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Protests Against Elections To A New CA: Undemocratic Says Analysts
By KTM Metro Reporter
June 7, 2012: on Wednesday, June 6, 2012, NC leaders of indigenous origin have submitted a memorandum to President of NC Sushil Koirala asking him to support their demand for federalism with ethnic identity and warned the NC president of not participating in the protest against government scheduled for Friday, June 8, 2012, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of today reports. In response, the NC president has assured them of sticking to the federalism and identity issue, and told them that the UCPN-Maoist leaders have mislead the people stating the NC was anti-federalism and anti-identity-based states. The NC and CPN-UML leaders are protesting on Friday against the declaration of elections to a new CA.
Some indigenous leaders questioned whether the NC president lied when he said he was against the federalism with the ethnic identity in the past or not and why the NC leaders did not accept the federalism with identity of ethnic groups but rather opted for dissolving the CA causing the current political uncertainty, and why the NC has not made a program on mobilizing the people in preparation for the CA elections but prepared for the protest against the government. If the NC believes in democracy then it needs to go for elections rather than opting to topple the government from the streets.
Speaking at a press conference held at the party headquarters in Lalitpur, Chairman of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic holding the portfolio of Home Minister Bijay Gacchedar yesterday said that the country had no alternative to the new Constituent Assembly election scheduled for November 22, 2012, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of today writes. "I urge all the political parties to convert the Baburam Bhattarai-led government into a national consensus government by joining it," he said. He alleged that the CA came to an end due to the negative attitude of NC and CPN-UML to the state restructuring and federalism, as federalism would not have any meaning without identity and the constitution without federalism; the Madheshi and Janajati communities would not accept federalism without identity at any cost.
Speaking to the leaders of the party’s central wings, departments and former lawmakers, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal yesterday said the country had plunged into a one-way tunnel; his party was working to break the current political deadlock, and urged the party members to join the protest scheduled for Friday against the UCPN-Maoist totalitarianism and autocracy and give a democratic and constitutional way to the country, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of today writes.
Mr. Khanal does not seem to understand the regular democracy and he must be talking about another kind of democracy refusing to go to the elections for the fresh mandate from the people. As long as Nepal would have the political leaders of this kind, institutionalizing democracy might be difficult. Mr. Khanal might be successful to topple the current government from the street protests but that is not the right way of doing if he understands democracy corrrectly. The right way to topple any government is to go to the people and receive the fresh mandate. Protests against the elections and trying to stop the people’s rights to elect their representatives certainly go against the democratic norms and values, that these so-called leaders don’t understand, political analysts say.
Senior Advocate Harihar Dahal said there was no alternative to CA elections for two reasons: firstly, the Supreme Court had clearly said there should be fresh CA elections and secondly, it is a mandate of the Janaandolan of 2006. He argued that revival of the CA was not possible because it contradicted the SC verdict. “If we form a Constitutional Commission and tell the next parliament to put a seal on a constitution prepared by the commission, it will curtail the right of the sovereign parliament,” Dahal said, according to ‘The Himalayan Times’ of today.
