructure that ensures politico-economic and cultural pluralism with difference, the following provisions may provide the basis.
Constitutionally mandated nature of state that overtly favors working classes, minorities and weaker sections,
Multiparty,
Federal state,
Autonomous regions of nationalities,
New mixed economy,
Multiculturalism, and
State completely free from religious affiliation.
This is not the "Bahudaliya Janabad" as some centrists are busy selling their product under the communist banner. The important factors are the class orientation of the state power and the choice of a mechanism by which the power is exercised. When working class interests, values and visions occupy primacy, rest will fall accordingly. It is important to institutionalize those primacies in the form of constitutional provisions, and for this purpose there is the need of a duly elected constituent assembly. When there are such provisions in the constitution drafted and adopted by the constituent assembly, the armed forces and the bureaucracy need overhaul. A surgical process can insert the new state values within a new operational framework. The amalgamation of two armies into one could provide the opportunity for such surgical process. If this process gets obstructed, the course may turn again into a violent one and the mass uprising or protracted war will insure the insertion of the new vision and values. Finally, if the society has to move forward, there should be a progressive state which operates with dynamic political processes. Obviously, pluralism with difference provides the dynamic environment to all political parties, social and economic institutes and mass organizations to function as centers of excellence and also it makes them accountable as the people judge them continuously. Therefore, the consensus for the pluralism that has equity and justice as its core values, could be a turning point to ensure true democracy, lasting peace and ever flourishing prosperity in Nepal
The People's Review weekly, Kathmandu, June 12-18, 2003.
In any society, politics is one of the most important topics which should generate debate. Unfortunately, in Nepal, politics is considered as a well understood and already concluded issue and the debate centers around political rituals. In essence, politics is the collective act of one or more non-antagonistic economic class or classes to protect and promote their class interests by blending, programming and packaging their interests in a certain ideology, theory and a pattern of behaviors. Therefore, one has to understand the class-base and the orientation of the ideology, theory and behaviors that their collective act represents. The collective act necessarily relates itself with the existing reality of the society and interacts, influences and interferes by antagonistic or non-antagonistic manner with all other types of collective acts prevailing in that particular time. Since its beginning, the class society is pluralistic politically, economically, socio-culturally, psychologically and organizationally. The plural values, beliefs and practices are not limited to the collective behavior of antagonistic classes; it has been seen within the same type of classes too. In reality, they differ and behave differently within a broad periphery of class interests. To promote and safeguard the class interests collectively, and to represent those interests more effectively, the antagonistic classes fight head-to-head, sometimes in the battlefield when the class contradiction reaches to the boiling point. This is what the Nepalese society is experiencing today.
In the Nepalese society, one can see the fiercest fight. The fight is multidimensional and complex. It has covered ideologies, politics, cultures, values and many more. The fight, primarily, is between the upper class ruling coalition and the working classes. The ruling classes are trying their level best to continue the political, economic and cultural dominance whereas the working classes want to radically reorganize the society including the change of the superstructure. At this moment, the palace has become the leader of the ruling upper class and the Maoists lead the working class majority. In strategic sense, the centrists are the extension of the ruling coalition, but today, in tactical sense, they are humiliated section of the upper class political coalition and use to cry sometimes when a 'friendly-fire' hits them or extreme hunger for power, prestige, wealth and opportunity compels them. This is what the parliamentary opposition's protest movement is all about. Although, they cry to regain their lost glory, this process also may have positive political impact.
Retaining and even strengthening the existing behavioral, programmatic and operational supremacy in all spheres of socio-economic and political governance is the goal of the upper class ruling coalition whereas the leftists led by the Maoists are striving for radical socio-economic and political change. In this way, Nepalese political scene is witnessing a grand fight of unprecedented nature. The contradictions between the antagonistic classes have broadened the scope of struggle, which has entered into the superior level of class war. Now, there are two governing mechanisms. Although, two types of mechanism have been in practice, but that does not necessarily reflect the presence of two systems. The upper class ruling coalition has been operating under the multiparty system whereas the Maoists are going through an experiential course by making several experiments in the area they govern.
During the period of war, any experiment may work, but in a broader political canvas, a comprehensive system alone can provide the appropriate operating mechanism.
