King’s Biratnagar speech; interpretations galore

January 8, 2003
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Kathmandu: Nepal’s political analysts have interpreted King’s Biratnagar speech made last week in different ways. So have the political parties done.

However, our own analysis too is different from the others.

The King through his address has abundantly made it clear to the political parties that “whatever he did on October 4 and henceforth were totally in line with the constitution and that he will not budge an inch from his standpoints come what may”.

To put it mildly, the King amply reflected his desire to remain in the center-stage of the country’s politics and that he would do so despite the hullabaloo being made by various political parties against the monarchy.

It also becomes amply clear from His Majesty’s Biratnagar speech that he would wish a sort of unity in and among all the potential political actors including the Maoists in order to restore peace and strengthen the system now in place.

His Majesty, however, has not spelt out as to who, the government or for that matter the King himself, will take up the lead in bringing all the political actors of the nation together.

But then yet the speech does hint that there is a hidden desire of the King to take up the lead should the political parties wish him to act in that regard. This latent desire of the constitutional monarch has come at a time when the Maoists insurgents too have been demanding a sort of round-table conference be held comprising of all the political parties including the Maoists representatives and indeed King’s nominee.

Should this mean that the Biratnagar speech has more to lure the Maoists rather than the disgruntled political parties, for example, the Congress, the UML and a host of other minor parties who have of late been ventilating their anger towards the King for his what they call the unconstitutional acts of October 4 and henceforth.

If this is so then what also comes to the fore is that the King too apparently has understood the fact that the government under Lokendra Bahadur Chand was no less than a sinking horse and so if Nepali politics were to take a positive turn then it should be the Monarch himself who must take the lead. Our own high-placed sources claim that the King has already used his channels in order to bring the Maoists to the table. Indications to this effect have already been made available to the public by some two HR activists who have admitted that undercurrent efforts were on in this regard.

Among other things, the King’s Biratnagar speech also makes it amply clear that he will not settle for less this time with the corrupts more so in the political sector. The King wishes to make rooting-out corruption as an agenda which concurrently means that he will impress the government of Chand to initiate penal actions against those political leaders who have amassed wealth during these “democratic” years.

If this is so then what is for sure is that president Koirala awaits interrogations by the CIAA and other competent law enforcement agencies which mainly deal with corruption. This should apply to other leaders who have been considered to be corrupts by the national population, civic society and by the media men.

All in all, the King’s speech clearly hints that: a) the King wishes to assert power; b) the King would use his own channels in bringing the Maoists to the talks; c) the King will not let the corrupts go scot-free; d) the King will not give much attention to the leaders’ utterances being made against him of late and above all, these things he would do by exhibiting his full and total commitment to the system.

It appears that the King would wish to see his position as half active, and half constitutional monarch.

How the things unfold in the impending days will shed more lights on the latent desires of the King.