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#412 8 - 14 August 2008 16 pages Rs 30 Weekly Internet Poll # 412 Q. At th is ra te , can th e new constitu tion be writte n in tw o years? Total votes: 4,431 Weekly Internet Poll # 413. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com Q.How would you characterise th e political developm ents since th e elections? MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA No end in sight agar Rana (above) has waited Right down the line, there is a mismanagement, adulteration Ritesh has lost all patience: “Let all night inside his car on a similar refrain. Drivers seething and the NOC’s monopoly in the government double the petrol S petrol line at Bhadrakali. with anger at the government’s distribution are equally price to Rs 200, I don’t care. But It is now 9.30 AM on Thursday inability to ensure adequate responsible. stop torturing us like this.” z morning, the road is filling up supply now for nearly two years. In the short-term, fuel prices with commuters driving to work. At the pump, goons force the need to be raised, but consumers E d ito r ia l Sagar’s car is where it was when he attendant to fill up their tanks. can be cushioned if the taxes are G e tting dow n to joined the queue last night, his Others in the line complain, and tied to the old price. The new brass tacks p2 eyes are red from the lack of sleep. there is nearly a fist fight. government must also reduce The pump has opened, but it will It’s not that there isn’t the taxes on electric cars and vans. CK Lal State of the State take another six hours for him to money to pay for imported fuel. In the medium-term, letting the Nepal’s urban dystopia p2 get to the head of the line and, The government doesn’t want to private sector into fuel import when he does, he will only get a keep subsidising it, and is and retail will control corruption Artha Beed Econom ic Sense rationed 10 litres of gasoline into reluctant to raise the prices for and adulteration. And ultimately, Road to now here p 5 his tank. political reasons. Not everything there is no alternative but to “This is pure incompetence,” can be blamed on the reduce dependence on imported Prashant Jha Plain Speaking says Sagar wearily, “we are sick of international price of crude at fuel by switching to renewables. Slow burn in the Tarai p 1 0 a government that doesn’t care.” $120 per barrel. Corruption, At Bhadrakali, motorcyclist 2 EDITORIAL 8 - 14 AUGUST 2008 #412 Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Editor: Kunda Dixit CEO: Ashutosh Tiwari Design: Kiran Maharjan Director Sales and Marketing: Sunaina Shah [email protected] Remember Marketing Manager: Sambhu Guragain Asst Managers: Deepak Sangraula, Subhash Kumar, Tanka Sitaula Subscriptions: Nawaraj Guragain Tel: 5542535/5542525 what Hatiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur [email protected] GPO Box 7251, Kathmandu 5250333/845, Fax: 5251013 Common www.nepalitimes.com Printed at Jagadamba Press, Hatiban: 5250017-19 worked, and maximum ju s t do it DOWN TO BRASS TACKS around should be new and Ever since May 2002, all prime ministers in this country have been corruption-free. provisional. But we may not have to wait long now for a legitimate, Maybe that would be asking elected government. program too much, but the Maoists are Nepal must have set some kind of a world record by not expected to shoulder special forming a government even four months after an election. responsibility. They are the fresh Mercifully, political parties have finally realised that there is no he relatively recent now to stand for Claiming faces, as ones who worked for alternative to working together to institutionalise the republic and transition from coercive Maximum Portfolios. revolutionary change, who hold address the people’s immediate needs. The new government will T politics to multiparty Just look at the main points the people’s hope for have to get down to brass tacks right away to make up for lost processes has already been a of the Maoist CMP. It includes accountability. To prevent time. costly and embarrassing items like a national consensus disillusionment among the Taking the peace process to its logical conclusion will have to experience for the Maoists. on security, foreign policy and be at the top of the agenda. Rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, people, and dash their hopes all reform of the Nepal Army and addressing the needs of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal had his water resources, review and over again, the Maoists should immediate victims of war are all linked to the peace process. way with the other parties as long replacement of treaties, commit themselves to three After the distraction of government formation is over, the repatriation of Bhutan refugees, priority items in the upcoming nationalisation of the ex-king’s CMP: Assembly should function smoothly so we can get on with the work GUEST COLUMN of drafting a new constitution that will restructure the state. There property, relief to conflict-hit, is great public scepticism that a new constitution will be ready in Bihari K Shrestha adjustment of the Maoist 1. They must not just promise to two years. combatants, formation of disband YCL but actually do it But while we wait, the really urgent task is to restore as the dealings were limited to commissions, revolutionary land and tell the UML that their governance. This must happen in parallel with state restructuring. chiseling away at the monarchy. reform and an ill-advised higher Youth Force is an unfortunate, To establish the credibility of the new government and to end the But now its realpolitik, and the minimum wage for employees of undemocratic and unnecessary current state of anarchy and neglect of public services, the people Maoists suffered an embarrassing multinationals. want to see a government that is responsive to their needs. countermove. More than a decade without elections undermined the setback with the presidency The NC, UML, MJF say the 2. The CMP must be strong and state’s legitimacy. It will be hard work to restore law and order. debacle. CMP has to be linked to the unequivocal on ministerial One quick way to generate faith in the capacity of the government The Maoists have now drafted provisions of the Comprehensive corruption. The rot starts at the and rekindle hope is to show immediate and tangible improvements a Common Minimum Program Peace Agreement , many of the top. in service delivery. The people don’t need much: they just want law (CMP) as the possible basis for provisions of which remain 3. Our world-acknowledged and order, they are sick of queuing for fuel and suffering power political consensus to form and unfulfilled by the Maoists. success in community cuts, they want to be sure they can travel without being stuck on lead the post-election Two items of the new CMP to development has unequivocally the highway, in deficit areas people need food urgently. government. Their CMP is an ensure smooth supply of shown that when people are Several articles in this issue deal with the gory details of urban exercise in populist generalities, essential goods and empowered to shape their own decay, lawlessness, the unacceptable rise in crime. At the root of there is nothing concrete to spur reconstruction of infrastructure destiny, things happen rapidly, all these problems is the prolonged lack of legitimate government growth and development. There are closer to popular and the unnecessarily lengthy post-election powerplay. This is a effectively, sustainably and classic example of what happens when elected leaders lack is no attempt to understand past expectations, but the people need inclusively. accountability and are obsessed about retaining power at all cost. achievements, and learn from more than just words to Police posts removed during the insurgency need to be mistakes. experience the peace dividend. The donor-wrecked Local restored. VDC secretaries need to be in the villages. School Now the four parties have Nepalis want an explicit Self-Governance Act must be teachers must be liberated from extortion. A stopgap political setup formed an eight-member task assurance that all outstanding instantly revived and revamped will have to be devised at village, district and municipality levels force to put together their CMPs issues will be settled without in all sectors of development and till the next local elections are held. Development can’t happen in and come up with the mother of blackmailing the nation with a service delivery. Should this the present vacuum. all CMPs. Since these threat of returning to war. Since happen, even if the ministers Nepalis are experts at coping. They have shown great negotiations will now go hand- the same old parties and continue to rake in ill-gotten forbearance and tolerance of their leaders as they try to reach a in-hand with forming of a politicians enjoy predominance wealth in Kathmandu, our local power-sharing deal. Let’s not let it reach breaking point again. governing coalition led by the in the game of numbers, the rules development process would go Maoists, one can expect the CMP of the political game this time ahead. z he growth of Kathmandu Valley from rustic temple towns to a malignant urban growth has consumed its life Tforce. Rather than gently welcoming Nepal’s urban dystopia newcomers to the city, it overwhelms them with its cacophony of voices, streets that look like they have a perpetual riot, odours City life is g e tting much worse th a n country life that assail the nostrils, and menacing touts.

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