The communists all over the world successfully campaigned for a new nature of state power. They were successful in capturing the power in several countries. Once, they were not only a dominant ideology in the world but also the counter-balancing military power. They failed to retain that place. The easy answer is – the revisionists and the capitalists recaptured the power. But why they recaptured the state power so successfully? Was it a policy failure or the failure of implementation? Or, it happened due to more fundamental structural reasons? It is not in one or a few countries the experiment failed. Therefore, the logic of policy or implementation failure doesn’t reflect the reality. This is structural failure of fundamental nature. In the beginning, one of the reasons for the failure of the Paris commune was stated as not effective implementation of dictatorship of the proletariat. This conclusion offered uncompromising stand in favor of dictatorship, which in later years was extended to people with differing views including the communist party leaders and cadres. In the process, most of the communist parties lost their vision, side-lined the values and degenerated as monolithic state bureaucracies. The failure was the outcome of the extension of dictatorship of the party exercised by its leadership. Indeed, the failure was the result of the negation of pluralistic socio-economic and political composition of the society and absence of a superstructure appropriate to address that reality. Certainly, that lesson should get importance, more particularly, during the phase of democratic revolution and reconstruction. Therefore, to address the need of an appropriate superstructure that ensures politico-economic and cultural pluralism with difference, the following provisions may provide the basis.
Constitutionally mandated nature of state that overtly favors working classes, minorities and weaker sections,
Multiparty,
Federal state,
Autonomous regions of nationalities,
New mixed economy,
Multiculturalism, and
State completely free from religious affiliation.
This is not the "Bahudaliya Janabad" as some centrists are busy selling their product under the communist banner. The important factors are the class orientation of the state power and the choice of a mechanism by which the power is exercised. When working class interests, values and visions occupy primacy, rest will fall accordingly. It is important to institutionalize those primacies in the form of constitutional provisions, and for this purpose there is the need of a duly elected constituent assembly. When there are such provisions in the constitution drafted and adopted by the constituent assembly, the armed forces and the bureaucracy need overhaul. A surgical process can insert the new state values within a new operational framework. The amalgamation of two armies into one could provide the opportunity for such surgical process. If this process gets obstructed, the course may turn again into a violent one and the mass uprising or protracted war will insure the insertion of the new vision and values. Finally, if the society has to move forward, there should be a progressive state which operates with dynamic political processes. Obviously, pluralism with difference provides the dynamic environment to all political parties, social and economic institutes and mass organizations to function as centers of excellence and also it makes them accountable as the people judge them continuously. Therefore, the consensus for the pluralism that has equity and justice as its core values, could be a turning point to ensure true democracy, lasting peace and ever flourishing prosperity in Nepal
The People's Review weekly, Kathmandu, June 12-18, 2003.
The essence of change: An overview
Govinda Neupane
The government-Maoist negotiation exercise has provided a right platform for the meaningful debate, which may contribute immensely in the process of building a prosperous society and a strong nation. The debate certainly encompasses the need for several minor adjustments of short-term nature and enters into the structural areas of strategic significance. Appreciating this context, the government and the Maoists should agree to open a general debate to finalize the transformational agenda and leave the process to take a natural course for conclusion. It makes no sense to wasting time by talking on the issues of marginal significance.
The important tasks for today are to identify the core issues, examine the importance they carry, develop new principles and values, and prepare an agenda for national debate. All sections of the society including the negotiating parties should share this responsibility. Based on such understanding, here, an attempt has been made to present an overview primarily focusing on the essence of change. The issues mentioned below affect the strategic course of national reconstruction and development.
Rationalizing ownership as well as control over the means of production and establishing an equitable system of production relations among classes,
Designing a new system of mixed economy by critically refining the role of the state,
Maximizing contributions of individuals, groups and organizations with the promotion of plural socio-political and cultural values, behaviors and practices by designing and implementing a competitive political frame-work,
Equitable sharing of power, resources and opportunities among nationalities.
Correcting, both, social as well as geographical imbalances through affirmative actions,
Providing an environment where the society guards against the external cultural invasion, and at the same time promotes cross-cultural learning through critical examination and creative application, and
Protecting the national interests, strengthening the national capacities and enhancing visibility and dignified presence of the country among the nations.
By addressing the issues of ownership and the production relations, a roadmap for an agrarian reform and fundamentals of a new mixed economy could be developed. The poverty and economic under development have two aspects – low production and unjust distribution. Therefore, the new vision, principles and the roadmap should address both aspects. The policies which will be developed and the programs follow afterwards would be guided by the thematic positioning of this historical period, when a new vision is being developed and the strategies are being crafted. Therefore, the principles and the inserted values should have clarity and operational worth.
