+The Collapse of Nepali Democracy +Afghanistan: Taliban’s New Order + Germany on the Cusp of Political Change +Fall of Ethiopia’s Abiy + Myanmar’s Shadow Government Calls for Uprising

Following the unruly scenes in Nepal’s parliament lately, any sane person is bound to reflect on the pathetic state of democracy with Nepali characteristics or Loktantra.

Parliament has become the staging ground for the vested interests of the major political parties and their so-called leaders, acting as puppets of foreign actors.

It is unbelievable but true that currently we do not have leaders of national standing that are willing or capable of putting vital national interests above their own petty demands. Actually, they are acting as robots being manipulated by external forces.

The fact that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is unable to present a full cabinet even after two months of being appointed shows not only that he is terribly weak, inefficient and incapable, but also that the political system as such is dreadfully corrupt and dysfunctional. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Democracy/Loktantra in all its aspects has broken down in Nepal. No one can dispute this indubitable fact. People’s participation is nonexistent. Our politicians have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams in making a mockery of parliamentary democracy.

The vital question now is what is to be done and how? Have we become a nation of sheep, or to use another metaphor should we just bury our heads in the sand? Should we not rid ourselves of these old fogeys? How much longer are we allowing them to rule the roost and leaving a mess for our children and our children’s children?

What we need is a pragmatic leader; if she/he is visionary, so much the better. What happened to the scions of such principled and inspired leaders like Ganeshman Singh and B.P. Koirala?

Something must be done soon because our weak internal structures are a grave threat to our national security, and we may very well become prey to predatory external forces taking anything. It is most surprising that we have all sorts of people demonstrating against the American MCC – mostly not understanding the future repercussions, and at the same time not undertaking anything against the current mayhem in parliament. This is also a reflection on us as a people. We deserve the government we currently have, if we do nothing and look on flabbergasted!

A new resolute people’s movement could very easily brush aside the current batch of unscrupulous, unprincipled, double-dealing and nefarious politicians and send them to the political wilderness. We have nothing to lose but our chains!

Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar promised: “We’re working to establish an inclusive government that represents the people of Afghanistan,” when he arrived in Kabul to start talks aimed at forming a leadership to move the jihadist movement from ‘guns to government’.

Taliban spokesperson ZabihullahMujahid vowed: “We would like to live peacefully,” at the first press conference in the capital after the Taliban suddenly swept into power a month ago on August 15.” We don’t want any internal enemies and any external enemies” (BBC, September 9).

However, when the new rulers of the Hindu Kush unveiled their new government, the reaction internally and externally, was one of a surprise to shock. Foreign governments, international organizations, humanitarian chiefs and political pundits the world overall realized that the Taliban had to be judged by their actions, not their words. And what they did lend strength to the adage that the leopard can’t change its spots! What the Talibs announced was a “caretaker” government, but this was enough to be highly provocative to the highly expectant Afghans. Far from being inclusive, it was exclusively Taliban, and more or less Pashtun, and with the same political and administrative architecture of yore.

The reviled “Ministry of Vice and Virtue” [with Orwellian overtones] was back, and the “Ministry of Women Affairs” was abolished. The composition was overwhelming from Pashtun tribes with only one Tajik and one Hazara, both Talibs. There is not a single woman, not even in deputy minister positions. It is astounding that the Talibs so revile women – and ignore their own mothers, wives and daughters. Their treatment of women is in stark contrast to the teachings and practices of the Prophet. They now have the audacity to proclaim that women are not fit to govern – what a contradiction in itself!

The Talibshave, therefore, condemned themselves by this single belief and practice of male superiority. The country cannot move forward by keeping half the population in shackles. The world has not only to take notice, but also act accordingly.

Humanitarian help for wartorn Afghanistan must not only continue, but increase in scope and volume. But the frozen assets of the government cannot be released any time soon. And any political recognition of the Taliban government must also be postponed – until the leopard transforms into a ‘paper tiger’!

