Wednesday 24 March 2010

Death of a Politician

This week Nepal lost one of its most significant statesmen in the form of Girija Prasad Koirala. He passed away on Saturday at the age of 85. He had been Prime Minister of the country a total of 4 times, including as recently as 2008 and was still heavily involved in the political process.

He was Prime Minister at the time of the Royal Massacre in 2001 and was credited with playing a big part in bringing the Maoists into the political process, forming the Peace Agreement that ended the Civil War in 2006. Just last month he had been working to help bring about a consensus as the politicians work towards writing the Constitution.

The Constitution is due on the 28th May, leaving less than 70 days now for it all to be agreed and written. Most days various interest groups are protesting in Kathmandu calling for a “timely writing of the constitution”. What emerges at the end of May remains to be seen, but if a constitution fails to arrive then the consequences for the country will be significant.