The question of designing a competitive political frame-work is something difficult to chew for the politicians and the thinkers of the parliamentary school of thought and the westernized intelligentsia. For them, this is an already resolved issue. Their prescription includes allowing to form political parties, organize elections on regular intervals, tolerate speaking and shouting, protect the ‘lofty’ civil liberties and the ‘basic’ human rights, ensure the division of power among different branches of the state system, put all these arrangements in a law book (constitution) and implement its provisions in any style – British, Bihari or Bolivian. The frame-work they advocate does not consider any proactive role for a state-system to ensure citizen’s ability to participate in governance. At the same time, where a large majority of the citizens lack high degree of political awareness and freedom from hunger, their ability to influence the policy of the government and other political actors becomes marginal. The arrangements mentioned above, thus, serve just as cosmetics for them. A small section of people reaps all the harvest. Therefore, that section of the political elite, which includes professional politicians and amateur intellectual collaborators, try to prevent the debate related to designing a superstructure compatible to the existing reality of the society. Now, this has become a challenge for the leftist political forces in general and the Marxist intellectuals and the communist scholars in particular to develop a superstructure, which promotes the plural political, cultural and spiritual values, and at the same time, ensures a large majority of citizen’s participation in governance. The core issue here is that the state-system should liberate itself from the net of the upper class interests. Also, the state-system should stop discharging the role it plays just for the upper class as their protector, care provider and prosperity manager. Therefore, designing a system that addresses correctly the issue of political substance and the competitive system of governance gets paramount importance.
Regarding the issues of imbalances, they are seen in four areas – nationalities, gender, caste and geographical region. Several Nepalese political and social activists have proposed a surgical process. The surgical process includes end of Khasa domination, male chauvinism, Bahunbad and “Forget West and Neglect Tarai” syndrome. In reality, the centralized state-system has created a situation where only the Khasa nationality can benefit (Newars are to some extent an exception). To correct this situation, a federal system of governance with full-fledged autonomous regions of different nationalities should be established. Similarly, the provision of affirmative actions should be instituted to correct the male chauvinism. Now, the reservation as well as reparation provisions for Dalits have become their rights to redress the worst effects of Bahunbad. The regional imbalances could be rectified by reversing the “Forget West and Neglect Tarai” policy of the state. The introduction of the federal system also will contribute to correct this imbalance. The cultural invasion, both, internal and external, also is a major issue of concern. The indigenous cultural riches, values and practices should be best preserved, fine-tuned and contextualized. Preventing the negative effect of an invading culture is essential, but cross-cultural learning, also, should be encouraged. There is not an easy way out. Therefore, the debate on the regional and socio-cultural imbalances should form an integral part of the exercise centered on the formation of a constituent assembly.
The politicians, mostly the rightists and a section of the centrist block, use nationalism as a trump card to garner popular support by playing with people’s sentiments. “Curse India by words and serve India by deeds” is the motto of these nationalist crooks. The new system has to create a platform where the sovereign right of the nation to make decisions is fully protected.
These issues together, may contribute to create a sound foundation for the prosperity that promotes equity, social harmony, justice and peace, and will form the basis of a transformational socio-economic and political agenda. Therefore, just limiting the discussion at this moment, on sharing power among different political forces has no significance in regard to resolving the problems. The process of nationwide debate could be best governed by the election exercise of the constituent assembly. During the course of the general debate, different prescriptions will appear to influence the masses and some of them will be endorsed by the people. Finally, adopting a new constitution could institutionalize the General Will. Although, the process is difficult, agreeing on the agenda and the principles could be a frustrating exercise, and the election as well as drafting a new constitution could be full of obstacles; but only this course may lead to lasting peace, prosperity and justice through a political process. It should be noted that the essence of fundamental change is transformation of the society. If the political process fails to address this reality, the process of confrontational path of armed transformation will get acceleration.
The People's Review weekly, Kathmandu, May 22-28, 2003
The government-Maoist negotiation exercise has provided a right platform for the meaningful debate, which may contribute immensely in the process of building a prosperous society and a strong nation. The debate certainly encompasses the need for several minor adjustments of short-term nature and enters into the structural areas of strategic significance. Appreciating this context, the government and the Maoists should agree to open a general debate to finalize the transformational agenda and leave the process to take a natural course for conclusion. It makes no sense to wasting time by talking on the issues of marginal significance.
The important tasks for today are to identify the core issues, examine the importance they carry, develop new principles and values, and prepare an agenda for national debate. All sections of the society including the negotiating parties should share this responsibility. Based on such understanding, here, an attempt has been made to present an overview primarily focusing on the essence of change. The issues mentioned below affect the strategic course of national reconstruction and development.
Rationalizing ownership as well as control over the means of production and establishing an equitable system of production relations among classes,
Designing a new system of mixed economy by critically refining the role of the state,
Maximizing contributions of individuals, groups and organizations with the promotion of plural socio-political and cultural values, behaviors and practices by designing and implementing a competitive political frame-work,
Equitable sharing of power, resources and opportunities among nationalities.
