Nepali Times on Thursday

#458 3 - 9 July 2009 16 pages Rs 30 Weekly Internet Poll # 458 Q. Should the Maoists have been included in the new government? Total votes: 4,031 Easy Weekly Internet Poll # 459. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com way out Q. What is the foremost reason for the spike in crime? SUBASH DEVKOTA wo months after the resignation of the Maoist- led coalition, it’s not just the new government T and parliament that are stuck: the whole country has ground to a halt. There is a simple way out of this stalemate. The NC and UML just have to agree to a Maoist proposal to have Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal make a speech in parliament containing the following sentence: “The Maoists regard the president’s move on the army chief as unconstitutional…” But the UML and NC have said there is a legal issue with calling the president’s move “unconstitutional” because that would make the current coalition also unconstitutional. “That’s all that is holding things up,” the prime minister’s press adviser, Bishnu Rijal, told Nepali Times on Thursday. The Big Three have been meeting all week trying to find a compromise formula, but have found it difficult EDITORIAL p2 to untangle themselves from their 11 month to go rigid positions on the president’s reinstatement of the army chief on 4 May, the move that precipitated this crisis. What has complicated matters is that the Maoists have had to deal not just with the NC and UML, but also with a radical faction that doesn’t want any dealings with the other parties. At the Politburo meeting this week, Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal managed to get a compromise declaration to form a ‘nationalist, republican and leftist national united government’. “We agreed that if there is a guarantee that the president’s unconstitutional move is addressed in parliament, we are willing to help form a united national government,” Maoist Politburo member Devendra Poudel explained. He said his party would stake the claim to lead a future government, but added a decision on that hadn’t yet been made. With a solution so close, most analysts say it is irresponsible for the leaderships of the parties to play politics while the country descends further into THE EYES HAVE IT: A boy poses with an owlet in Tanahu last week. Nepal, already a trans-shipment point for wildlife contraband, has become a major hub for the lawlessness. The constitution-writing process is behind smuggling of endangered bird species. schedule, the peace process is frozen and at this rate the Full story p4 budget is sure to be delayed. AMRIT GURUNG 2 EDITORIAL 3 - 9 JULY 2009 #458 Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda Dixit CEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran Maharjan DGM Sales and Marketing: Sambhu Guragain [email protected] Marketing Manager: Subhash Kumar Asst. Manager: Arjun Karki Circulation: Prakash Raut Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845 Fax: 5251013 [email protected] Printed at Jagadamba Press 5250017-19 Gendering failure? www.nepalitimes.com Too early to rejoice about having women 11 MONTHS TO GO head two powerful ministries D Day for the completion of the new constitution is now only 11 here is something odd to why women should be held circumstances”? months away. The Constituent Assembly’s self-imposed deadline about the news that to a higher standard. And In the past, rights and has been pushed back over and over again. The deadline for the T Nepal’s Defence Minister is shouldn’t we be grateful that democracy activists have decried committees to complete their drafts have also been postponed. releasing a report on child care finally women are not just the equation of democracy with Maoist chairman Puspha Kamal Dahal said after his Politburo relegated to ‘soft’, ‘feminine’ only periodic elections. The state meeting this week that his party will lead a national government. homes. You would think that in How that will be possible considering the non-Maoist parties are ‘post-conflict’ Nepal, where the posts like the Ministry for of exceptionalism has negated on the other side is difficult to imagine. Maybe the strategy is to priority should be issues like the Women, Children and Social the worth of even this exercise. split the big parties, but then domestic and international geo- integration of Maoist combatants Welfare but head powerful, And the threat of being politics are both against them. and reform of the security sector, ‘manly’ ministries like defence punished by the people in Egged on by hardliners, Dahal is finding it difficult not to go the defense minister would have and foreign affairs? elections has lost its value. along with the Baidya Plan to foment anarchy and ride a wave of other more pressing engagements. Furthermore, isn’t Nepal Putting aside the issue of chaos to capture state power. What the Maoists couldn’t achieve Even when the government of finally joining the rest of South nepotism, the early selection of with armed struggle and elections, they will now try to do by former Defence Minister Ram Asia in placing importance in the two female ministers behind mobilising a mass movement on the streets. kinship ties in propelling closed doors of ‘consensus’ Meanwhile, the reason for the delay in constitution-writing is women into positions of high raises other issues, besides not just because the cabinet is still incomplete after four GUEST COLUMN political power? In other unaccountability, at a time when inductions. It is because the Maoists have put up roadblocks Seira Tamang every step of the way in the committees. words, while family relations commentators have noted both They have changed their mind on their proposal to create have historically played a key the increasing willingness of 11 federal provinces and two sub-provinces, and are now Bahadur Thapa was in political role for women within Nepali foreign players to intervene proposing the addition of two ethnic units and to make all paralysis (a situation that exists political parties, such ties have directly in internal Nepali languages spoken by more than one per cent of the population today but for other reasons) he not led to their holding of politics and the rising political ‘national’ languages. The intention is clear: to use identity politics was not undertaking such powerful state positions at the independence of the army. and stir ethnic passions to bolster their power base. They have activities. same level as Benazir Bhutto Firstly, if political changed their mind about an executive president being elected by Bidya Devi Bhandari is (Pakistan), Indira Gandhi malleability and the politics of the people and now want the president to be elected by Nepal’s first female defence (India), Khalida Zia and the beholden are key for this parliament. minister. In the recent years of Sheikh Hasina Wajed government as a whole, one can Of the three drafts, the one submitted to the Committee on the (Bangladesh), and Sirimavo guess this would especially National Interest got stuck over the Maoists proposal for change, women in Nepal have compulsory conscription of all 18-year-old Nepali males. The only had an amazing number of Bandaranaike and Chandrika apply for these particular reason to bring up such a hare-brained scheme at the present firsts. But neither Defence Kumaratunga (Sri Lanka). ministries. It is hard not to time is to stall the whole process. Minister Bidya Bhandari nor But our case is different for suspect patriarchal calculations, Similarly, the Committee for Safeguarding the Basis of Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala the obvious reason that all the albeit from different angles, of Cultural and Social Solidarity is deadlocked over semantics and can be viewed in the same above South Asian women the advantages of having women the Maoist insistence on calling their 10-year insurgency a manner. It has been argued that actually won elections. They in these posts to facilitate such ‘people war’. their appointments tar the helped institutionalise the dynamics. The UML, NC and other parties say they are against Maoist victories of practice of multi-party, Secondly, given Nepal’s attempts to impose totalitarianism, the many democratic politics and the dominant militarised notion of but have remained mute spectators women in legitimacy of people’s votes. national security and the to all this. Instead of trying to Making explicit the contrast concomitant masculinised create a united stance against Nepal who Maoist moves, they are hopelessly have in Nepal is the commonly domain of national security split. They haven’t even been able struggled and voiced refrain on Nepali streets: experts, it is unclear what to appoint the head of the actually won “Why did we have an election substantive role can be played by Constitutional Committee to replace elections to if politicians who were rejected a civilian female. We do Madhav Kumar Nepal after he take by the people at the ballot remember, however, the well became premier. positions in boxes ended up in power known practice of women being Maoist leaders have admitted the CA and anyway?” Why was so much given election seats by their male publicly that the new constitution is government. money spent on the elections, political counterparts in the an obstacle to total state capture. Given from the technical and constituencies that they know They have said they will not allow that losing administrative expenses to the will be lost. Nepali women have a constitution to be written unless widespread publicising of the historically been set up by men they have a majority voice in the (even twice) assembly. does not importance of Nepali citizens to take the downfall.

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