Sunday, September 03, 2006

Deciding Now On Monarchy And Army


Monarchy

Let's do the maths. The UML, the Maoists, the Jana Morcha, the Left Front, NMKP, all the left parties are for a democratic republic. The Deuba Congress is for a democratic republic. The Koirala Congress officially detached itself from constitutional monarchy at its last convention. Only another such convention can reverse that decision, and I don't see such a reversal likely. The RPP has come forth saying it will take its decision on the monarchy soon. That is code for saying the RPP also will come out for a republic.

This is a total sweep for a republic. Why am I not surprised? The republic is the mandate of the April Revolution. That was the street slogan. The idea of ending the monarchy is what brought the people out into the streets. Something to the tune of a total of eight million came out into the streets over a period of 19 days demanding an end to the monarchy, eight out of 27 million. Eight out of 12 million voters. If that is not a slam dunk for a republic, I don't know what is.

The best option would be for the king to abdicate. I mean, what is he expecting? The question is not if the monarchy will be ended or not, but how. It would be smart of him to proactively abdicate and cut a deal in the process. Land reform would apply to him also. If he owns 34,000 bighas of land, he will lose 33,980 bighas. It is called land reform. He vacates the Narayanhiti. That is to be the presidential office and residence. Property that used to be owned by Birendra and Dhirendra get nationalized. He gets to keep the rest that he owned before he became king. He will still end up perhaps the richest Nepali. That is not such a bad deal. Part of the deal could be to grant him amnesty for April. So he is no longer a king. He is a citizen and a businessman. He gets to start afresh. I think this package is the best he can hope for him and his family. And I wish him further business success.

The King Should Abdicate

If he does not proactively abdicate, the eight party alliance should make a political decision and end the monarchy. The property part might still be as I said. But there is no saying where the Raymajhi Commission interrogations will take the king as a person.

Just like the revived House secured a 33% reservation for women at all levels of government, the eight party alliance of the April Revolution should be able to take a political decision now and be done with the monarchy.



Army

There is no possibility of a coup whatsoever. Absolutely none. Nada, nil. That certainty also comes from the April Revolution. The feudal sympathizers in the Nepali Congress need to stop trying to scare others with the coup argument.

There is homework to do here. The eight parties have to face a few simple questions.
  1. Does Nepal need to have an army?
  2. If yes, how big should that army be?
  3. How to restructure the army so as to make it inclusive of the DaMaJaMa at all levels?
  4. How to integrate the to be laid off soldiers into the civilian economy?
Arms Management: Break It Down Into Smaller Pieces
100,000 Maoist Militia Must Disarm
Monarchy, Army, Federalism


Federalism

The good thing about taking care of the monarchy and the army now is then the constituent assembly can focus on the mega issue of federalism. There is a broad agreement that federalism is needed, but there is no agreement on its final shape.

All seven parties should put forth a map each for federalism. That is step one.




FM Radio: Google Search

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Urgent Need For FM Radio Station In Mithila

(email sent to a small group)

With the FM, you can reach literally everyone, literate or not, rural, urban, in the langauge they speak and understand. FM is there at the other end what internet is in New York City. FM is the best way to reach the average person, the masses.

It is my recollection that groups have tried in the past to get a license for a FM in Janakpur and have failed. The Maithili language supposedly got in the way.

Those of you at the other end in Janakpur and Kathmandu, where does this topic stand?

There is a need for a FM staiton run as a business. Binay and I were talking about it earlier. Please inform and let's get going.

This will also be a way of unifying the entire Mithilanchal, Nepal India both.

Please let us know of leads and talks.

I guess all it would take is for a few potential investors to get together and go ahead and do it.

The station could also be webcast for Maithils worldwide. And Maithils worldwide could submit material for the station as MP3 files online, so easy to do. Otherwise right now the elite are cut off from the masses.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Chanting slogans on the streets is not the way to make laws and sweeping changes. If there really were a majority for republican chanting in the streets, why do you shirk away from a country-wide referendum?

Only Nepali public, through ballot boxes, can decide the fate of the monarchy. The street chanters have not sought my consent, so do not represent me.

For the last time, please set your position straight and stop flip-flop on the issue of monarchy. Choose between a referendum or street chantings. No one is going to abdicate before that, so much for pipe-dreams.