Nepal English version
SPEAK:
Once upon a time there was a kingdom, far far away. It was tucked in between the highest mountains in the world and the most fertile land one could ever think of.
The king was in his castle. But people rarely saw him, 'cos' he was angry. You see, the people didn't want him as king any more - so most of all he wanted to tell them off - just like the statue of the old king.
The people of the kingdom were very colourful - and very very poor. Some came from the mountains - others from the lowlands. A few were very rich - but most had to struggle all day earning practically nothing - because they came from the wrong family, the wrong caste, the wrong ethnic group - or just the wrong part of the country.
But now the little kingdom far far away would have an election - an election which the people were all hoping would make their problems disappear - including the traffic jams - so they could live happily ever after.
Unfortunately for the people of Nepal - since they are the people we are talking about - this is not really a fairy tale - and there are no good fairies or magic wands here.
Reality is tough for most Nepalese. One third of the population live below the international poverty line. And even though more and more people move to the cities, the majority are still farmers. The terraced fields with rice, wheat, corn and potatoes may look picturesque, but they are often too small to support an entire family.
[Giokarna Prasad Ghimire - Farmer]
(VOICE OVER: It is very difficult for the farmers. It is hard to survive. We never have enough food - no matter what we do, we don't have enough. It's just the way it is.)
Giokarna Prasad Ghimire and his wife have seven children, one cow and five goats.
His own fields can support his family for a only few months - the rest of the year he has to work for other farmers, but the work is seasonal and for about six months a year he doesn't really have an income.
[Giokarna Prasad Ghimire - Farmer ]
(VOICE OVER: No one looks after us, we have no hope.)
Giokarna Prasad Ghimire can neither read nor write, but he is nonetheless going to cast his vote at the election - like he did at the previous election. But he doesn't think his vote will make a difference.
[Giokarna Prasad Ghimire - Farmer]
(VOICE OVER: Neither the present government nor the governments to come will do anything for us. We will stay as we are. The parties say we should vote for them, which we do and they go up but we always stay here at the bottom. No one cares about the poor.)
On the opposite end of Nepals social ladder, we find the owner of this splendid mansion in Katmandu, Pashupati Rana. The grandson of the last Rana Maharahja - the family that ruled Nepal for 100 years until 1951.
[Pashupati Rana - Leader of RPP]
(We had a king, who was a decorative king. He was kept in a sort of golden cage and the real business of running the country was done by the Rana Maharahjas.)
Pashupati Rana is a typical example of the Nepalese élite: A degree from Oxford, several posts in the government - and a large private fortune. He has absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to caste, family and social position - and he is very busy campaigning for the political party he is in charge of. But in spite of it all, he is a strong advocate for including all the people of Nepal into the democratic process.
[Pashupati Rana/Leader of RPP]
(I have been arguing in favour for inclusion for the last 40 years. Unsuccessfully true, but finally I think we will get there. Even though it might mean that you have to give up privileges? Sure. Whatever you have to do. You know, it is more important that Nepal remains together, that the country becomes stabile than what happens to my fortune. )
Unfortunately only a very few members of the Nepalese élite share his views. The many ethnic minorities, the illiterates, the outcasts and the poor - like our farmer here - have for years been deserted by the politicians, who would rather fight each other for power than solve the many problems of Nepal.
(archive footage)
The problems led to 10 years of civil war, with a Maoist guerrilla-movement fighting against the king, the army and the government. Thousands of people were killed.
(archive footage)
During the war another catastrophe hit the country. The king, queen and several other members of the royal family were shot dead by the crown prince Dipendra at the royal palace during a family dinner. Reportedly because he couldn't marry the girl he loved.
The king's brother Gyanendra survived the massacre and inherited the throne. But by brutally suspending democracy and assuming sovereign power in 2005 he in reality paved the way for the end of the nepalese monarchy.
For once, the political parties could agree - they all wanted to stop the king. Together with the Maoists they forced the king to give up power. And the first decision, the newly elected constituent assembly will have to make will be historical: They will declare Nepal a republic and abolish the monarchy. The grumpy, power-seeking king Gyanendra looks to be the only sure loser in the election.
[Kunda Dixit/Editor, Nepali Times]
(The parties have decided that the first meeting of the constituent assembly will declare formally Nepal a republic and the king will become an ordinary citizen. So that is the other reason why this is a extremely historic occasion for us because if you look at Nepal’s history, this is the dynasty that actually created Nepal through its conquests 250 years ago. So to take a clean break from the ruling elite family is a very big moment.)
