June 17, 2008
TEA PARTY BASH AT THE FORMER KING’S PALACE
On Sunday, a large gathering of Nepal’s governmental elite officially laid claim to the now vacated Narayanhiti Palace by pronouncing it a national museum. Droves of politicians of all stripes and colors, diplomats, military officials, police chiefs and journalists swarmed the former king’s home to partake in an inauguration tea party.
The extent of valuable items left behind in the palace has not yet been assessed. Before vacating the premises last week, former King Gyanendra relinquished his claim to the diamond and emerald crown, the royal scepter and golden throne. But there are presumed to be untold treasures and priceless documents stored in the palace’s underground vaults. Apparently, it’s not even known how many rooms make up the sprawling 4.1 million square ft complex. One item that will definitely be showcased in the new museum is the 1939 Mercedes-Benz given to Gyanendra’s grandfather by Adolf Hitler.
The event was laced with pomp and circumstance. Interim Prime Minister G.P. Koirala raised Nepal’s national flag. Politicos mugged next to gigantic tigers forever towering on hind legs with taxidermal snarls. An army band played the new national anthem – this on the well-manicured grounds where, in 2001, almost to the day, the then Crown Prince Dipendra allegedly slaughtered the royal family before turning the gun on himself. 
At the party, an AFP reporter asked the Maoist’s second-in-command, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, if it felt bizarre to be strolling through the royal gardens. He answered with a half-smile, “It’s not a palace anymore. It’s a museum.”
History has iron wheels.
TRANSITION TO A NEW GOVERNMENT
Obviously,
switching gears from a 239-year-old monarchy to a republic – and in
many cases, switching from one political allegiance to another –
entails massive changes in processes and procedures. Negotiations
between the various political parties have been anything but smooth.
Whoever leads the new republic must successfully address security, law
and order, extreme poverty, hunger, disease, ethnic and gender
discrimination, education and economic stability -- all of which
created Nepal’s political upheaval in the first place. It won’t matter
in the slightest to the downtrodden which group is in power, if that
group can’t get beyond inter-party rivalry and lead Nepal away from the
unremitting quicksand of corruption and power-mongering that has
plagued this nation from the beginning.
Dr. Bhattarai
From
the Maoist point of view, in the past week, Dr. Bhattarai has made
several pointed statements meant to ward off the specter of the
ex-king. On June 11, he told reporters the king must stay out of
politics. “We don’t want him to be used as a weapon for
counter-revolutionary forces in this transitional and sensitive period.”
On
June 12, Dr. Bhattarai told Press Trust of India there would be an
investigation of the 2001 palace massacre, the many unanswered
questions of which have hung over the nation like a black cloud. Many
people still contend Gyanendra and his son Paras were responsible for
the murder of the king and queen and immediate family. Said Bhattarai,
"The former king said…that he had no role in the massacre and if it was
true, the probe commission will help him clear the accusation." The
Maoist leader also promised there would be an investigation whether the
deposed king had any foreign bank accounts.
The political
advantage of party-induced probes – as American history has repeatedly
proven – is that regardless of guilt or innocence, the person under
investigation inevitably comes under scrutiny for other things:
Auxiliary dirty laundry unearthed and breathlessly aired by the media.
If
Gyanendra has future political ambitions, his path will be checkmated
by Maoist leaders like Dr. Bhattarai who, by the way, is a superb chess
player.
Prachanda
Although Maoist leader Prachanda was noticeably absent from the
palace tea party, he has kept himself busy. The ex-rebel, wanted dead
or alive during Gyanendra’s rule, received the Dr. Dilli Raman Regmi
National Peace Award, to be shared with Nobel peace laureate and former
US president Jimmy Carter.
A press statement issued by the Dr
Dilli Raman Regmi Foundation said the board had decided to honor
Prachanda because of his ''unwavering contribution to establishing a
democratic federal republic in Nepal, implementing the constituent
assembly agenda and restoring lasting peace''.
Prachanda
recently compared himself to the ancient Indian emperor Ashoka, once a
bloodthirsty king who became a pacifist after witnessing the deaths and
suffering in the wake of a mighty battle.
This week Prachanda
also voiced his keen desire to visit China at the earliest date to
visit Beijing, and Mao Zedong’s birthplace, “to get some more
inspiration by seeing and feeling.” This comes from a June 13 interview
with “China Daily” in which he also said his government would maintain
equidistance between China and India, while seeking rapprochement with
Washington. Ideology, he assured the reporter, would “not be a barrier.
