The Act Of A Potential President

English: Pushpa Kumar Dahal (also known as Prachanda), prime minister of Nepal, during av visit to Norway in March 2009 ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬: Pushpa Kumar Dahal (også kjent som Prachanda), Nepals statsminister, under et besøk i Norge i mars 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

आफ्नो सबै सम्पत्ति पार्टीलाई बुझाउने प्रचण्डको घोषणा, लाजिम्पाट निवास पनि छाड्ने 

 काठमाडौं

 एकीकृत माओवादीका अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले आफ्नो सम्पत्ति पार्टीलाई बुझाउने घोषणा गर्नुभएको छ । पार्टीको सातौं विस्तारित बैठकको समापन गर्दै अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले आफूसँग रहेका सबै सम्पत्ति पार्टीलाई बुझाउने घोषणा गर्नुभएको हो । माओवादी लडाकूको रकम हिनामिना भएको भन्दै अध्यक्ष प्रचण्ड लगायत पार्टी नेतृत्वको विस्तारित बैठकमा चर्को आलोचना भएपछि अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले यस्तो घोषणा गर्नुभएको हो । उहाँले वैकल्पिक आवासको व्यवस्था हुनासाथ लाजिम्पाट निवास छाड्ने समेत घोषणा गर्नुभयो । अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले यस्तो घोषणा गर्दा बैठकमा सहभागीहरुले लामो समयसम्म ताली बजाएर घोषणाको स्वागत गरेका थिए । अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले केन्द्रमा आर्थिक र लेखा समिति गठन गर्ने समेत जानकारी दिनुभयो । पार्टीभित्रको गूटबन्दी अन्त्य भएको आभाष दिलाउन आफ्नो सचिवालयका कर्मचारी बाबुराम भट्टराईकोमा र भट्टराईको सचिवालयका कर्मचारी आफ्नो सचिवालयमा ल्याउने समेत अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले बताउनुभयो ।

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A Possible Roadmap

English: Composition of the 2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly Français : Composition de l'Assemblée Constituante tunisienne de 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Step 1: Form a non political government of technocrats to hold elections to a new constituent assembly. Amend all laws necessary to that effect. None of the political parties would participate in such a government.

Step 2: Give that assembly six months to come up with a new constitution.

Step 3: Turn that assembly into a parliament that would serve for three and a half more years.

Step 4: Within a year of the assembly coming into shape, hold elections for a new president. The president would be directly elected by all peoples of Nepal.

Step 5: Within a year of the assembly being turned into a parliament, hold elections for local bodies at the village/town/city level and at the state level to form state governments.

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Upendra Mahato In Town

There was an event at Yak Friday evening. Upendra Mahato was in town with his family. He said this was his first vacation since before he launched his entrepreneurial career in 1989.

BP Koirala is the founder of the Nepali Congress. Upendra Mahato is the founder of the NRN Movement. What Laxmi Mittal is to Indians across the world Upendra Mahato is to the Nepalis across the world. To my saying that in my remarks Ratan Jha added, they even look alike.

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Krishna Bhattachan On BBC

I have been listening to this audio clip of Krishna Bhattachan over and over again. I think I have already listened to it six times. And I am not done yet.

33% For Women, Non Territorial State For Dalits

The biggest political achievement in Nepal these past few years have been these two:

1. 33% reservation for women.
2. Non territorial state for Dalits. 

The first puts Nepal's democracy ahead of America's, ahead of Britain's. The second puts Nepal's democracy ahead of India's. There is one missing link. Nepal has to be turned into a multi-party democracy of state funded parties. That one element will turn Nepal into the top democracy in the world.
  

How To Build A Unified Madhesi Party

The unified Madhesi party can not be the work of the Madhesi Front that is in power. It has to go beyond that. Upendra Yadav also has to be invited. Fringe parties like that of Sarita Giri also have to be brought in, as the Janata Dal. Sharad Singh Bhandari has to be brought in.

The best way to do it is to work towards a general convention. There would be an ad hoc organizing committee comprising of all Madhesi parties big and small. If there is an agreement on the name of the party that would be great. But there can be no agreement on the party president beforehand. That would be for the convention to decide. It would be perfectly okay to hold an election among several contestants.

