 |
***
'Tis the season to be merry, so I know none of you out there want to hear about the never-ending feud between and within the various political parties that has brought Nepal to a standstill. And they've made sure there are enough distractions so we don't notice the deadlock. As soon as one scandal shows signs of disappearing from the headlines, another one is cooked up. Just as media interest in the Paras-Rubel duel started to wane, we got the CIAA raid on Dabur. Ass' prediction: there will be another scandal next week.
***
Of all the scandals, the most intriguing is the Case of the Vanishing Pistol. After making a statement that he pointed a gun at Rubel's head and then fired into the air, Porous now says there was no gun and no firing. And after he found out that all his shenanigans were going to be uncovered Rubel also retracted his original statement and said there had been no shooting after all. Oh yes, when Dad-in-law GPK was medevaced to Gleneagles earlier this year, parliament approved S$400K but the total hospital bill came to only S$70K. Someone was laughing all the way to the bank for sure. So, Sasoo Suzie cancelled a scheduled press con, and also stopped making demands for a thorough search of Nirmal Nibas for the phantom firearm. Are the two princes in cahoots, or what?
***
No other country perhaps comes anywhere close to us when it comes to shooting ourselves in the foot. Just when it looked like Chitwan was all poised for the Elephant Sport Week, mahoots in cahoots went on strike. Just when The Last Resort was booked solid for Christmas and New Year, the VDCs on either side of the Bungy Bridge decided to padlock it till their extortion demands were fulfilled. The owners and locals have now come to a compromise that, unsurprisingly, requires the former to shell out more moolah for the privilege of using their own bridge on their own land. Great way to welcome 2011. Government is not silent; here is an actual WikiLeak phone transcript from Wednesday:
Female Board Member of NTB: "The situation there concerns me …my daughter is on a school trip to Last Resort next week, will there be any problems?"
Last Resort: "Unfortunately the school has already cancelled the trip."
FBMNTB: "Oh good. That's all right then." (Hangs up)
***
One of NAC's two 757s has been grounded because of a dispute over who fingers the kickbacks on an engine repair contract, so its flights have been curtailed, leaving tens of thousands of Nepali migrant workers in the lurch. Air Arabia wanted to use fifth freedom rights to fly KTM-KL, so NAC's union has stopped all domestic operations now for a week in protest.
The PM called up the Arabians and said: "You understand how things are here, can you postpone the KL flight till things cool down a bit?" Air Arabia has sued anyway. NAC's new motto for 2011 Nepal Tourism Year is: "If we can't fly we won't let anyone else either."
Instead of sending a CA delegation to Ethiopia to learn about how not to do ethnic federalism, the donors who sponsored the Addis junket should've sent NAC's Board to study Ethiopian Airlines. Despite wars, famines and political instability Ethiopian has managed to stay on as Africa's best and fastest growing airline with 30 aircraft and another 25 on order.
***
The hands down winner of this week's Only In Nepal Contest:
'Weeping Protest (Rua-Basi Julus) Held: Community groups from Dailekh held a rally outside the Constituent Assembly on Tuesday pretending to weep, wail and cry loudly to protest the delay in writing the new constitution.'
ass(at)nepalitimes.com
