Democratic consensus a must to select first Nepali President
Surya B. Prasai
June 10, 2008
After nearly a month of power haggling and prolonged assurances from Nepal´s top leaders on emerging Nepali democratic options in consensus building, it now appears the choice of the Nepal presidency largely hinges on which candidate is more acceptable to the three parties, namely, the CPN-Maoists, Nepali Congress, and CPN-UML. The latest dialogue among the three conjured up the idea of an apolitical person well known to civil society of being the first Nepali president, but so far it has proven a misnomer. The Maoists only recently amended the democratic search criteria to include political activists and duly proposed their favorite, Ram Raja Prasad Singh, a former leftist ideologue who branched out on his own about two decades back.
The Maoists who have only recently mended fences with other political parties now agree to a simple majority clause amendment in the Interim Constitution to resolve the current deadlock. However, others in the media have suggested prominent social activists such as, Dr. Mathura Prasad Shrestha, Dr. Upendra Devkota, and Karna Shakya, all of whom have made genuine contributions to Nepali society in the past. According to Maoist leader, Dev Gurung, a key participant to the recent consensus building initiative with NC and UML, the new agreement will hopefully be in place soon although his party is advocating for an alternate to PM Girija Prasad Koirala for some unexplained reason. This decision recently forced PM Koirala to make a rare public speech from the middle of Tundikhel, where he questioned the Nepali media and various political leaders for spreading false rumors about his ´bad´ health. Koirala indeed looked shining pink, exuberant, and patient in his rhetorical delivery, albeit his words serving as an NC counter offensive against those challenging their claim.
On the Nepal presidency, while one notes the current name of CPN-M´s preferable candidate R.P. Singh, UML's Sahana Pradhan (the only woman candidate), Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, and civil society activists Padma Ratna Tuladhar and Dr Devendra Raj Pandey, some well known Nepali media voices are also advocating for Kul Chandra Gautam who served remarkably well with UNICEF until his recent retirement as Deputy Executive Director and is now doing social service in Nepal; Dr. S. Ruit who won the Magasaysay Peace Prize in 2007; Kanak Mani Dixit from the Nepali media who runs the successful Himal group and is also active in national human rights and press, democratic freedoms safeguard; Karna Shaya who has consistently promoted Nepal´s environment conservation and tourism plans at the national and international levels; and Prakash Man Singh, son of late Ganesh Man Singh, Nepal´s first democratic crusader, who is a promising young generation leader who often acts beyond NC´s vision when it comes to displaying national leadership. There are also women candidates who could contribute with cultural dignity and aplomb.
The recent suggestion from Hridyaesh Tripathi´s from Terai Madhes Loktrantrik Party (TMLP) namely that a Terai leader be considered whether it is Singh or someone else, is also worth some technical consideration since the Terai has one-third of the total CA seats. In selecting the right candidate, Nepalis must set a good example of being gender sensitive and acting in a democratic manner. India already has a successful women President; Nepal could likely have one if the will exists to make it happen starting with Sahana Pradhan as the first choice.
Whatever the Nepali political parties decide within the CA, the immediate political action required is getting the right candidate to be President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, as much as making the wider candidates´ list available to the CA members to inquire and vote upon. The Nepali public must be duly consulted in the act as assured by the first sitting of the CA on May 28. Government is for, by and of the people as a famous American once remarked on the success of his country´s democracy. Now the Nepali leaders must prove their mettle and let democracy not be an aberration whereby only a few political parties decide on the voice of the Nepali majority.
Prachanda has recently stated that the selection will happen soon. How soon? Naya Bazaar sources state June, 15, that is it! But will it really happen then? Therefore, the big dilemma in front of the 25 political parties and for the Maoists in leading the next coalition government is to first select or elect a President of Nepal who can then give the oath of office to the future cabinet. For this, the current prolonged political agenda must be replaced by a developmental one, a view that is also commonly shared by prominent international aid circles and donor friends of Nepal, in particular the US, EU, India, China and Japan. Nepali leaders, in short, must adhere to the spirit of the recently conducted CA Poll of April 10, which has proven a positive, universal, democratic and genuine step that helped usher in the new Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. A bark louder than the bite will not serve well in Nepali politics at this stage.
The Maoists who have only recently mended fences with other political parties now agree to a simple majority clause amendment in the Interim Constitution to resolve the current deadlock. However, others in the media have suggested prominent social activists such as, Dr. Mathura Prasad Shrestha, Dr. Upendra Devkota, and Karna Shakya, all of whom have made genuine contributions to Nepali society in the past. According to Maoist leader, Dev Gurung, a key participant to the recent consensus building initiative with NC and UML, the new agreement will hopefully be in place soon although his party is advocating for an alternate to PM Girija Prasad Koirala for some unexplained reason. This decision recently forced PM Koirala to make a rare public speech from the middle of Tundikhel, where he questioned the Nepali media and various political leaders for spreading false rumors about his ´bad´ health. Koirala indeed looked shining pink, exuberant, and patient in his rhetorical delivery, albeit his words serving as an NC counter offensive against those challenging their claim.
On the Nepal presidency, while one notes the current name of CPN-M´s preferable candidate R.P. Singh, UML's Sahana Pradhan (the only woman candidate), Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, and civil society activists Padma Ratna Tuladhar and Dr Devendra Raj Pandey, some well known Nepali media voices are also advocating for Kul Chandra Gautam who served remarkably well with UNICEF until his recent retirement as Deputy Executive Director and is now doing social service in Nepal; Dr. S. Ruit who won the Magasaysay Peace Prize in 2007; Kanak Mani Dixit from the Nepali media who runs the successful Himal group and is also active in national human rights and press, democratic freedoms safeguard; Karna Shaya who has consistently promoted Nepal´s environment conservation and tourism plans at the national and international levels; and Prakash Man Singh, son of late Ganesh Man Singh, Nepal´s first democratic crusader, who is a promising young generation leader who often acts beyond NC´s vision when it comes to displaying national leadership. There are also women candidates who could contribute with cultural dignity and aplomb.
The recent suggestion from Hridyaesh Tripathi´s from Terai Madhes Loktrantrik Party (TMLP) namely that a Terai leader be considered whether it is Singh or someone else, is also worth some technical consideration since the Terai has one-third of the total CA seats. In selecting the right candidate, Nepalis must set a good example of being gender sensitive and acting in a democratic manner. India already has a successful women President; Nepal could likely have one if the will exists to make it happen starting with Sahana Pradhan as the first choice.
Whatever the Nepali political parties decide within the CA, the immediate political action required is getting the right candidate to be President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, as much as making the wider candidates´ list available to the CA members to inquire and vote upon. The Nepali public must be duly consulted in the act as assured by the first sitting of the CA on May 28. Government is for, by and of the people as a famous American once remarked on the success of his country´s democracy. Now the Nepali leaders must prove their mettle and let democracy not be an aberration whereby only a few political parties decide on the voice of the Nepali majority.
Prachanda has recently stated that the selection will happen soon. How soon? Naya Bazaar sources state June, 15, that is it! But will it really happen then? Therefore, the big dilemma in front of the 25 political parties and for the Maoists in leading the next coalition government is to first select or elect a President of Nepal who can then give the oath of office to the future cabinet. For this, the current prolonged political agenda must be replaced by a developmental one, a view that is also commonly shared by prominent international aid circles and donor friends of Nepal, in particular the US, EU, India, China and Japan. Nepali leaders, in short, must adhere to the spirit of the recently conducted CA Poll of April 10, which has proven a positive, universal, democratic and genuine step that helped usher in the new Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. A bark louder than the bite will not serve well in Nepali politics at this stage.
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