The Nepal crisis drags on. The debate on whether the monarchy in Nepal should remain at all appears to have no end in sight and the tiny, poverty-stricken South Asian nation sandwiched between India and China is sinking deeper and deeper into political and economic chaos.
At the heart of the unrest in Nepal is the credibility of the monarchy. The Maoist rebels in the country want the immediate abolition of this system but the Parliament wants some time to decide on the issue. The November 22 elections in the Himalayan kingdom had to be postponed indefinitely since the two parties were unable to break the deadlock on this sensitive matter.
But, the Nepalese Parliament appears to be conceding gradually to the Maoist demands. They do not promise an immediate abandonment of the monarchy but a newly elected Parliament, headed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress party, will vote on the rebel’s demand for a republican form of government. This move is expected to decide the country’s long-term future, which appear bleak indeed.
The Maoist rebels demands for a Republican Nepal is not unjustified, given decades of mismanagement by the monarchs. But their violent method to strive for the noble objective cannot be accepted at all. The Maoist rebels were the instigators of the 10-year Civil War in the nation that ended only last year with the signing of a new peace deal between the Parliament and the rebels. But that peace treaty hasn’t been able to make both the parties work together and the controversy lingers on.
Image Source: Blog
Source: Bloomberg
