Kathmandu: The stage is set for a major confrontation in between the monarch and the major parliamentary parties.
The parliamentary parties appear to have concluded that issuing threat loaded statements from their respective party offices and making lectures against the King will not work effectively.
Now they have declared a movement that will, say the organisers, continue ad infinitum until the King yields to their pressure and restored either the now dissolved parliament or forms an all-party government.
Analysts fail to understand the relevance and the rationale behind waging of such a movement at this critical juncture when the nation has yet to bring the seven-year Maoist insurgency to a positive conclusion and provide the nation a sort of permanent peace.
The parliamentary parties claim that the King must correct his constitutional blunders that began from the day he dismissed the Deuba government and installed Mr. L.B.Chand as the nation’s Prime Minister.
On May 4, these parliamentary parties lambasted the King for having crossed his constitutional limits and warned that should he continue to ignore the parliamentary parties would mean that the days for existence of the constitutional monarchy in the country were over.
Madhav Nepal-the UML leader was no less vocal in deriding at the King and his recent moves. Girija Prasad Koirala of the congress blamed the Nepali monarchy as to have been the root cause for the political instability in the country beginning 1950s.
Others toed Madhav’s and Girija’s line and conveyed their activists not to panic and that their days were round the corner. An effort at consoling their disillusioned and jobless activists who of late have begun questioning themselves as to why they have been blindly supporting their party leaders and that too free and unconditional. The patience of the cadres must be admired.
The listeners, mostly the students and their own party cadres and the unemployed youths who normally loiter around the Tundikhel area, listened to their leaders’ fiery speeches as usual.
Analysing the fiery speeches made by the disgruntled “democratic leaders” on that day, what comes to the fore, firstly, is that the speakers will not settle for less this time and would force the King to yield to their dictates. What also becomes clear , secondly, is that the leaders would not mind in creating a havoc in the country until the King himself submits to their political agenda. And thirdly, the political parties that had their representation in the last parliament would not care even if the peace process that has begun in between the rebels and the establishment gets derailed.
Finally, what was also clear from their fiery speeches that should the King yielded to their dictates, they would share the government to be formed later amongst themselves having no place for the Maoists.
Analysts opine that Madhav Nepal’s statements this time were much more critical of the King than his political Guru, Girija babu. The latter in turn made comments against the King as if he had some sort of very personal political enmity with the King and that he wished the King to kneel down in his front and apologise for his acts. In effect, Koirala and Mr. Nepal hinted that it were only these two great political souls in the country who should be elevated to the Chief executive post who could correct the anomalies seen in the country in the recent months. Implied was the message also that any one except the two could not bring the country back to the rails.
What was also evident from their routine rhetoric that the ongoing talks with the Maoists could not bag legitimacy if they were not in power and that it should be they who would conduct negotiations with the Maoists after the formation of a government demanded by the parliamentary parties.
The message was clear for the Maoists as well. The Maoists who wish a government comprising of men from various sectors of the society perhaps got a severe political blow that day when they were indirectly told that they will have no place in a government to be formed under the leadership of weither Koirala or Mr. Nepal.
Having learnt this, the Maoists still have supposedly told the movement wallahs that they will support the movement caring little that the parliamentary parties if allowed to control power as per their wish will certainly wish to minimize the role of the insurgents for varied understandable reasons.
What was surprising in the mass meeting that day was that none of the leaders talked of conducting the general elections and bring the derailed democracy on its original track. What they talked only centered around criticizing the monarch.
Clearly, if the monarch had to yield, he would have done so prior to May 4 jamboori. That he would go his way apparently became clear from the fact that he did not invite the leaders collectively before May 4th. The leaders reportedly had been waiting for a clear signal from the Palace until May 3 evening but had to go to their bed disheartened for the King preferred to see the strength of the parliamentary parties.
Analysts opine that the confrontation that is on in between the parliamentary parties is not going to serve any body’s interests.
Analysts also hasten to add that the King was allowed time to act in the larger interests of the nation late last year but could not do so for unknown reasons. That the population was in King’s favor got reflected then when the mass preferred not to come to the streets. Prime Minister Chand’s poor performance over the last months also contributed to the loss in the brighter image of the King which he had definitely at time he dismissed Deuba government.
All put together, the situation is still under control should the political parties and the King come to terms. If they fail to patch up their differences, any thing could happen.
13th International Press Freedom Day (Saturday, 3 May 2003)
Reporters Without Borders publishes its Annual Report on press freedom violations during 2002 in 156 countries and issues a new list of 42 predators of press freedom.
These are dark times for press freedom as the events of the past few weeks nine journalists killed in Iraq and 26 journalists arrested and sentenced to prison terms in Cuba have confirmed. Never before have there been so many journalists in prison around the world. All the indicators including the numbers of journalists threatened and news media censored show that things are getting worse.
Press freedom FIGURES
Press freedom in 2002:
– 25 journalists were killed because of their opinions or while doing their work in 2002.
– 121 journalists were in prison at the end of 2002.
– Nearly 400 news media were censored in 2002.
– 700 journalists and media workers were detained for periods of varying length.
– There were twice as many physical attacks and threats as the year before.
– 1,420 reporters were beaten, threatened with death, kidnapped, charged or harassed.
Update: 1 January to 30 April 2003
17 journalists have been killed because of their opinions or while doing their work since the start of 2003.
128 journalists were in prison because of their opinions on 30 April 2003.
The world¹s biggest prisons for journalists are Cuba (30 detained), Eritrea (18), Burma (15), China (11) and Iran (10).
136 journalists and media workers have been detained since the start of 2003, 246 have been threatened or physically attacked and 120 news media have been censored.