Correcting, both, social as well as geographical imbalances through affirmative actions,
Providing an environment where the society guards against the external cultural invasion, and at the same time promotes cross-cultural learning through critical examination and creative application, and
Protecting the national interests, strengthening the national capacities and enhancing visibility and dignified presence of the country among the nations.
By addressing the issues of ownership and the production relations, a roadmap for an agrarian reform and fundamentals of a new mixed economy could be developed. The poverty and economic under development have two aspects – low production and unjust distribution. Therefore, the new vision, principles and the roadmap should address both aspects. The policies which will be developed and the programs follow afterwards would be guided by the thematic positioning of this historical period, when a new vision is being developed and the strategies are being crafted. Therefore, the principles and the inserted values should have clarity and operational worth.
The question of designing a competitive political frame-work is something difficult to chew for the politicians and the thinkers of the parliamentary school of thought and the westernized intelligentsia. For them, this is an already resolved issue. Their prescription includes allowing to form political parties, organize elections on regular intervals, tolerate speaking and shouting, protect the ‘lofty’ civil liberties and the ‘basic’ human rights, ensure the division of power among different branches of the state system, put all these arrangements in a law book (constitution) and implement its provisions in any style – British, Bihari or Bolivian. The frame-work they advocate does not consider any proactive role for a state-system to ensure citizen’s ability to participate in governance. At the same time, where a large majority of the citizens lack high degree of political awareness and freedom from hunger, their ability to influence the policy of the government and other political actors becomes marginal. The arrangements mentioned above, thus, serve just as cosmetics for them. A small section of people reaps all the harvest. Therefore, that section of the political elite, which includes professional politicians and amateur intellectual collaborators, try to prevent the debate related to designing a superstructure compatible to the existing reality of the society. Now, this has become a challenge for the leftist political forces in general and the Marxist intellectuals and the communist scholars in particular to develop a superstructure, which promotes the plural political, cultural and spiritual values, and at the same time, ensures a large majority of citizen’s participation in governance. The core issue here is that the state-system should liberate itself from the net of the upper class interests. Also, the state-system should stop discharging the role it plays just for the upper class as their protector, care provider and prosperity manager. Therefore, designing a system that addresses correctly the issue of political substance and the competitive system of governance gets paramount importance.
Regarding the issues of imbalances, they are seen in four areas – nationalities, gender, caste and geographical region. Several Nepalese political and social activists have proposed a surgical process. The surgical process includes end of Khasa domination, male chauvinism, Bahunbad and “Forget West and Neglect Tarai” syndrome. In reality, the centralized state-system has created a situation where only the Khasa nationality can benefit (Newars are to some extent an exception). To correct this situation, a federal system of governance with full-fledged autonomous regions of different nationalities should be established. Similarly, the provision of affirmative actions should be instituted to correct the male chauvinism. Now, the reservation as well as reparation provisions for Dalits have become their rights to redress the worst effects of Bahunbad. The regional imbalances could be rectified by reversing the “Forget West and Neglect Tarai” policy of the state. The introduction of the federal system also will contribute to correct this imbalance. The cultural invasion, both, internal and external, also is a major issue of concern. The indigenous cultural riches, values and practices should be best preserved, fine-tuned and contextualized. Preventing the negative effect of an invading culture is essential, but cross-cultural learning, also, should be encouraged. There is not an easy way out. Therefore, the debate on the regional and socio-cultural imbalances should form an integral part of the exercise centered on the formation of a constituent assembly.
The politicians, mostly the rightists and a section of the centrist block, use nationalism as a trump card to garner popular support by playing with people’s sentiments. “Curse India by words and serve India by deeds” is the motto of these nationalist crooks. The new system has to create a platform where the sovereign right of the nation to make decisions is fully protected.
These issues together, may contribute to create a sound foundation for the prosperity that promotes equity, social harmony, justice and peace, and will form the basis of a transformational socio-economic and political agenda. Therefore, just limiting the discussion at this moment, on sharing power among different political forces has no significance in regard to resolving the problems. The process of nationwide debate could be best governed by the election exercise of the constituent assembly. During the course of the general debate, different prescriptions will appear to influence the masses and some of them will be endorsed by the people. Finally, adopting a new constitution could institutionalize the General Will. Although, the process is difficult, agreeing on the agenda and the principles could be a frustrating exercise, and the election as well as drafting a new constitution could be full of obstacles; but only this course may lead to lasting peace, prosperity and justice through a political process. It should be noted that the essence of fundamental change is transformation of the society. If the political process fails to address this reality, the process of confrontational path of armed transformation will get acceleration.
The People's Review weekly, Kathmandu, May 22-28, 2003
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