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Nepal King Agrees to Reinstate Parliament Amidst Massive
Pro-Democracy Protests
Antonia Juhasz on The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One
Economy at a Time
The Peace Patriots: New Film Documents Dissent in a Time
of War
Nepal King Agrees to Reinstate Parliament Amidst
Massive Pro-Democracy Protests
In Nepal, hundreds of thousands of people have filled the
streets of Katmandu to celebrate King Gyanendra's decision
to reinstate the country's parliament. The king's announcement
came after weeks of protests and strikes that have crippled
the country. We speak with Ashok Gurung of New School University
and we go to Katmandu to speak with Narayan Wagle of Kantipur,
the largest daily newspaper in Nepal.
In Nepal, King Gyanendra announced last night he is reinstating
parliament following weeks of massive street protests to his
absolute rule. The king made the announcement in a television
appearance late Monday night.
- King Gyanendra, speaking April 24, 2006.
The announcement came just hours before a huge protest rally
planned for Tuesday with demonstrators preparing to encircle
the city center. Instead, impromptu celebrations broke out
almost immediately on the streets of Katmandu. People took
to the streets of the capital in their thousands shouting
"Long live democracy!" and dancing within a few
hundred yards of the King's palace. On Tuesday, hundreds of
thousands held a massive victory rally in the capital. Tens
of thousands crowded near the palace, demanding King Gyanendra
abdicate his throne and leave the country.
Nepal's parliament has been dissolved since 2002, and Gyanendra
assumed absolute power last year, declaring a state of emergency
and vowing to crush the escalating Maoist rebellion.
Nepal's seven-party opposition alliance says it is ending
the weeks of protests after the King agreed to its demands
to reinstate parliament. The alliance has chosen former Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to head a new government.
But Maoist leader Prachanda said that the alliance had committed
"another historic mistake" and encouraged the people
to continue their protests until the parties declared elections
for an assembly to write a new constitution.
The State Department issued a statement saying that the king
"should now hand power over to the parties and assume
a ceremonial role in his country's governance."
Meanwhile, life returned to near normal in Kathmandu after
almost three weeks of curfew, protests and closures. Shops
were reopened, taxis were back in use and mobile telephone
networks were restored. No curfew was imposed for the first
time in nearly a week but riot police still patrolled the
streets.
Since the general strike began on April 6, hundreds of thousands
of demonstrators from all classes of society had turned out
to mount daily anti-monarchy protests. The royal government
responded with curfews and warned of a shoot-to-kill policy.
Police killed fourteen people and injured hundreds more.
For more on the latest we are joined by two guests:
- Narayan Wagle, editor of Kantipur, the largest circular
daily newspaper in Nepal.
- Ashok Gurung, originally from Nepal, Ashok has returned
to the country frequently as an NGO consultant. He is currently
the Director of the India
China Institute at New School University in New York
and specializes in international development management.
Antonia Juhasz on The Bush Agenda: Invading the World,
One Economy at a Time
We speak with Antonia Juhasz about her new book, "The
Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time."
The book tracks the radical neo-liberal economic program the
Bush administration has tried to impose on Iraq, which threatens
to leave Iraq's economy and oil reserves largely in the hands
of multinational corporations. [includes rush
transcript]
The Iraqi government has resolved a four-month political
stalemate with the appointment of a new Prime Minister. Shiite
leader Jawad Maliki will replace Ibrahim Jaafari. Jaafari
stepped down after a lengthy dispute with Sunni and Kurdish
leaders, who refused to back his leadership. Several analysts
say the United States also played a pivotal role in replacing
Jaafari. Steven Simon, a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern
Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said: "[The
Iraqi government] wouldn"t have consented to it if it
weren't for the very heavy pressure that the United States
was bringing to bear."
Our guest today is an author who has been tracking the Bush
administration's goals in Iraq since the invasion. Antonia
Juhasz has written about them in a new book. It's called "The
Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time."
The book tracks the radical neo-liberal economic program the
Bush administration has tried to impose on Iraq, which threatens
to leave Iraq's economy and oil reserves largely in the hands
of multinational corporations. It's an agenda, the book says,
that the Bush administration is trying to bring to all corners
of the globe.
Antonia Juhasz joins us now in our firehouse studio.
The Peace Patriots: New Film Documents Dissent in
a Time of War
A newly-released film takes a look at dissent in America
during a time of war. "The Peace Patriots" follows
the activities of anti-war activists before and after the
Iraq invasion. We play an excerpt of the film and speak with
the film's director. [includes rush
transcript]
The anti-war group United for Peace and Justice has organized
a major demonstration for this Saturday in New York. The demonstration
will echo previous calls for an end to the US occupation of
Iraq. But organizers have also included a new demand -- that
the US not attack Iran. A massive turnout is expected. The
march comes as polls show public support for President Bush
and the war in Iraq is at an all-time low. Just 32% approve
of the President's job performance, while 58% believe the
invasion and occupation of Iraq was unnecessary.
A new film has just been released that documents some of
that anti-war sentiment in this country. "The Peace Patriots"
follows the activities of anti-war activists before and after
the Iraq invasion.
We play an excerpt of "The Peace Patriots" and
speak with the film's director:
- Robbie Leppzer, an award-winning independent documentary
filmmaker, with over twenty film, video and public radio
documentaries to his credit. His films include "An
Act of Conscience" and "Harvest of Peace."
-Website: ThePeacePatriots.com
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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