Shortcuts

Abi Sharma: Condemn the "constitutional coup" in Nepal

May 30, 2009

9:50 AM

Editor's note: Nepal doesn't attract much western media attention, but it's in the midst of serious political turmoil. Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned earlier this month in response to what he called an "unconstitutional and undemocratic" move by President Ram Baran Yadav to stop the elected government from firing the army chief. Parliament elected veteran communist Madhav Kumar Nepal as the country's new prime minister. The following is a response by the Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas:

> By Abi Sharma

The Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas (PNEFA) reiterates its previous stand that President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav's move has not only violated the constitution but also seriously undermined the legitimate mandate of a democratically elected civilian government in Nepal.

While reinstating the fired chief of the army staff, the president has overstepped the boundary of the constitution as well as the norms and values of parliamentary democracy. He has acted in a regressive and reactionary way, a move reminiscent of Mahendra Shah and Ganendra Shah's assumption of executive power through dismissal of the elected government in 1960 and 2005 respectively.

We also condemn all political parties including Nepali Congress and CPN(UML), which instigated the president to launch the constitutional coup.

Instead of correcting a regressive move of the president and reinstating civilian
supremacy, Madhav Kumar Nepal, a loser from two constituencies in last year's Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, has been declared the prime minister of Nepal through unethical alliance of status-quoists and regressive forces with overt support and blessings of foreign powers, which have threatened the peace process and installed two power centres with military supremacy.

This has not only undermined and violated established democratic values and norms of civilian supremacy but also insulted Nepali people's aspiration for change and a new Nepal with democratic republican federal setup.

We firmly believe that incorporating losers of the CA elections in the new council of ministers headed by another loser is a mockery of democracy and
unbearable insult to the sentiment of Nepali people and popular mandate.

We urge all sovereign Nepalis: intellectuals, civil society leaders, patriotic, democratic, progressive, and reasonable and rational minds of all walks of life to condemn this unfolding grotesque political drama regardless of personal and ideological affiliation and express solidarity to the ongoing movement for civilian supremacy, democracy, peace and rule of law in Nepal.

We urge members of the sovereign Constituent Assembly to nullify the
unconstitutional act of the President and safeguard national independence by saying NO to foreign powers who meddle in the internal affairs of Nepal.

We do not accept Madhav Kumar Nepal and others, who were rejected by the people, in the council of ministers as legitimate government of Nepal and ask them to step down to facilitate the process of democratic solution of current political impasse. We believe in the unflinching unity among patriotic and republican democrats to safeguard national unity and independence.

Vancouver resident Abi Sharma is president of Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas, which was formed last year to promote social justice in Nepal and abroad.

Comment (18)

Comments

deven_112@hotmail.com
Sat, 2009-05-30 21:46	to me sharma doesn't sound like a promoter of social justice in NEPAL; INSTEAD, HE SOUNDS MORE LIKE A RAG-A-TAG- COMMUNIST WHO NEEDS TO HAVE HIS BRAINS CHECKED, and that's it. no wonder only 3 people have recommended his story.

Pramod Pradhan
Sun, 2009-05-31 00:15	It seems that you guys who live in the US don't realise the ground realities. Writing an article may be your pass-time but what the exact scenario is should be realised before commenting. Well, I guess you and the Mao's look at Correct and Incorrect with just 01 rule ..... if the Mao's like it / do it - it is correct ... if they don't like/do it - it is incorrect ......