For the first time in history, the Nepalese people will have the opportunity to write their own constitution.
[Madhav Nepal/Leader of UML]
(Neither in the past it has been done, nor in the future it will be done. Such a historic opportunity should be properly used by the people of Nepal.)
The significance of the election cannot be overrated - but there are still many unknown factors and an election in Nepal is not the same as an election in Western Europe, for instance.
[Kunda Dixit/Editor, Nepali Times]
(Don’t expect this to be an election like in Denmark or in other parts of Europe. I think this will be more like an election in Northern India with violence. And there will be pockets where I think there might have to be revoting.)
[Pashupati Rana/Leader of RPP]
(There is no assurance that this will be a free and fair election. There is a great deal of violence going on in the country and the behaviour of the Maoists is really quite dangerous. So what will emerge as the result is up in the air.)
The election is a popular topic on the streets of Kathmandu. Also in the motorbike shop.
[Manuj Funjal/Owner of the garage]
(VOICE OVER: Yes, I intend to vote but I can't say for which party right now.)
[Birbahadur Tamang/Mechanic]
(VOICE OVER: If I vote, it will be for the Maoist. Why the Maoists? Well, in this situation they are the ones I trust the most.)
The election campaign was colourful and very nepalese.
Many parties obviously believe that blaring slogans from a truck through distorted speakers is the thing to convince the voters.
All in all 54 parties ran in the election, many of them too small to be noticed - or just on the ballot to cater for a specific ethnic group or region of the country.
(traffic jam) Politics in Nepal is as confusing as the traffic in Kathmandu. There must be some sort of rules, but no one seems to care.
The normal labels do not apply to political parties in Nepal. The ultra conservative party, Nepali Congress, claim themselves to be socialists. While the Communist party - United Marxist-Leninist - UML - see themselves somewhere in the middle.
[Madhav Nepal/Leader of the communist party UML]
(We want to balance the apples. Nor letting to the extreme left, neither letting to the extreme right.)
Nepalese businessman Rajendra Khetan does not think highly of the politicians.
[Rajendra Khetan/Director, Khetan Group]
(I think they don’t understand the need of the people, the socio-economic need of the people. The right of two meals a day, access to health and education and more importantly those who have two hands, you know, get them employed. That is not on the political level and that is why things haven’t moved. )
Mistrust of the old politicians and parties is widespread. But many of them are still going to be elected - and the new constituent assembly will have many of the same old faces.
[Kunda Dixit/Redaktør Nepali Times]
(It is the same old faces - except the Maoists. I mean, they are new and what they are saying in the speeches is new and it resonates with some people. “At last, someone is speaking on behalf of us.” So even Nepali people who may not necessarily agree with them and their methods find them fresh.)
The Maoists are the great unknown factor in the election. Not too long ago they were still fighting a bloody guerrilla-war. Today, they are in the democratic process with everything it takes - music, flags, banners and candidates speaking to the voters - like this election rally in the mountain village of Thatipokhiri.
The Maoists talk about democracy - but do they really mean it? Well at this rally the slogans are about revolution - with portraits of Marx, Engells, Lenin, Stalin and Mao as a backdrop for the candidates.
The maoists' political rivals are particularly worried about the Young Communists League - YCL. They are the more militant wing of the movement and they have been involved in several violent incidents.
[Pashupati Rana/Leader of RPP]
(They continue to behave in a manner which is very violent, very.... It is as if the elections are some kind of continuity of the guerrilla war that they carried on. They take the tactics of war into the election.)
A member of parliament from the Nepali Congress party is in the hospital in Kathmandu after a close encounter with young communists.
[K.C. Balbahadur/MP, Nepali Congress Party]
(Maoist members of YCL attacked us. They used knives, iron bars, bats and guns.)
The Maoists have a different version of events.
[Babu Ram Bhattarai/Second-in-command of the Maoists]
(This man, he is a big liar, he is a big goon. He is a notorious goon, everyone knows that. He killed our guards and to hide that he is accusing us.)
The charismatic leader of the Maoists, Prachanda, is convinced that they will win the election.
[Prachanda/Leader of the Maoists]
(We will win the election, it is our believe. We have made huge sacrifices for this country. Therefore we believe we will win the election. But even if we don’t win, then we will respect the verdict of the masses - no question, no doubt. But some people think that we will not respect the result or something like that, but that is quite fake propaganda, false propaganda.)
