Monday, August 31, 2009

The UML Could Split

English: Chinese poster with Marx, Engels, Len...Image via Wikipedia

The UML is gearing for a split, it seems like. That is the impression I get.

Khanal and Oli show no signs of relenting. Both are gungho on their respective stands. And once the ball is set in motion, it is hard to stop it.

A split in the UML will lead to a certain fall of the Madhav Nepal government.

Increasing lawlessness in the country, political paralysis, Maoist intransigence: Nepal's peace process is going through a delicate phase right now.

My position is that we need to move towards a national unity, all party government.
Khanal, Oli factions hold parallel meets Republica
UML under discipline crisis: Gyawali
No constitution sans Maoists in govt: Gautam
Rift in UML
Oli fires back at Khanal
Rift within UML deepening
Yadav praises Jha, flays SC Maoists ask him to resign
Gachchhadar could quit post to allow Maoists in govt “It was me who toppled the government after the Maoists began unnecessary debate on the army,” he said.
UML under discipline crisis: Gyawali
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Tek Gurung's Event At Yak









An Afternoon With Prdip Giri
A DaMaJaMaKha Panel

Sunday, August 30, 2009

An Afternoon With Prdip Giri


I was excited enough to be a panelist on the event put together by Tek Gurung's organization. It was to be at Yak, Sunday, today, around noon. Then two days back I had an email from Somji, as in Somnath Ghimire. His organization was doing a tea reception with Pradip Giri, the email said. The event started at two. If I had not been a panelist with Tek's event, I would have skipped it, no second thought. But now I was in a dharam sankat. What to do? I shot an email to Somji. Start the event as late as you can, and keep it going for as long as you can. I will try and be there as early as I can.

A DaMaJaMaKha Panel



I showed up. The event was supposed to start at 11:30. Lunch for an hour, then the event. Instead the lunch started at 12:30. It might have been closer to one. Different cultures read time differently. Nepalis who are perfectly punctual to their America jobs will unfailingly show up late for Nepali events. Homesickness?

181 Photos From The Event
USNepalOnline Coverage

There are two camps in Nepali politics, the Maoist camp and the Democratic camp. Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is the obvious politician-intellectual in the Maoist camp, and Pradip Giri is that in the Democratic camp. I admire them both greatly.

I have liked Pradip Giri a long time now. It was great to finally be able to meet him in person.

He is versed in both the Western as well as the Eastern/Indian thinkers. And he is an original thinker. I find all that so very fresh. And it is great that he has also been a parliamentarian.

Somji and I concluded the day thinking we need to put together an event soon where Giri is the sole speaker and he gets a slot of three hours or so. Because the event started late, and so Giri's speech was as if cut short. Since there was another event on our heels at the same venue.



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Friday, August 28, 2009

A DaMaJaMaKha Panel


(article sent to USNepalOnline)

I am honored to be a panelist for the United Nepalese Democratic Forum
event Sunday, August 30, at 11:30 AM at Yak in Jackson Heights. My
good friend Tek Gurung, the UNDF president, is hosting it. I have been
to many Nepali events in NYC the past four years. This might be the
first panel that has a DaMaJaMaKha presentation, as in Dalit, Madhesi,
Janajati, Mahila and Khas, and that is no small achievement. I can't
wait to show up and participate.

The topic for the discussion is New Constitution and Fundamental
Issues of Nepal. I think the number one issue is obviously federalism,
and there is the not so small matter of army formation.

On the army formation, I think it is for the parliament to discuss and
shape a Security Sector Reform bill. That bill will decide if Nepal
should have an army, if yes, how big, what should be the gender and
ethnic composition of that Nepal Army, how that composition has to be
achieved, and how to smoothen the transition of the leftover soldiers
from both the NA and the PLA into the private sector of the economy.
The US did that on a much larger scale after World War II.

On federalism it is a good thing that we have already decided we are
going for it. Now we have to work to decide on a map for it, and we
have to decide on the power distribution between the center and the
states.

I am for a eight state federalism: Tharuwan, Madhesh, Khasan, Magarat,
Tamuwan, Tamasaling, Newa and Kirat. Rapti to Mechi would be one state
Madhesh. That demarcation comes from the original Maoist map. After
the first Madhesi revolution, the Maoists decided to punish the
Madhesis by sending Chitwan off to a Pahadi state, and breaking up the
rest of the Madhesh into three sub states. That is not going to fly.