R P Singh

Sun, 2009-05-31 07:17

I fully agree with Sharma. Nepal has been a playground for foreign powers over centuries. If Maoist government was considered biased against India and favored China's growing interest, look back how other parties, particularly Nepali congress, was so often a lovechild of India. Being a puppet to foreign powers is not good per se; yet, that's the reality for Nepal. So the main question now should be one of civilian supremacy -- why the President acted as a traitor and overstepped the constitution to overturn the government's decision? well, if it was because of the fear instilled into him by rival parties and India that Maoists would capture the state after army integration, then why did all of the parties agree to army integration during the peace negotiations and during the negotiations with the UN mission to Nepal? Madhav Nepal deserved to be the Prime Minister and it was overdue; but it's a shame that he chose to be the PM at this hour at the cost of the rule of civilian supremacy. Maoist's move to protest this is a development worthy of praise.

intothecrevice

Sun, 2009-05-31 17:37

Sorry - but at least get facts straight.
Prachanda made decision without concensus of cabinet - this is the first wrong move.
Yadev should have sent decision back to Prachanda to ask for vote of majority instead of just reinstating Katawal but Prachanda did first thing wrong in process by not having a vote of whole ministry cabinet - he had only other maoists on the vote. This was wrong.
Process must be in place and followed by everyone - so maoist cannot complain that president did not follow process if they also did not follow process which started problem in beginning.
second - civil supremacy is in place in nepal - government does not run the country - the ca does - or is supposed to. maoists are part of that - but only a part, 1/3 of ca, so they need to quit to use the civil supemacy excuse.

Som B. Pun

Sun, 2009-05-31 17:43

Personally, I have no doubt in my mind that it won't be too long before we have yet another new Prime Minister in Nepal. The reckless and ongoing political instability in Nepal is frustrating and detrimental to a viable future of Nepal. In the name of power and control, any potential future of Nepal has been seriously mismanaged and undermined under previous political regimes. There is no quick and magic solution to the current political or economical situation in Nepal and the damaged done under previous regimes will require a significant time (perhaps generations) and efforts for full recovery. Despite my political believe and affiliation, I do agree with a statement written by Abi Sharma ji on behalf of Progressive Nepali Forum America that the peace process and the sovereignty of Nepal has always been heavily influenced and to the certain extend threatened by foreign power, which Nepal has no control over. The values, norms and ultimately what is best for Nepal must be determined within Nepalese boarder and without any foreign influences.
It seems to me that every political party’s leader in Nepal will eventually have the opportunity to become the PM of Nepal (of course - except NC) and Madhav Kumar Nepal is obviously no exception. I sincerely hope that he will have sufficient time to make the positive impressions in Nepal and reconcile some of the inter-parties conflicts and differences. My only concern is that he was appointed not elected!

Dhritrastra the Canadian

Mon, 2009-06-01 02:00

I did not know that there lives a "Brain in Ass" Nepali in Vancouver and is campaigning for illegitimate child of "great proletariat ideologies" of Chiang Ching and Stalin, which has been consigned to dustbin of history elsewhere but still thriving in the Himalayan wonderland. Whether you agree with this character's logic or not, you still have to admire his audacity for advocating the case of Nepal's murderous gang's in the land of "Bills of Rights"

A Nepali.
Mon, 2009-06-01 18:43	I did not know that there lives an obnoxious lowly clueless 'Brain in Ass?' loser called 'Dhritrastra the Canadian' in Canada. If you are a Nepali then I can smell millions of corrupt Nepali Rupees in your education (which ministry is your family members belongs to?). If you are a Canadian, then get your ass back to Nepal for a while and face the real deal.

Madan, Nepal ,Ktm
Tue, 2009-06-02 01:36	That is a good analysis . I think it was better to talk to Maoist rather than bring foreign force to Nepal .

