What Nepal Needs

As Nepal begins the difficult and potentially hazardous road towards democracy, a few things must be kept in mind.

The Hype over the Maoist–8 Party alliance is just that. Hype! The true measure of that will be seen in the coming months and years when we can see if they are truly serious about what they are saying.

For now the ‘new’ democracy that is now in its infancy has many stumbling blocks it must overcome before becoming a robust self-sustaining institution. The biggest concern however is the anger and discontent that is simmering below the surface among many parties.

Democracy should, by its very definition be inclusive not exclusive. The 8 party coterie is anything but democratic. They have given themselves the power to decide which parties can & cannot enter parliament and by shutting out national parties like Janshakti & RPP they are propagating the very thing they fought so hard against. Dictatorship. We the People has turned into We the Parliament. We are feting the Maoists as saviors now but look what the similarly feted Ayatollah has done to democracy & civil liberties in Iran.

The fate of the Monarchy & its many supporters. Decisions must be taken by consensus and based on facts and proper discussions rather than emotions. I personally believe very strongly that a Constitutional Monarchy is what is necessary for Nepal as I’m sure do a lot of people. Nepal, believe it or not, is a diverse country of many ethnic divisions and we need a unifying force. Initially the 3 things uniting us were King, Language and Flag. Now we have as many languages as districts and Nepali isn’t even spoken well in the terais. The flag with its obvious Hindu overtones, in a newly secular country, is not immune to change either. The monarchy is the only thing that remains. We have already ‘safeguarded’ the country against the current Crown Prince be leaving the decision of the succession to Parliament so why do away with the monarchy. Its like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The problem is that we are confusing the Monarch with the institution of Monarchy. The current monarch may not be liked, but don’t direct that dislike towards the institution itself.

Power Corrupts and the Absolute Power that has been vested in the Prime Minister is bound to corrupt too. As much as we appreciate what G.P. is doing let us not forget what happened with Lauda Air earlier. And we don’t even know who the future incumbents are going to be. They are even going after the independence of the Judiciary so that should be a clear precursor of things to come.

Last but not least, the atrocities committed by the Maoists, Royalists and LokTantris have not been forgotten. They are lying dormant and will surely erupt once the initial euphoria dies down. What we need to do is get out of the revenge mood and look to South Africa and begin a similar Truth & Reconciliation phase. New futures cannot be built on the festering quick-sands of old wounds.
Girija, Prachanda & Gyanendra are fine, but what Nepal needs is a Mandela.


Vishal Subba
Abu Dhabi UAE.