Philippine Daily Inquirer
MY HUSBAND AND I JOURNEYED TO MYSTICAL Kathmandu, Nepal, in the foothills of the Himalayas over the weekend to join former Speaker Jose de Venecia at the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP). JDV founded ICAPP in September 2000 in Manila two years after losing the presidential election to Joseph Estrada, and since we were in full support of that Manila conference, he considers us “co-founders.” He invited as well UE College of Law dean Amado D. Valdez and his wife Nelly.
JDV and co-chair Chung Eui-yong, former head of the South Korean Senate foreign relations committee, had envisioned ICAPP as a vehicle for Asia’s political parties to be “honest brokers” in the global peace process, by sharing with conflict-ridden nations their countries’ experiences with peaceful and non-violent resolution of conflict, and to work for the political and economic integration and stability of the region. From a handful of political parties in 2000, ICAPP has grown in its first decade to 263 parties in 51 countries of Greater Asia and recently Latin America and Africa.
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I welcomed the opportunity to travel to Nepal, not only as a respite from covering the political campaign back home, but also because it has always held a fascination for me as the cradle of seven of the world’s highest mountain peaks, led by Mt. Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest to the world). It was a grand time to be in Kathmandu, as the crispy spring season had just begun. We caught the Holi Festival celebrated throughout the Hindu world, during which locals and some brave tourists painted themselves in all colors, drank and danced in the streets and threw water at one another to giddily welcome the arrival of spring.
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The decision of the ICAPP Standing Committee to hold its 12th meeting in this small country, despite the backwardness of its infrastructure and comparative inaccessibility, was meant to be more than just symbolic. The meeting, attended by representatives of political parties from all over Greater Asia, including those from the ruling parties of Japan and Russia, and Gustavo Carvajal Moreno, the president-for-life of the grand alliance of Latin American Center-Left political parties, tackled routine matters such as fixing the venue of the general assembly this November in Cambodia.
But the not-too-subtle goal of ICAPP in coming to Nepal was to apply pressure on its government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), and the other political parties to save the Government of National Unity. This was forged in Nov. 21, 2006, after the overthrow of the autocratic rule of King Gyanendra that ended 240 years of monarchic rule.
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The transition to full democratic rule remains critical as various hues of communist politicians vie for dominance, even though they are all supposedly committed to the democratic electoral process. In present-day Nepal, three major parties have some kind of coexistence in a unique political arrangement: the CPN-UML, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal Maoist, led by former Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dhal who was deposed last May, and the Congress Party of Nepal, led by former Prime Minister Girija Prased Koirala, to which the incumbent President Ram Baran Yadav belongs. As a journalist used to the subterfuges of our Left-wing politicians and dissidents, I found the splitting of hairs by communists fascinating. But that’s what makes the Nepali situation unique. Our homegrown leftists could learn a few things from them.
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In reality the relationship between the Marxist-Leninists and the Maoists is far from being smooth. The Marxist-Leninists control 20 percent of the 601-member Constituent Assembly, necessitating a coalition with the Congress Party that controls another 20 percent and other smaller groups. On the other side is the Maoist group which controls a sizable 40 percent. The Maoists’ real power, however, lies in its control of the 19,000-member armed forces that dates back from anti-monarchy days. Some people think this number is bloated and that it is more like 11,000. At the moment, these Maoist forces are “cantoned” and their firearms warehoused, pending integration into the government forces. The United Nations has been supporting their cantonment with funds channeled through the Maoist party, but the Marxists don’t like this arrangement since it puts a lot of dollars into Maoists’ hands that could be used against them.
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The situation for Marxist PM Nepal remains critical, as ousted Prachandra is said to be lusting after his old job. Nepal’s leaders also cannot agree on the type of government they want. A new constitution is supposed to be drafted and finished before May 28, 2010, but work has been slow. Observers say the first step in stabilizing is the smooth integration of Maoist troops into the 85,000-strong government forces, but this needs a lot of logistics. De Venecia stressed that the Philippine government only allowed 7,500 troops of the Moro National Liberation Front to be initially integrated into the armed forces, and this could be a model for Nepal.
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This beautiful Himalayan country has a long way to go before achieving political stability. The ICAPP leaders have called on UN Secretary General Ban Kyi Moon to visit Nepal and extend UN supervision over the country beyond this month’s deadline. They also exhorted him to dialogue with the various politicians as the Asian parliamentarians have just done. For only by working together through elections and parliamentary coalitions, and not through violent coups as in the past, could Nepal show stability and convince foreign investors to come in with badly needed infrastructure and even basic industries like cement factories.
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