MannyReza

Tue, 2009-06-02 15:53

Every individual is entitled to his or her opinion. As a matter of fact, Mr. Abi Sharma’s argument does not seem to be very objective and unbiased. May be it's just my curiosity what makes people keep certain party or the other in such an exalted position, who has in their hands bloods of more than ten thousand Nepalese ( think about their loved ones living their lives in anguish full of despair and pain), uprooted people from their homes, attacked people's age old faith and tradition. I am sure they have plausible reasons for that, however, the goal never justifies means to get there. Not to say monarchy is great, may be we could have used the system of monarchy in our favor instead of alienating it, to enhance national unity and tourism like UK or Thailand. If not shah dynasty just pick some indigenous community in rotation like Kumari. Assassination of royals was not just some carnal destruction but massacre of intricate faith, hard fought identity with sweat and blood to instill fear and insecurity in the minds, a perfect ground for manipulation and internal discord. Then introduce federalism, segregate Pahadis and Madhesis. Let the discord continue, create army like Hamas or Hezbollah in Nepal then fight with other imperialistic regional power taking war in some other turf than its own, forcing bleeding Nepalese to live in perpetual refugee camps. Understanding this deep in their hearts , till date, Nepalese people could not make transition like the chameleon politicians did. Even after several decades of democracy (or federalism), honest, hard working, hospitable and independent thinking Nepalese people who are smiling even in pain and hunger, have become more and more hapless and destitute. We are yet to find cognizant politician who has enough grey matters to understand the spiritual presence of Nepal and Nepalese are to be honored, not mastered. So let's be more open minded, realistic, cautious with guarded optimism and value the underlying pathos and ethos when dealing with issues of national importance avoiding over emphasizing one factor like civilian supremacy or any other at the detriment of the other which does not solve the problem of Nepal and Nepalese, which still exists, albeit we will become 'Bedouins in the Breeze' chasing the mirage of happiness and identity without which we will always be incomplete, no matter where we are.

Robin
Tue, 2009-06-02 16:17	I agree with Mr. Sharma and I praise his work for telling the truth to Canadians. Well done..! Unless and until these scumbags opportunist UML and NC 's politicians remain in their top jobs, Nepal will never improve. Madhav Kumar stinks, Girija a rotten meat and Sujata for FM? I never ever visit Nepal AGAIN. Sorry!

RShrestha

Wed, 2009-06-03 20:18

I agree with Mr. Sharma. Relevancy of this story is not who is/was/ will be PM. It is about the fundament of democratic principles in the context of Post conflict New Nepal. It is about setting a future direction where Nepal will be heading. We all need to pay attention, why Nepal can’t move forward. The reason is we tend to pull others leg as soon as they try to do something.
In Nepal, political parties are becoming more and more like family business. Leaders even do not recognize the long-term consequences. If Mr. Prachanda’s action was illegal or didn’t fall within the boundary of interim constitution then, army chief of staff would have filed lawsuit in Supreme Court and court would have settled this matter. However, President to interject himself and reverse elected government decision was inappropriate. This has clearly undermined democratic process and rule of law. If political parties didn’t like Mr. Prachanda’s decision then they could have mustered enough votes to proceed with no confidence vote in interim parliament. However, twist in Nepali politics has only created big doubts and danger in peace process, new constitution. In addition, Mr. Basanta Lohani’s article will provide good prospective in this topics.
http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2009/others/guestcolumn/jun/guest_colum...

Kuber
Thu, 2009-06-04 03:23	Appreciate your analysis. But i'm wondering where you were when the Maists and their YCL's were killing, torturing civilians while they were in government? Its good to talk about politics, but not about the sufferings of the people by these Maoists?

Just Nepali
Thu, 2009-06-04 11:57	Why everyone thinks Abi is a man by the way? Do you all live in Canada? Unless you live in Nepal, Abi amd Susan are girl's name in the west.

Rabin

Fri, 2009-06-05 19:54

When former king Gyanendra and his Royal Nepal Armies including his supporters made the life of NC and UML leaders life horrible, they went to Pyuthan to get assistance from Maoist. The Maoist put his card of "dispose of kingship and declaration of republic." So called democratic parties which were not able to counter the former King agreed. They also agreed to do CA election after that. International power centres like India, US etc and Nepalese parties were intentending to kill two birds with one stone. They thought nepalese people would reject the Maoist party in CA election as they did nothing but demolising the bridges, telephone towers, schools etc. The Maoist led the Janaandolan II and succeeded. But it was not over. Nepalese people gave the Maoist party the mandate as the biggest party in the country. This was where all international power centres and so called democratic parties failed to understand the sentiment of people. Instead they were rejected by the people. After 12 years life in jungle and after getting mandate from people expressed in CA election, other parties should have given them the chance. After all 2 years is nothing while we lost 12 years.
What would we think if the President was from the Maoist party and not from the NC and if the later did the same thing? It's not who did but it sets a precedent for coming President to exercfise his executive power in government's job.

