Deliver Me From The Constituent Assembly

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Humans take only nine months to come out of wombs but I have been already three years and three months in the womb of the Constituent Assembly (CA) of 601 members but I don’t see any light of the outside world. The CA has been in labor pain but the midwives want to keep me in the womb as long as their interest is not met. Some idiotic politicians want to kill my mom and give birth to a step mom instead. Every Nepalis anticipates that after my birth, most of the nation’s major problems would be resolved but my birth itself has been put on hold.

All leaders say that they need to build a consensus on giving me birth but they have never worked to this end. NC lawmakers have been holding the CA hostage for almost two weeks demanding the resignation of the prime minister. They have released the hostage only after Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari read out the letter at the House on August 10, 2011 sent by the sick prime minister stating he will resign by August 13, 2011. However, the resignation alone will not give birth to me, as you cannot anticipate different results doing the same old thing. They have repeated the same mistake of forcing Madhav Nepal out of office before building a consensus on the national agenda. The difference is at that time, the UCPN-Maoist forced Madhav to quit the office; this time, NC forced Jhalanath to leave the office.

Speaking to the anchor of the morning program called ‘antar sambad’ of the state-run ‘Radio Nepal’ on August 11, 2011, NC Youth Leader Gagan Thapa has said that any political party or a leader claiming the rights to form a new government should put a national agenda on a table, and such agenda should be agreeable to all the political parties then only anybody could build a nationally acceptable government in other words a government supported by all parties.

Youth Leader Gagan Thapa is one hundred percent correct in stating the need for building a consensus on a national agenda but none of the political leaders have thought about it. Sher Bahadur Deuba has claimed the rights to form a government only by trying to bring down his colleague Ram Chandra Poudel from the parliamentary party leader. Instead of attempting to build a national agenda, Mr. Deuba has created controversy even in his party by trying to remove Ram Chandra Poudel from the office of the parliamentary party leader. Obviously, not being able to take a concrete decision on building a consensus on a leader to lead a new government, NC Party President Sushil Koirala has asked Deuba and Poudel to sort out the problem of claims and counter claims for leading a new government.

The UCPN-Maoist leaders have even completely forgotten how to build a consensus on a national agenda as proposed by NC Youth Leader Gagan Thapa. Instead of building a consensus on a national agenda, the UCPN-Maoist have shown their madness to compel Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal to reshuffle his cabinet to include 10 ministers: nine from the UCPN-Maoist, and one from MPRF-Nepal disregarding the opposition of the NC and some CPN-UML leaders. What the UCPN-Maoist leaders have achieved is to tear open the rift in the CPN-UML. If that is the goal of the UCPN-Maoist leaders they have certainly achieved it.

After attending the meeting of the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APEC) in Malaysia in the capacity of one of the joint-Chairmen of the APEC that has promised to invest US$3 billion to develop Lumbini as a religious, cultural and economic center, upon arrival at the international airport in Kathmandu on August 10, 2011, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda has told reporters that an environment conducive to build a consensus on the national agenda has been created. Prachanda has been very smart to say such things in the past, too but has been unable to build a consensus on the national agenda even in his party. His colleagues in fact his vice-chairmen such as Mohan Vaidya ‘Kiran’, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, and Narayankaji Shrestha ‘Prakash’ have been facing different political directions. If we include the face of Prachanda in it then we find four faces facing to the four different directions, as if they are the four faces of Shivalinga.

Prachanda has never said that he needed to build a consensus on a national agenda, as NC Youth Leader Gagan Thapa has said talking to the anchor of the morning program called ‘antar sambad’ of the state-run ‘Radio Nepal’ on August 11, 2011. In fact, Prachanda had had a chance of leading the government voted in by the overwhelmingly large number of the lawmakers in 2008 but he did not build a consensus on a national agenda rather he had focused on the narrow agenda of his party causing his downfall in May 2009.

I have lost my faith in Prachanda that he would really deliver me from the womb of the CA because he has been entangled in forming and destroying the majority government. Prachanda might have the capacity to inspire others to join him for a political revolution but he has missed to lead the country to a new nation. So, I am sure that he would never be again able to lead the 601-members CA to release me from the womb and set the country on the path of a rule of law.

You have seen that Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal have proved to be the opportunists. They are not for building a new Nepal but for destroying the possibility of bringing me out of the womb on schedule. Madhav Nepal had stayed in the office of prime minister for almost 20 months but he did not do anything that would have delivered me from the CA. Similarly, Jhalanath Khanal had put the election to a new prime minister on hold for almost eight months in the name of building a consensus on forming a new government but he reached a seven-point deal with Prachanda and became the prime minister based on the majority votes. Mr. Khanal also had done nothing to deliver me from the womb of the CA.

The Madheshi leaders have failed to cash in the current political situation of the possibility of small parties dictating the large parties to meet their demands or to achieve their goals. Instead, they have been fighting against each other in their political parties consequently disintegrating their parties into smaller parties. These guys are politically outdated because they had been so much in their mother parties in the past; they could hardly change their mindset even though they have formed new political parties with new agenda.

Some idiotic politicians have been demanding to kill my mom: the CA and then to go for fresh people’s mandate. This is nothing but the madness of the politicians that have lost everything after the people’s movement in 2006. That won’t help me to come out of the womb. That will not help them to realize their dream of reversing the political situation, too. No force in Nepal would be able to reverse the current political trend. If anybody attempts on reversing the current political trend in the country will certainly risk his/her life because Nepalis will chop off the head of such a person. 

Speaking to the anchor of the morning program called ‘antar sambad’ of the state-run ‘Radio Nepal’ on August 12, 2011, Secretary to UCPN-Maoist CP Gajurel has said that the CA can bring out an immature baby constitution by August 30, 2011 before the expiry of my mother on August 31, 2011 but the NC leaders have focused on the integration of the People’s Liberation Army rather than focusing on delivering me. Mr. Gajurel also has said that the ten CA committees on different subject matters have already prepared their reports and a draft baby constitution can come out any time.

So, what I need a young leader like Gagan Thapa that has political vision, youth power and will to do something for the country to deliver me from the womb of the CA. Those date-expired leaders could do nothing except for causing confusion among the people. So, we need young leaders to replace the old ones for really building a new Nepal in the words and deeds. Therefore, you old guys don’t stand in the way rather give the way to the new and energetic youths to lead the country.

August 12, 2011