But his second-in-command, the more militant Dr. Bhattarai, will not guarantee that the war is over.
[Babu Ram Bhattarai/ Vice-President, the Maoists]
(No, war can never be of the past as long as there is class division, as long as there is class exploitation, and various type of discrimination like ethnic discrimination, gender discrimination, religious discrimination war can never be over you see.)
[Pashupati Rana/Leader of RPP]
(Their behaviour is so ambivalent and it is very difficult to tell what they are really going to do. Let us hope that they are going to behave in a correct manner and accept the result of the elections. But this is a hope, it is not in the range of belief.)
The only thing preventing the Maoists from taking power by force is the Nepalese army. Many have feared that the army would interfere and maybe even take over control, if things got out of hand. But the army chief of staff denies this very strongly. He has not commented on the election or given any interviews - but made an exception for this programme. These are the basic rules for nepalese politicians - as he sees them:
[R. Katawal/General, Chief of Staff]
(First, everybody should now renounce violence publicly, honestly and sincerely. Second, everybody should commit to a democratic political system that is acceptable to the people of Nepal and the international community. Third, everyone should commit themselves to free marked economic in relation to Nepal. Free marked economy, you now, is a very complex subject - that is why I said in relation to Nepal. And fourth, everybody should disarm. Throw the guns. They must trust the ballots - not the bullets. The people’s mandat.)
The Army chief is adamant that the army stay out of politics.
[R. Katawal/General, Chief of Staff]
(This army will renounce from politics. If the politicians want to have a stabilising factor for anything unknown, unseen, they need something to fall back on. An army is the only factor on which they can fall back on when ever they need it.)
This is also Nepal - even though we are almost in India. The city of Janakhpur sits on the flat, fertile plains - known as the Terai - along the border to India. Approximately half of the Nepalese population live in this low-lying part of the country, called Madesh. They call themselves Madeshies and they have for years felt oppressed and discriminated by the rulers in Kathmandu.
[R. Dr. Bijay Kumar Singh, Madehsi Folkets Forum]
(This has annoyed quite a lot of the Madeshi people. So they are fighting for their rights, not asking anything more actually they just want to go on equal footing.)
Militant movements fighting for independence in Madesh have created a sense of fear and instability - especially when they declare so called "bandhs" - strikes designed to cut off supplies to the north. Today such a "bandh" has hit Janakhpur. No cars are allowed to drive and shops must be closed.
The only transportation left are the rickshaws.
This rickshaw-rider used to be day labourer, but he couldn't support his family working other people's fields.
[R. Bindeswari Mahato, rickshaw driver, age 34]
(VOICE OVER: I don't have my own land, so I had to rent land from others. I couldn't make enough money so I quit and changed my job. )
He rents the bike for 30 rupees a day - half a dollar - but if he works really hard he can make between 3 and 4 dollars a day which is quite alright in these parts. Like many other Madeshies, he feels that his region is on a collision course with Kathmandu.
[R. Bindeswari Mahato, rickshaw driver, age 34]
(VOICE OVER: I wish the Madeshies here in Terai could have independence. But the government will never allow it.)
Madeshies, Maoists, a terrible economy, inefficient politicians, a desperate king - the list of problems in Nepal is long. It is difficult to see the election solving anything. But the Nepalese are as tough as rush and one has to start somewhere.
[Kunda Dixit/Editor, Nepali Times]
(Often, it has looked very messy, even in my own articles I basically warn people “Look it is getting out of hand, it’s getting out of control.” So we have to ring the bell, the warning bell. But if we step back and look at what we have achieved in the past two years then you have to take some comfort from that, this was a major achievement. This is a major change in the way we are going to be governing ourselves. And it has been done without bloodshed. It has been done through resolutions in Parliament and very few countries can boast of that.)
[Bhoraj Pokharel/Head of Election Commission]
(Always, I pray to the God that this election must manage the previous conflict and pave the way for peace established in this country. Only I can pray.)
Will the Nepalese live happily ever after - or will they start fighting again over the kingdom? We will only know when the hard work of drafting the new constitution and forming a new government gets under way. Who knows - maybe the story of Nepal will have a happy fairy tale ending.
[Kunda Dixit/Editor, Nepali Times]
(The worse case scenario for me would be a Kenya like situation where elections are held, there are all these allegations of rigging and the country descends into anarchy and chaos. But I don’t think it will be that bad here)
[Pashupati Rana/Leader of RPP]
(There could be a much much worse scenario. But I would really not like to get into that.)
(THE END)