Downunder
Mon, 2009-06-08 01:54	Can someone please explain why world's poorest nation Nepal spends millions on general elections when some losers like Madav Nepal and Sujata Koirala become Prime Minister and Foreign Foreign Minister respectively?. I'm baffled.

Chandra Devkota

Mon, 2009-06-08 13:19

Good article but sounds like written by someone who was trying to represent THE MAOBADIS in the west! I can't disagree with some of the facts author has put forward!
Fact is Maoists are the force of change in Nepal, whether you agree or not. If it was for NC and UML, they would never agree with the idea of having king removed from the N. Palace. Whats the fuss about making Nepali army peoples' army. In fact Royal Nepali army was never a national army. The whole institution in Nepal is currupt and wanted safe guard King and his CHAMCHES! However, things changed after a decade long war. Though I don't agree with Maobadis and thier agendas but they were the ones who showed us how to get rid of rotten system in the country. If they want to do something for the country why not take a Gamble?
Now lets talk about MAKUNE and Sujata, do I realy have to say a word about these poeple? These are the ones who were rejected dejected by all the Nepalis. Now we are talking about JANATAKO SARKAR? There is not JANATAKO SARKAR. THESE are just CHAMCHAS of India.
As far as MAOBADIS are concerned they do have some short comings but we still have to see who they are. If it's for the development of the contry, let it be an AUTOCRATIC system in the name of MAOBADIS! Don't forget after the US, China has become second super power in the world. In western countries, no one gives a shit about democracy in China when it comes to importing cheap goods from there. So whats the big fuss from those who advocate a true democracy in Nepal?
Thank you.

Ashok

Mon, 2009-06-08 18:01

Abi Sharma, a resident of Vancouver BC, Canada writes something like this is must be something thing to do with increasing numbers of educated youths getting frustrated from years of political instability in Nepal. Majority of Nepali people side/support a certain political party in Nepal is simply because of their family's die-hard tie to that party and mostly due to their emotional and financial reasons. We seem like we do not care about the CHANGE; to be able to see a prosperous Nepal one day. Our political structure fails simply because we DO NOT want to see educated, younger, stronger and better political leaders leading us. We are unable to exercise the power of 'criticism' in our political arena -democratically. Girija Babu is always right because he is a brother of BP Koirala. Sujata Koirala should lead the NC because she is doughter of GP Koirala. What a BIHARI way of running a political party and the government?! I am not a MAOIST neither I am a Communist but I do support Maoists because they have contributed some biggest changes in Nepalese history that we could never even dream for it. There are agitations from the different ethnics and indigenous groups affecting thousands of small businesses and lives of people BUT it does not surprise me at all. It was long over due. It is not from the Maoists but mainly from the century long oppression from the SHRI PANCH KO SARKAR. Maoists only help them open their eyes. There is nothing such called “for the national interests" among Nepalese political parties. They always care about their own like how current PM and Deputy PM doing right now. Shame on you Guys!. You people F****D up my beautiful country so BAD!!

ash

Mon, 2009-06-08 18:54

i think very few of us realise that the decision to overturn prachanda's sacking of army chief has been a very important movement in nepal politcs. if that did not happen, prachanda would have appointed a chief who would have been his puppet, thereby successfully infiltrating the nepal army. currently the nepal army is the only security of the nepalese people and the maoists have proven that they are strong, but havent proven that they can be trusted.

[Comments Disclaimer]

Movies	Music	Dining
Arts	Clubs	Events

Comments

Most Popular

Recent Politics

More Politics