As for power distribution, there are a few key items on the agenda.
One, should we or should we not have a directly elected president? I
think we should. If no candidate gets at least 50% of the votes, a
second round election would be held between the top two candidates. We
need that arrangement for political stability, for a robust
federalism, and for a clear separation of powers between the three
branches of government. All budgets and bills will still have to be
passed by the parliament.

As for directly elected members to the parliament, half of those will
have to be from the Terai. So if we have 250 such MPs, 125 would be
from the Terai. And then there would be the indirect, proportional
election part to ensure a proportionate DaMaJaMa participation. This
is about one person, one vote. That is what democracy is about.

Writing a new constitution is not really that complicated. We have to
get it done and move on to the larger task of an economic revolution
for Nepal that will last a few decades. The country can be
fundamentally transformed for the better in 20 years.



(with John Liu, candidate for NYC Comptroller)

(at India Day Parade 2009, the largest Indian event outside India)

(at a Bill Thompson event, Bombay Palace, K Lounge)

(with Bill Thompson, first black NYC Comptroller, candidate for NYC Mayor)


(Madhesi Picnic, August 2009)

(an email from Madhav Nepal a few days before he became Prime Minister)



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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Breakup Of MJF Better For One Unified Madhesi Party


Don't take oath in Nepali: Madhesi parties Republica Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic), Madhesi People´s Rights Forum, Tarai Madhes Democratic Party, Sadbhawana Party and Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandidevi) participated in the meeting.
Now that the MJF has split into two, there is no one Madhesi party that is much, much bigger than the rest. And it is not like the MPs of the breakaway MJF faction are now working

andolan3Image by paramendra via Flickr

against the Madhesi agenda that got them elected in the first place. The Madhesi people have not lost any strength in the parliament. No strength has been lost for the work on the constitution.

Now you have two MJF factions and a TMLP that are all roughly equal in size. And you have two Sadbhavana factions that are relatively small. I feel like these five Madhesi parties are in perfect shape to attempt a unification at some point over the next few months.

Attempts have to be made over the next few months to do that work of unification.

Unification Of Madhesi Parties

At this point it is no longer obvious that if the Madhesi parties were to unify, who the leader will be. That might be a good thing for unification talks.

Madhes parties threaten to disrupt House over oath row Republica

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

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Monday, August 03, 2009

Getting Published In Republica: Thoughts On Federalism


andolan5Image by paramendra via Flickr

Thoughts on federalism

PARAMENDRA BHAGAT

Nepal achieved democracy, secularism, a republican setup and federalism in principle faster than most people thought it was possible. Lawlessness still prevails but if all parties were to come together on the issue like they did for the 2006 April Revolution, law and order situation can be improved swiftly. Right now, drafting the constitution feels like a huge task, and it is, but once we have the document, we are going to face the stark reality that the constitution is but a framework—the real work is to bring about an economic revolution that would last for decades. But the work on the constitution comes first and the knottiest issue there is likely to be federalism.

Do we need federalism? Yes, we do. We have already answered that question as a people. Now we have to do the hard work of figuring out what shape and form that federalism will take. There are a lot of people who hold the view that we should not divide the country along ethnic lines. We haven’t done a disservice to humanity by being a separate country. Similarly, ethnic federalism will not weaken our country. In fact, the opposite is true.

andolan3Image by paramendra via Flickr


Neither the CPN-UML nor the Nepali Congress went to the people in April 2008 with maps on how federal Nepal would look like. The Maoists did and the Madhesi parties talked of One Madhes, One Pradesh. But, for the fact that the Maoists at least went to the people with a map, that map can be a good starting point as to the shape of federal Nepal.

I am a Madhesi from Janakpur. It is but natural that I will come to the federalism question from an angle that I feel speaks of the aspirations of my so-far oppressed people. Of all the maps I have seen so far, the one I like the most is the original Maoist map with modifications. You are looking at eight states: Madhes, Tharuwan, Khasan, Magarat, Tamuwan, Tamang, Newa and Kirat. I do understand that the Maoists have modified their map and now talk of about 15 states. I still like the eight-state map better.

As for the Tarai, I believe there are only two options. We can turn all of Tarai either into one state or two states. West of Rapti, we can have Tharuwan. Rapti to Mechi can be Madhes.

