Take stern action

It is possible that King Gyanendra’s Democracy day message could be the signal of a conspiracy to foil the constitutional assembly (CA) polls. His act also made a mockery of the interim parliament, which is considered all-powerful right now. The monarch, in reality, has no authority to give such a message as the parliament has already rendered him powerless.

At a time when the increasing consensus is for a republican set-up in the country, the king’s speech has no meaning at all. It has already been agreed that the CA will decide the fate of monarchy. Since the King’s move was unconstitutional, I don’t see any reason why the interim parliament should hesitate to take serious action against him.

Til Bahadur Poudel, Damak-5, Jhapa

CA polls?

It seems that there is soon going to be another political vacuum in the country due to the delay in holding CA polls. The Election Commission (EC) has not yet updated the voters’ list, not to talk of the apathy shown by the politicians towards this issue. Further delay in holding the polls will soon make Nepal a failed state. It is thus urgent for the political parties to ensure that the CA polls are held within the given timeframe i.e. June 2007.

Unless people get the chance to vote in a free and fair manner, the popular uprising of Jana Andolan II will have no meaning. The seven-party and the Maoists should extend all support to the EC.

Pranav Gautam, via e-mail

Be faithful

Like many politicians in the past, Maoist chairman Prachanda, too, has proposed to turn Nepal into a Switzerland within a decade. But CPN-Maoist’s commitment to build a new Nepal is limited only to its supreme leader’s speeches and not in deeds.

To build a new Nepal, the political parties, including the Maoists, must mend their ways and demonstrate a progressive attitude. The promises should translate into concrete actions. For this, the Maoists will have to abide by the past agreements. By violating the historic peace agreement and letting the Maoist cadres go out of the cantonment sites in the name of lack of financial support, the Maoists are only creating more trouble.

Rabindra Shrestha, via e-mail

Control them

Holy is a festival of colour and joy. I enjoy playing Holi with close relatives and friends. But it is annoying to be hit by balloons in the streets. It is impossible to walk on the roads, especially the alleyways, these days as hooligans hurl dirty water-filled balloons at the people. The worse affected are the school girls. The Valley police should take some measures to control the rowdy boys.

Sujata Dev, via e-mail

Clarification

In my letter published on February 26 titled “Perceptive”, what I meant was that in the West where they have legitimate parliaments at work, they go for referendums even for matters that may seem trifle to us such as changing currency. Therefore, our present MPs, none of whom have popular mandate, must not be so rash in taking such a big step as declaring Nepal a republic without going to the people.

Bihari Krishna Shrestha, Patan