With less than two weeks until Germany’s general elections on September 26, the signs are becoming clear that Europe’s biggest country and its largest economy [and the world’s fourth] is headed for political change. Long-serving Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to step [voluntarily] down after the elections. Her designated successor and fellow Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician Armin Laschet has demonstrated that he is not up to the mark. His lackluster election campaign has more or less condemned the conservatives to an opposition role in the next Bundestag [ lower house of parliament ].

Latest Polls

The candidates contending to become Germany’s next chancellor faced off in a TV debate last week. Social Democrat Olaf Scholz produced a solid performance to maintain his hold as the frontrunner.

Just moments after the 90-minute tripartite contest ended, an Infratest found that 41 percent of the viewers found Scholz the most convincing, a long way ahead of the Christian Democratic Union’s candidate Armin Laschet and the Green Party’s AnnalenaBaerbock – on 27 percent and 25 percent respectively (DW/Deutsche Welle, Sep. 13).

Voters will elect 598 Bundestag seats [if no overhang and levelling seats are needed. The majority is at 300 seats.

Ten days before the crucial date, the “Traffic Light Coalition” of SPD [Red/25 percent], FDP (Yellow/12 percent] and Green Party [16 percent] is all set to form the new government.

Dirk Kurbjuweit makes a first assessment of Merkel’s legacy after 16 years in power in Der Spiegel, Germany’s leading newsmagazine (September 6). Kurbjuweit depicts Merkel, as others have done, as a paragon of intellect but sometimes lacking a follow-through agenda and invariably unable to set a national agenda.

Merkel has weathered a lot – be it the Euro crisis, the refugee crisis of 2015, the constant needling of Europe by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the blow to liberal democracy and weakening of the Trans-Atlantic Alliance dealt by the election of President Donald J. Trump.

“The Merkel era is notable primarily for keeping the country on an even keel,” writes Kurbjuweit. “Despite the crises and catastrophes, Germany is doing well, and prosperity is still widespread . . . . When it comes to understanding and knowledge, she usually had a firm grasp of the problems facing her, Germany, Europe and the world, Ultimately, out of this huge opportunity rooted in her character, she did too little.”

In July 2018, just three months after Abiy Ahmed had been appointed prime minister of Africa’s secondmost populous country, his star was rising both at home and abroad. As CNN’s Eliza Mackintosh writes: “Excitement was surging into an almost religious fervor around the young politician, who promised to bring peace, prosperity and reconciliation to a troubled corner of Africa and a nation on the brink of crisis” (Sep. 7).

However, even in those early, optimistic days of Abiy’s premiership, some had their doubts – like veteran diplomat Berhane Kidanemariam, who had known Abiy for almost 20 years during his time in military intelligence and head of Ethiopia’s cybersecurity agency.

Abiy “kick started a flurry of ambitious reforms – freeing thousands of political prisoners, lifting restrictions on the press, welcoming back exiles and banned opposition parties, appointing women to positions in his cabinet, opening up the country’s tightlycontrolled economy to new investment and negotiating peace with neighbouring Eritrea” (CNN). However, in his heart of hearts, Abiy remained the power-hungry intelligence officer obsessed by fame and fortune – with the emerging image of a visionary peacemaker from humble beginnings. According to Kidanemarium, one of the ironies of a prime minister who came to office promising unity is that he has deliberately exacerbated hatred between different ethnic groups. His monthlong war in the northern region of Tigray has spurred a refugee crisis, atrocities and famine.

The situation in Ethiopia has completely changed since Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in November 2019, when he regaled the distinguished audience in Oslo, Norway with the grand words: “war is the epitome of hell.”

After he was crowned with the Nobel Peace Prize he lost his appetite for pursuing domestic reform. In fact, it was a carte blanche to do whatever he wanted. This opened the flood gates of his baser instincts.

Thus, “in less than two years, Abiy has gone from the darling of the international community to pariah, condemned for his role in presiding over a protracted civil war that, by many accounts, bears the hallmarks of genocide and has