But the real knotty issue is not how we divide the states but rather how power will be distributed between the center and the states.

Of course, all the major highways in the country, all the big hydroelectricity projects will still be under the purview of the central government. But the states will have their own parliaments and wield major power.

The distribution of power between the center and the states has to be based on the one person, one vote principle. Because that is the democratic way. A directly-elected president would thus be good, although by now even the Maoists have abandoned the idea. The lower house could be shaped like the constituent assembly now.

andolan4Image by paramendra via Flickr


Too many people from the hitherto ruling classes still fantasize about federalism ending up like King Birendra’s so-called five development regions. Those five regions were unscientific, ad hoc and against the spirit of federalism. Ethnic federalism, taking other issues into consideration, is going to be a good thing that will strengthen our national unity. The Nepali identity will get a new life

Published on 2009-08-03 06:36:49


The article that was submitted:

Federalism: The Final Unresolved Knot
by Paramendra Bhagat

Nepal has achieved secularism, democracy, a republican setup and
federalism in principle faster than most thought possible. Lawlessness
still prevails, but if all parties were to come together on the issue
like they did for the April Revolution 2006, law and order can be
brought about swiftly. Right now the work on the constitution feels
like a huge task, and it is, but once we have the document we are
going to face the reality that the constitution is but a framework,
the real work is to do with delivering an economic revolution for the
country to last decades. But the work on the constitution comes first,
and the knottiest issue there is likely to be federalism.

Do we need federalism? Yes, we do. We have already answered that
question as a people. Now we have to bang heads as to what shape and
form that federalism will take. You don't see too many from the ruling
class and castes arguing for the Desi identity and an assimilation of
Nepal into India or professing a larger lover for all of humanity, and
turning both Nepal and India into far away states of America. But the
same people are nervous that we might end up with ethnic federalism.
We don't do a disservice to humanity by being a separate country.
Ethnic federalism will not similarly weaken the country Nepal. The
opposite will be true.

Neither the UML, nor the Congress went to the people in April 2008
with maps for federalism. The Maoists did, and the Madhesi parties
talked of Ek Madhes, Ek Prades. But for the fact that the Maoists at
least went to the people with a map, that map can be a good starting
point as to the shape of federalism.

I am a Madhesi from Janakpur. It is but natural that I will come to
the federalism question from an angle that I feel speaks to the
aspirations of my so far oppressed people. Of all the maps I have seen
so far, the one I have liked the most is the original Maoist map with
modifications. You are looking at eight states: Madhes, Tharuwan,
Khasan, Magarat, Tamuwan, Tamang, Newa, and Kirat. I do understand the
Maoists have modified their map and now talk of about 15 states. I
still like the eight states map better.

As for the Terai, I believe there are only two options. Either you
turn all of Terai into one state, or you turn all of Terai into two
states, west or Rapti you have Tharuwan, and Rapti to Mechi you have
Madhes. Rapti to Mechi rivers will still be an embodiment of the Ek
Madhes, Ek Prades aspiration.

But the real knotty issue is not how you draw the map for federalism,
but rather how power will be distributed between the center and the
states.

There will of course still be a federal government. All the major
highways in the country, all the big hydroelectricity projects will
still be the purview of the central government. But the states will
have their own parliaments and major power.

The distribution of power between the center and the states has to be
based on the one person one vote principle. Because that is the
democratic way. A directly elected president would thus be a good
idea, although by now even the Maoists have abandoned the idea. The
lower house could be shaped like the constituent assembly now. You
would have half of the first past the post seats in the Terai. And you
would have directly proportional elections for seats to the upper
house. You would have seat reservations for the DaMaJaMa that all
parties would have to obey.

Too many people from the hitherto ruling classes still fantasize about
federalism ending up being like King Birendra's so-called five
development regions. Those five regions were unscientific, ad hoc and
against the spirit of federalism. Ethnic federalism taking other
issues into consideration is going to be a good thing that will
strengthen national unity. The Nepali identity will get a new life.

Federalism will make an economic revolution possible, the next item on
our agenda.

(The writer is a tech entrepreneur based out of NYC -
http://jyoticonnect.net - and regularly blogs about Nepal at
http://demrepubnepal.blogspot.com)

Thanks Republica for publishing.
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