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Madhav Kumar Nepal set to become Premier
KATHMANDU: With the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) finally agreeing to back the CPN(UML)-Nepali Congress alliance, senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal is set to be the next Prime Minister of Nepal.
| This is but a minor set-back for the ultra-hard Maoists. They'll be back. |
| It's kind of hard to come back from being laughed at. Perhaps the current head of the Maoists will suddently decide to commit suicide by shooting himself in the back of the head... twice. That might give the party a new lease on life. |
On Sunday, leaders of CPN (UML), Nepali Congress, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum and others handed over 350 signatures collected from Constituent Assembly (CA) members belonging to 22 different parties to the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Subash Nembang, who said he would soon start the process of government formation.
According to the interim Constitution, a government can be formed with a simple majority of 301. Following Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda's" resignation as the Prime Minister, President Ram Baran Yadav had first asked the parties to form a government of consensus; but when they failed, he asked them to form a majority government.
Meanwhile, Mr. Prachanda said the new government would not complete the peace process or bring peace to the country, and that it was a move to "eliminate leftists using leftists". | Perhaps completing the peace process as originally negotiated is not such a good idea as it seemed. I'd like to see the new government go Sri Lankan on them. |
"We're quitting the government, but with pride; but those coming in power are coming with low self-esteem they are forming the government according to signals of foreign lords and therefore won't have confidence to keep their head high," he said on Sunday addressing a Maoists-organised programme in protest against the "presidential coup" and foreign intervention.
He also charged that formation of an alternative government was a conspiracy to break the peace process and push the country to war. "As a leader of the biggest party, I request leaders of all the political parties to rethink about this decision and come forward for national consensus," he said.
| "Because if you don't I'm going back to war and unleash a whirlwind," he threatened softly. |
| Yes, but now everybody knows they only have 5-7,000 fighters, not 35,000. The whirlwind is a lot smaller. |
Addressing a huge gathering in the capital to protest the decision of President Ram Baran Yadav to retain Nepal Army Chief General Rookmangud Katawal and to protest against foreign interference, he said he had heard that the new government planned to let the People's Liberation Army fight the Army; and if that was not a decisive fight, to invite a foreign army. "If anyone thinks of turning Nepal into Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or Sri Lanka, it would only be a day dream," he said and warned "foreign reactionaries" not to insult Nepali people.
The Maoist chairman also said that India had not supported them in establishing civilian supremacy. Addressing the protest against foreign intervention, Mr. Prachanda said he had told Madhav Kumar Nepal, the proposed Prime Minister for new government, not to be "remote-controlled".
The Maoist chairman also said that a new revolution will be launched across the country against foreign brokers who did not want the peace process to be complete and against foreign reactionaries who were "trying to seize Nepali's right to decide for themselves." He, however, said his party remained committed to the peace process and writing of a new Constitution.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-05-18 |
