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Tuesday, August 30, 2011     GET REAL

Burden of achieving peace and unity now falls
to Nepal's new Maoist prime minister

By Anil Giri

Baburam Bhattarai was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Nepal on Aug. 29 in Kathmandu.

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Nepal's newly elected Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai walks out with his wife Hisila Yami from Parliament after Bhattarai was elected Nepal's 35th Prime Minister, in Kathmandu on Aug. 28.     Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
The Maoist party, the largest party in the strong 601 member Constituent Assembly (CA), has alienated almost all political forces and now faces the task of collaborating with those forces to complete the peace agreement and constitution drafting processes.

Most immediately, the Maoists will have to offer a compromise on the future of their combatants in a way that is agreeable to the other parties, and dissent over their recent proposal on integration and the handing over of arms needs to be addressed.


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The term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) that has already been extended twice, is set to expire on Aug. 31, before which his government will have to reach an agreement with other political parties to extend it. The CA was tasked to draft a new constitution which is merely becoming a Herculean task for the parties.

The completion of the peace process includes the integration and rehabilitation of 19,000 former Maoist fighters. This challenge, involving the nation’s security agencies, is a tall order for the new prime minister.

The new Maoist-led government will thus be judged by its ability to engender unity and consummate the peace process, a test failed by its predecessors.

Nepal’s Parliament elected the senior Maoist leader on Aug. 28 followed by the administration of the oath of office by the President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav at a closed ceremony the following day. Senior political leaders, including the outgoing Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, heads of diplomatic missions, security agencies and senior government officials were in attendance.

Congratulatory messages have been received from the governments of India, China, the U.S., Japan and other nations.

Bhattarai is the Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), otherwise known as UCPN- Maoist. He is widely recognized for his political and intellectual activism with a decade of experience in underground politics gathered during the 1996- 2006 insurgency.

In the first ever Nepali Constituent Assembly elections held in April 2008, he was elected from Gorkha constituency no. 2 and served as Finance Minister in the subsequently-formed Maoist government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal. An alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Dr Bhattarai has a PhD degree in Regional Development Planning.




Comments


We welcome Dr. Baburam Bhattarai as a prime minister of Nepal. However it is not easy to him to succeed. Due to his wrong thought regarding Nepalese nationality, Dr. Babauram Bhattarai's position is in a confused state. Because, being the product of JNU-Delhi, he has forgotten the Nepalese nationality and the people's aspirations. In just November 2005, the parliamentary parties (the Seven Party Alliance, or the SPA) and Maoists signed a 12-point agreement, setting out on a common agenda for the democratic transformation of the Nepali state. That soon gave way to the people’s movement in April 2006, which in turn led to the Constituent Assembly and eventually the abolition of the monarchy. A well known Indian professor SD Muni has tweeted - 'India has done a wise thing to let Bhattarai sail through in the PM election with the support of Madhesi groups. Nepal's stability depends on Maoists. Bhattarai's victory in Nepal is a turning point. His first priority should be to implement the Maoist promise on integration of the PLA cadre. – (United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal August 30, 2011) The Times of India recently wrote- 'JNU scholar becomes Nepal's new Maoist PM, though a moderate who has advocated maintaining friendly relations with India and focusing on peace instead of beginning yet another armed revolution, Bhattarai will also have to work hard to assure India that his government will not be hostile to the southern neighbor.' Now, it is exposed what the India wants. One year ago, Maoist Chairman Prachanda had said Baburam Bhattarai is the agent of India. So, in the context of Nepalese nationality, the new PM of Nepal Dr. Babauram Bhattarai is very suspicious. In current affairs, the serious mistake of Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is to join hands with the Medheshi leaders. A four-point deal between the Maoists and the Terai-based Madhesi front will be the cause of political downfall of Dr. Bhattarai. The nationalist front of the Maoist leader Mohan Baidhya also is not supporting this anti-nationalist four-point agreement. Since 2006, due to the traitors' regime, the situation of Nepal is getting worse day by day. Some Tarai-based groups are demanding- 'One Madhesh One Province' which is never feasible and acceptable for good governance for the Tarai people. Geographically, ethnically, linguistically and socially the people can't be integrated in One Province. For example, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Abadhi, Tharu, Rajbanshi, Dhimal and Nepali are among the dominant languages which are in use in different places. It is an annoyance for Hill-origin people as well as the indigenous tribes. Because of the different linguist groups, ‘Nepali’ has become lingua-franca(communicative language) from many years. Introduce Hindi to eliminate all the rich and old languages and rich culture of our Tarai people. One should not forget that it is necessary to destroy religion, culture, languages and way of life of the people to disintegrate country. So, the antinationalists want to finish Tarai people's language, culture and way of life by introducing the Hindi language- inducing the Indian dominance. In order to protect the language & culture every nationalist Tarai people should be aware of it. In fact the people have no power and are ignored by the culprit leaders. In such situation, can Baburam Bhattarai implement these suicidal agendas? So, how we can expect, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai will succeed in his premiership? He is an aggressive communist guided by RAW. Due to his destructive anti-nationalist agendas, he will get fizzle out. If effective action are not taken all the situations would further be deteriorated. Almost the so-called politicians create havoc all over. They promised to build a bridge even where there is no river. Similarly, the logo of PM's using-Mustang motor is made in Nepal, but all the parts are Indian. The bluffing can't give the good message. There should be the production of every necessary materials needed for the people in the country. If we don't drive our industries, we will be driven out of productions. Remember the quotation. 'A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be leader.' So, it is a very serious time for Dr. Baburam Bhattarai how to relief from all the blaming and obstacles. The first issue is that Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is not free. He is in tape of Madeshi leaders. The indicates the future fate of Maoist PM. We Nepalese people want-Monarchical democratic-Sovereign Nepal with Hindu Kingdom. Thank you.

Dirgha Raj Prasai Political Analyst Former Member of Parliament-Nepal      9:03 p.m. / Tuesday, August 30, 2011

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