Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal, please resign!

The Maoists' shakti pradarshan

When the Maoists declared that they would go for an indefinite general strike starting May the 1^st, I had questions in my mind as to the method of "presentation of strength" or shakti pradarshan as used by political parties in our country. In the name of such shakti pradarshan, political parties bring people out into the streets. Well, I used to think, if any political party calls on people to come out on the street and protest against the ruling system, and people come out by their own will then there is a point in such a program. For, a voluntary participation by the people in an event declaredly against the government is a measure of the popularity of the organizing political party and indirectly gives a measure as to whether people are okay with the way the state has been running. But if people are literally brought into the streets by political parties in vehicles they make carry people (whatever the means to that end) then that is not really voluntary participation and therefore fails to represent real popular sentiment of that time. And so I was against the idea of such a shakti pradarshan. Then there were reports saying that many people present in the protests did not know what they were there for, and there were others who just came along because they would get to see Kathmandu and spend a few days here. My thought carried me to conclude that the method of shakti pradarshan practiced by political parties in Nepal is in essence a wrong practice because at best it is semi-voluntary participation of the people.

I think differently now. The Maoists' general strike might involve mostly semi-voluntary participants, but the power it carries is certainly different from traditional shakti pradarshans that we are used to, especially from the once-upon-a-time more popular Nepali Congress or the UML. The difference possibly is that whereas previous demonstrations were defined period events, the Maoists demonstration this time is open ended in terms of time. The goal here is not just to show that there are people with the party but to move with the people towards the goal that the party has worked out. And what amazing participation it has shown. People are coming out into the streets day after day for over five days now. And there seems to be no sign of tiring. A side thought tangentially crosses my mind-how long would it take to build big roads through difficulty terrain if such masses could be mobilized for that purpose? Makes me think nation building is no difficult task.

Opportunism of the Maoists

The Maoists party will be very happy with the success of the general strike. As they promised, it has been largely peaceful as of now. But there are problems arising unless we are nearing a solution to the current crisis.

In my opinion, the timing of the Maoists general strike is wrong. They have been lucky that they made it to the 1^st of May but in essence the problems they have been having with the current set up of the government has been there for long. Issues since the fall of the Maoists-led government have stayed essentially the same. Those issues have not been worked through and so we still get to hear confused statements from the Maoists as well as the other political parties in the parliament as to whether the president (or for that matter the then PM Prachanda) was wrong in his move of reinstating (or sacking) the then army chief Katawal in the first place. The nation still does not have a single version as to who was wrong. The same applies to the vice-president's attempts to powder himself with some stardust (and how untimely it was). I have previously put my views on both issues and my stand remains the same. And then the dissatisfaction of the Maoists over their exclusion from the government has been there for quite a while now. Why start the general strike now?

My theory is that the Maoists are going into the strike in an opportunistic mindset. Their goal is clear- to have an involvement at this crucial time in the interim period. But the opportunism is here- in the best case scenario the Maoists could get to lead the government. If such a thing happened they could try and impose a constitution of their liking. If the Maoists came to power again, even in the worst case scenario they could at least make sure that the current government does not promulgate the constitution and wipe out the achievements of the war they waged. Alternatively if the Maoists were not allowed to lead the government they could either force themselves into power (which in my opinion is the least likely exit from here) or would at least maintain some popularity as a party that did shout in the streets for the sake of the constitution of the country. If the constitution is all that mattered to the Maoists for now, they would have started demonstrating for a multi-party government earlier.

Madhav Kumar Nepal is the villain

Whatever the motive of the Maoists and whatever happens from now on, the present government has no moral grounds to stay in power. Now I am very sorry to say this but I have to say what I think and that is that Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal, the current prime minister has turned out to be a real villain. His cabinet has come in the news for slapping government officials, for exchange of vulgar words, for extreme corruption (though he has not been involved in any of them- excepting that he was in the news for claiming reimbursement for a ticket his wife did not use when they went somewhere abroad), impunity...and what not? Now what kind of a prime minister is he? Clearly a lute (my English fails to find me the exact translation and the Nepali word appears to me as though a mini image of MaKuNe could be printed in the dictionary under the word- a smiling MaKuNe struggling hard to separate a fight within his cabinet while he is licking on the lollipop of power, the stick of which is held by foreign powers).

Though lute, MaKuNe has proved himself a villain. For one simple reason, and that is that he has been sitting in power as the highest executive in the country at a time when the parliament that voted for him has the mandate of writing the constitution and exactly that is not happening. And he now claims his resignation is not the problem. I am not saying it is. But it would pave the way for the formation of a national government. And a national government is the only peaceful exit to the current crisis.

Madhav Nepal has no right to the cabinet

I have said this before and will say it again. Madhav Nepal's government is illegitimate. Again the parliament now is less of a parliament where you trade in MPs to collect support for your prime ministership. It has the bigger responsibility of defining national identity. And how shamelessly MaKuNe, who lost the popular elections, claims he is the rightful prime minister. I feel ashamed that he is the prime minister. And I am all in for the current protest by the Maoists, even though it bears hints of political opportunism.

Madhav Nepal should resign

There is no need to elaborate on this one- Madhav Nepal should resign. If there is any trace of self-respect and shame remaining in him he should resign.

A friend of mine said over a beer last evening- I want to beg, request, pray, to the Right Honorable Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal, the prime minister of the still-a-country of Nepal to resign. Killing anyone is an absolute no to me, but if I had a gun I would point it on MaKuNe's temple and force him to sign the resignation letter. Or I would kidnap and falsely sign for him his resignation letter. Well even a toy gun would do for this lute that isn't capable of handling his own ministers. I couldn't agree more, although there were traces of alcohol in the disrespect shown towards the head of the government. If that is an offense I apologize sincerely but still repeat- Resign PM, resign! Please!!

(P.S. Once again, sincere apologies for any offence caused.)