I can see it being a three month process. From a massive membership drive to move to the village/town/city level conventions to the constituency level conventions, to the district level conventions to the national convention might take a few months.

The party has to be inclusive of the Pahadis in the Terai. It should be named such that it has the option to also expand into the hill districts.

Such a unified Madhesi party, if it were to be formed, would sweep the Terai in the elections to the next assembly. Between that Madhesi party, the yet to be formed Janajati party and the Maoist party of Baburam Bhattarai, they'd secure an easy two thirds majority in the next assembly to give this country the federal constitution it deserves. Which is the whole point. Those three forces should seek a pre-poll alliance and not contest against each other anywhere in the country.

The Idea Of One Madhesi Party

I seem to like names like Sadbhavana Party or Janata Dal. Panja would be a great election symbol. The party flag should have three colors for Himal, Pahad, Madhesh.

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An Ethnic Party: Long Overdue

English: Flag of Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum - a political party from Nepal. The design, 2:3 dimensions, colours and construction details were based primarily on Mjf-flag.PNG, where it was based on mprfnepal.org. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Madheshvani: मधेशी नेताहरू विखण्डनकारी हुन् : खनाल
Kantipur: UML issues ultimatum to disgruntled Janajati, Madhesi leaders
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Long Overdue.

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The Idea Of One Madhesi Party

Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The idea of one Madhesi party is a fundamentally good one, although there are many practical challenges. If it were to be done, the way to do it would be hold a general convention of such a unified party within two months in time for the impending elections.

January 2009: Unification Of Madhesi Parties

The unified party's name should be Sadbhavana Party, as that was the original Madhesi party. And that unified party has to go beyond the Madhesh. And so the name can not have the words Terai or Madhesh in it.

That party should aspire to also grow among the Janajatis in the hills. Such a party could emerge the largest in the country.

One unified Madhesi party would be a good idea. But if that does not happen, an electoral alliance of the Madhesi parties must be forged.

मधेशीहरू करदाता र मतदाता मात्रै होइनन् : हृदयेश त्रिपाठी

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The Federalist Alliance Should Be An Electoral Alliance

Republica: UCPN (Maoist), UDMF to form federalist alliance

they will soon start talks with the parties that favor identity-based federalism ..... "Once the political parties arrive at consensus on the new constitution, they should hold talks for promulgating new constitution," said Mahato, adding, "If political parties forged consensus on reviving the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the Supreme Court (SC) gave nod for this, then the CA could be revived." ...... if political parties could not arrive at consensus on the issue of reviving the CA, they should forge consensus on removing the legal and constitutional difficulties in order to hold new CA elections. ..... "If the political parties agreed on the CA election, the election date of November 22 could be changed," Mahato added.

The UCPN (M) and the Madhesi parties contesting elections together makes a lot of sense. There is little electoral overlap between the two. The UCPN (M) is strong where the Madhesi parties are not, and vice versa. The onus will be on the Madhesi parties to forge an electoral alliance among themselves. And they should. In doing so they will be able to pretty much wipe the NC out of the Terai. All Madhesi parties stand to grow bigger.

I don't think there is any option to revive the CA. And that is a Supreme Court thing. The only option is to go back to the people for a fresh mandate.

If the Janajatis and the Madhesis of the UML and the NC split away to form a separate party, as they are saying they will, or if they join other existing parties that will be the right answer to the bad role the UML and the NC leaders played when the constituent assembly was still around.

Baidya's Maoist party is a protest move, not a political move. I don't see them doing electorally well. It will be like when Bamdev tried by splitting the UML. The mother party suffered a little, but the break away party did not do at all well.

The political reality is that the CA will not be revived, the NC and the UML will not join the Baburam government, and hence an all party government will not be formed, and that the current government is the one that will hold elections to a new constituent assembly. In that new assembly the NC and the UML will be half as small as they were in the last assembly, if that. The Maoists, the Madhesi parties and the new Janajati party together will have the two thirds strength needed to give the country genuine federalism.

A pre poll electoral alliance of the Federalist Alliance will ensure this coalition will continue in power after the elections as well.