As long as the same old well known rogues (((there are too many to name here, suffice it to say most of those in the old parties and even in new parties ( Bijya Gachadar for example))) are in the picture, all this talk about Federal Republic and so forth doesn’t make any difference. Our Nepalese people tend to get very excited and over enthusiastic every time some change happens. Remember the huge rallies some ten years ago with the advent of so the called ‘multiparty democracy’? Another thing is that Nepalese people tend to forgive and forget very easily and too soon. Remember how Chand and Thapa of Rastriya Prajatantra Party became PMs soon after? Funniest thing was that even so called nationalists and non tainted politicians like Madhav Nepal and company were all too eager to work under them. In Nepal, it’s all a case of politics of convenience and compromise and not of principles and issues. In my view, for the last decade or so it has always been a victory of political parties that has very conveniently been referred to as a victory of the people. People have never been victorious, Nepal continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world in spite of being between the world’s two emerging powers. Nepalese continue to struggle for their daily bread and continue to flee the country for better lives. King Gyanendra, unfortunately for him, has been made the prime scapegoat for rogue politicians and rogue bureaucrats in Nepal. The blame for Nepal’s ill fortunes lie squarely on the shoulders of corrupt political parties, corrupt bureaucracy and corrupt systems.

The last comment is very well done in the sense that 80% of it blames politicians, 10% deals with the misfortune of the King, and the last 10% goes right back to politician bashing. It leaves you with a sense that the King is not at fault. Which is untrue of course. And that would be misleading.

Yes, politicians have made mistakes, but to suggest that former King Gyanendra has been made a scapegoat is sheer unfounded idea. His downfall is entirely tied up to everything he did between February 2005 and April 2006. And then the bloody elitist bias systematic discrimination practiced by his family over generations.

Look at Gagan Thapa: clean record, dynamic, intelligent and desiring to work across party lines. Under Gyanendra’s government, you only had burnt out panches practicing absolute sham of a governance. There was little or no consideration for the general public.

With democracy, people have been empowered in the last 18 years and will continue to be in years to come. That is not a point open for argument because it is a fact. Flawed politicians can be replaced in democracy, new youth leaders can rise in the party ranks.

Yes, Nepal’s ill fortunes are not squarely on the shoulders of corrupt political parties, corrupt bureaucracy and corrupt systems — all things established under the Panchayat era. Democracy has the option of establishing mechanisms to correct them, for transparency. And whether we like it or not, these old bags in the CA did bring us democracy. Its just a matter of time and pro-activeness of the ppl for the change to be brought about.

Gyanendra dug his own grave. There is no excusing it.

why he have a hard time remembering he is married???
anyways gagan is obama of nepal without any doubt. he is awesome as a person and as a leader. cant wait till he become President or Prime Minister.

congratulations to mr. and mrs thapa for the wedding as well as CA role.

its great to have a leader who can talk about things like the environment and working across party lines.

I am more and more positive about Nepal by the things happening in Nepal; by the community like samudaya.org; and by individuals like Gagan Thapa

Thank you samdaya.org and it’s team for bringing this podcast to us.

Congratulations to Gagan Thapa for getting married. Hope your wife doesn’t mind that you sometimes forget that you are now married :)

Thank you Miss/Mr BK Gurung for the reply to Miss/Mr A. Shrestha.

Gagan Thapa the Obama of Nepal?

Now that is the funniest thing I have read on Nepali politics for some time.

Give him 5 years of power and he will be just like any other Nepali politician -unable to govern, power craving and absorbed in school yard politics.

It’s funny but I myself was reminded of Gagan Thapa when I first started seriously following Obama in Spring 2006. Naturally, he is no Obama yet, on so many different levels. However, it is interesting that a lot of Nepalis who have followed Gagan Thapa’s work and have heard him speak, and now know about Obama, have drawn parallels between the two. I saw this in pockets of Nepali communities across the US this spring.

The effort to work across party lines, the understanding of how important the environment is for the public and needs to be part of the political conversation, the call for accountability, the manner in which he has inspired pro-activism amongst the urban youth and his general concern for the youth… and just a fresh young dynamic well educated and well read person who is articulate and has been fairly right on issues… you know, defending his position on certain issues even if his party’s seniors did not agree with it.. talking about ‘change’ for a couple of years now….

To a degree, one could be talking about either Obama or Gagan Thapa in those lines above. But I do get a feeling that a lot of Nepalis, generally speaking, see Gagan Thapa and Obama as being alike also based on their oratory skills, a gift that both of them have and practice quite well.

It would be difficult to deny the fact that the parallels are indeed there (but perhaps not shared by just those two in the whole world). And though it is naturally too early to declare what kind of leaders either will make, both have shown tremendous promise in their own respective capacities. And it seems it would be in the interest of the greater good if they succeed in their goals.

While parties float names of their desired candidates for President and VP, none of them sound appropriate to me - an uber-liberal-progresso-wanna-be apologist from Nepal. Hence I would like to see the following clause added to the article in the new constitution of Nepal:

“In the matter of selecting the first Nepali President, the assembly members shall choose an individual with ‘inclusive’ character. IT shall be a Naturalized Madhesi, from a Dalit community, preferably an atheist but in absence of non-Maoist atheist, a Wahabi Muslim, who considers ITSELF a hermaphrodite, DOES NOT speak Nepali and must have had killed few people here and there over the course of its supposed political activism for the sole purpose of attaining power and serving its self-interest. Those not meeting all the conditions mentioned above shall have no RIGHT to lead the New Nepal. Oh yeah,[sic] and having once identified an individual for the position of President with such diverse qualities, the VP, who shall be a personal as well as political whore to the President for some definite term, shall be a commoner of its choosing, and in most liberal way, be selected from one of many oppressed indigenous tribes of prehistoric Nepal.”

That should make everyone happy now, well almost everyone.

INVITATION

As part of its regular activities, COCAP is holding discussion series on different contemporary issues in collaboration with YOCAP-Nepal. The target participants of the series are youth activists who are involved in different youth movements in Nepal.

This Friday we are going to conduct a discussion on International Youth Day 2008 and Youth Participation on Politics with two resource persons. The details of the program are:

Date: 2065/04/17, Friday
Time: 3:00 pm
Venue: COCAP hall, Anamnagar.
Resource Persons: Mr. Suvash Kumar Darnal (Political Analyst)
Mr. Bishnu Bahadur Khatri (Youth Activist)

Registration is open for all.

For details; contact
MS. Biju Aryal
014265143/4260498
Mr. Machhindra Tiwari
Cell 9841506850

Gagan THAPA isnt obama thats for sure. but he is one of the educated leaders in nepal and very young too. man everyone is corrupted in this world if even you guys get to power u guys start taking bribe. but wat I wanna say about gagan thapa is man don be like girija or prachanda or makune who are damn parasitic and are blunders of our nations