We are eager to have diplomatic relations with countries which do not
share our ideology.”
But closer to home, the Maoists first have to deal with their rival political parties in Nepal: Nepali Congress and the UML.
Nepali Congress Party
Current Prime Minister 84-year-old Girija Prasad Koirala of Nepali
Congress has repeatedly refused to step down and make way for a new
government that would be inevitably be led by the Maoists. Koirala is
currently serving as both head of government and head of state. Since
he controls the bureaucracy, the army and the police, there is no one
to force him to resign.
Koirala
tried approaching Prachanda this week to at least support his
nomination as the presidential candidate – which is being interpreted
as primarily a ceremonial position. But Prachanda rejected the offer.
The stalemate has resulted in the resignation of all five Maoist
ministers from the interim government, a move calculated to force
Koirala to step down.
The Army
This may be the biggest hurdle in forming Nepal’s new
government. The top three Nepal’s parties are still divided on the
question of integration between the Nepal Army and the Maoist
combatants, mortal enemies just two years ago.
Both Nepali
Congress and the third most powerful political party, the Unified
Marxist Leninist (UML) are adamantly against the en masse merger of the
combatants.
The former rebels, the People's Liberation Army
(PLA), number around 20,000, while the Young Communist League (YCL) is
said to have half a million members scattered over the country. Former
militias were renamed as YCL shortly after the Maoists entered a peace
accord with the government in November 2006. PLA members are sheltered
in government-run cantonments, which are being supervised by a United
Nations field mission, but the YCL run free.
The Maoists now
want these combatants to be integrated with the national army, as per
the provisions of the peace accord and interim constitution. Leaders of
other major parties, however, contend that the Maoist leadership must
not be allowed to lead any kind of government as long as the PLA
remains intact. 
Sensing that existing confusion and uncertainty could create bigger
national challenges, General Rookmangud Katawal, the Nepal army chief
swiftly moved to the forefront this week with a public pledge that the
army will remain a key promoter and defender of democracy. "The army
will remain as the ground on which nascent democracy can take roots and
flourish in the days ahead…”
While
he offered to promote and defend democracy in these transitional times,
Katawal also warned, "... we strongly believe that in the name of
democratization the army's purity, sanctity and integrity should not be
compromised."
Analysts attach considerable significance to the
timing of Katawal's statement. First, it came immediately after the
ouster of the king, who was traditionally the supreme
commander-in-chief; second, the views have been aired ahead of the
election of a new head of state, who also has to perform the duties of
the supreme commander.
The main consideration is that a
politically indoctrinated group like the PLA cannot be allowed, en
masse, to join an army designed for professional soldiering. This is
where the army chief 's observations look relevant. There is also the
question of hierarchy within in the army. How can army generals, who
have come up through the ranks after decades of service be expected to
sit back and watch “jungle rebel commandos”, with “no professional
training” be granted positions on a par with their own?
Madeshi Bombing
The other front that must still be resolved before a new
government can run smoothly is the lawlessness that prevails in the
southern part of Nepal along the Indian border.
On June 15, the
same day as the jubilant palace tea party, two persons, including an
Indian, were killed and 18 others injured in a roadside bomb blast. 12
of the wounded, including four children, are said to be in critical
condition.
The explosion occurred at a crowded bus stop in
Rautahat district. The blast was caused by a time bomb hidden in a sack
of wheat, according to authorities. The town of Nizgardh broke into
panic, shops were sealed tight and the roads became deserted.
A fringe separatist group calling itself “Terai Army” claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Until
and unless these ongoing acts of terrorism in southern Nepal -- the
most populous region in the country -- can be resolved, the politicos
in the Kathmandu Valley are going to find themselves doomed to wander
through dilemma after dilemma like cattle without homes.
Wandering ex-royal cows
According to “The Hindu”, the question of palace possessions is still not completely resolved. 
Gyanendra's 60 cows still graze in the sprawling grounds of the
Narayanhiti palace in the heart of Kathmandu. He used the cows for
fresh milk but authorities say the animals, considered holy by Hindus,
must also leave.
"We
can't keep them there and no decision has yet been taken about what to
do with them," said Govinda Prasad Kusum, a senior bureaucrat in charge
of preparing an inventory of palace contents.
"Maybe the livestock department under the
ministry of agriculture should use these cows for research purposes,"
he said. Nepal, a mostly Hindu nation, forbids slaughtering cows.
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