My Republica - Year of despair 02/01/2016 18:14 MOBILE APPS MY CAREER ADVERTISE WITH US SEARCH | January 02, 2016 HOME POLITICS ECONOMY SOCIETY SPORTS WORLD TECHNOLOGY OPINION LIFESTYLE BLOG THE WEEK Year of despair JUST IN 27 Dec 2015 | 19:15pm | | CK LAL | 16 Comments Gerrard wants to coach at Liverpool after retiring as player 216 208 Google + 0 0 2 Conspiracies being hatched to bring down government: PM Oli Kendall Jenner dating Harry Styles leaves Taylor Swift shocked Kohli pips MS Dhoni to top salary charts Sohail Khan's wife breaks her silence over husband's affair England solid at 76-1 in 2nd test vs. South Africa Nepal Head Coach Aussems says he won’t renew contract Gachhchaadar calls on agitating parties to seek consensus through negotiations Miss Colombia turns down USD 1m to star in a porn film (photo feature) Earthquake rocks Afghanistan, Pakistan The Gorkhali Constitution seems to have been promulgated with the intention of reinventing a polity patterned after the Panchayat When CE 2015 began, Nepal had at least four de facto Prime Ministers and the de jure Premier Sushil Koirala wasn't one of them. Like a sphinx, Premier SuKo merely watched as every democratic norm and all institutions of the state crumbled around him. Home Minister Bamdev Gautam reported directly to his boss of http://myrepublica.com/opinion/story/33762/year-of-despair.html Page 1 of 9 My Republica - Year of despair 02/01/2016 18:14 Balkhu Palace. Minister of Finance Ram Sharan Mahat has always considered himself answerable only to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and sundry other donors and lenders. Even though Prakash Man Singh was a Deputy Prime Minister, the Finance Minister functioned more or less as an Adjunct Premier. At least four NC members of the Suko cabinet had more faith in directives of their faction leader than in suggestions of the Prime Minister. Consequently, after Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli and Ram Sharan Mahat, ex-Premier Sher Bahadur Deuba was the third most powerful person of the SuKo regime. Pushpa Kamal Dahal was then the Leader of Opposition, but it had begun to seem that he had more influence on SuKo and Oli than their own party colleagues. Dahal was the fourth de facto Prime Minister of the SuKo cabinet. The Maoist Supremo had little hesitation in passing instructions directly to the functionaries of the state machinery, which were then carried out faithfully. Everybody in the know also knew at the beginning of the year that Nepal had one of the most incompetent governments in living memory. However, little did they know that history was on a downhill slide and the feckless SuKo government will soon be followed by a fascistic formation consisting of malignant monarchists, malicious Maoists and malevolent Marxist-Leninists—each one masquerading as nationalists. Gorkha earthquake On the way back from some pointless Asian-African Summit in Indonesia, Premier SuKo was reportedly in Bangkok when he learnt about the Gorkha Earthquake from a twit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By that time, the Indian machinery had already been activated and rescue teams had begun to arrive in Kathmandu. Like all natural calamities, the Gorkha quakes tested the response capabilities of the state and exposed its vulnerabilities. For almost a fortnight, the entire government machinery remained paralyzed as one after another aftershock hit the panicky population. Most affected regions were in the close proximity of national capital. Yet, the government could do precious little to alleviate the suffering of the people. There were exceptions such as the Nepal Telecom that kept the communication network functional despite all odds and the Nepal Police that went around digging debris with bare hands in search of survivors. But by and large, the government machinery miserably failed in even coordinating international rescue and relief. The profit-sector of the country too didn't fair too well in the test of national resilience. Few business houses mobilized their human and material resources to reach out to the most affected areas. They were too busy sending press releases of junk food packages they had managed to deliver to the residents along the road in the vicinity of Kathmandu valley. The Gorkha earthquake also showed that Nepal didn't have the capacity to absorb foreign generosity. Indians did most during the initial phase of the quake. They were the ones most vilified of all donors. The British helicopters were allowed to wait for weeks in India and then ungratefully sent back. Pakistanis had set up excellent facilities for emergency healthcare. They were unnecessarily blamed for possible http://myrepublica.com/opinion/story/33762/year-of-despair.html Page 2 of 9 My Republica - Year of despair 02/01/2016 18:14 sacrilege. Aid-material rotted in several warehouses even as government agencies Republica haggled over clearance with donor agencies. 38,957 likes The silver lining of the quake aftermath was its social impact. Aid and volunteers poured into the hills and mountains from Madhesh plains. Madheshi youngsters who Like Page Share had never climbed more than two-storied stairs hiked up for days into interiors of Be the first of your friends to like this Dhading, Gorkha, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchok to deliver meager collections from back home. More than the quantity or even quality of the effort, it was the thought that touched receivers who realized that all donors need not be foreigners. The emotional bonding was dutifully recorded on social media posts, which some Republica mainstream journalists picked up as signs of hope amidst reports of death and 44 mins destruction. Photo story: Carving my own fate lines | http://goo.gl/bLFxBK Unfortunately, the moment soon passed. The PEON shrewdly realized that the period of national mourning was most suitable to appropriate the rights of the marginalized communities and further consolidate its control over political-economy of the country through a hasty constitution. The so-called 16-point roadmap of a new statute was prepared when the earthquake-affected people were still struggling for food and temporary shelters. My Republica - Photo story: Lust for power and greed for the pelf of office triumphed over humanitarian concerns Carving my own fate lines as three Bahun politicos of biggest parties—with a Madheshi-Tharu standing witness ALSO READ in the hope of receiving some consideration from masters—signed a deal to fast-track constitution and share the spoils thereafter. By the middle of the year, trial of the Gerrard wants to coach at Liverpool after retiring quake had begun to wane, but political tribulations had started to hit the polity and as player society of the country. Preserving tradition Conspiracies being hatched to bring down Gorkhali constitution government: PM Oli Late Girija Prasad Koirala had little faith in the process of Constituent Assembly. Kendall Jenner dating Harry Styles leaves Taylor Swift shocked Even though a statute through an elected assembly had remained one of unfulfilled promises of the first political revolution of the country in 1950-51, GP thought that Kohli pips MS Dhoni to top salary charts such a procedure was fraught with unimaginable pitfalls in a society where Sohail Khan's wife breaks her silence over entrenched interests were too powerful to let the electorate control their own fate. husband's affair Before the CA option was forced upon NC to end the Maoist insurgency, he compared the process with the opening of the Pandora's Box. His worst fears came true under the lackluster stewardship of his own cousin, acolyte and the new paterfamilias of clannish Koiralas—ceremonial Prime Minister SuKo. If means are as important as ends, it was evident from the beginning that a constitution passed through "super fast-track" would lack moral legitimacy, procedural legality and product acceptability. When constitutional process went into action, almost the entire Tarai-Madhesh erupted in protest. Those who think that millions of people poured out into the streets braving live bullets due to instigation of some or merely on whims perhaps have more malice in their heart than they themselves realize. A statute passed on the basis of whips of three biggest political parties with voice vote without any discussion is a rarity in the discipline of constitutional history. Such a constitution is bound to be called either the best or the worst in the world, which is one and the same thing and the perception is merely an indication of existing polarization. The fact, however, is that the statute regresses from several promises of the Interim Constitution and renegades from almost all promises made to Madhesh, Janjati, Dalit and Women movements. If that were not so, amendments wouldn't have been tabled in the parliament even before the process of implementation of constitution had http://myrepublica.com/opinion/story/33762/year-of-despair.html Page 3 of 9 My Republica - Year of despair 02/01/2016 18:14 begun in earnest. Whenever a majority of more than 90 percent is claimed, there are reasons to believe that powerful forces have joined hands to protect and promote their vested interests. This time the Gorkhali Constitution seems to have been promulgated with the intention of reinventing a polity patterned after the Panchayat System but without the constant shadow of monarchy. Little wonder, support and opposition of the document has been equally fierce. A constitution is supposed to bind people; this one has divided the country like never before. Options for the people in such a situation are limited. Accepting the raw deal as fated is the easiest way of living with the inevitable. Voicing opposition runs the risk of being shot dead or silenced in other ways, as the merciless beating of Rajendra Mahato on December 26, 2015 in Biratnagar showed once again.