PERSON OF THE WEEK - April 2-8, 2006

This was a busy week in the world of politics and in the world in general. There were a couple of big names that could have contended for this title, but Katie Couric, The Senators who authored the short lived compromise on illegal immigration, and even so-called Gospel of Judas take a back seat to the king of a small Himalayan nation this week.

Gyanendra has ruled Napal by decree since 2003, when his dismissed the democratically elected Prime Minister, who he deemed unable to deal with a rampaging Maoist (communist) guerilla insurgency. As you have probably guessed, the king's popularity has taken a nose dive since then (and he wasn't all that popular to begin with). The pro-democracy oppositon has been gaining strenth, and this week thousands took to the streets of Kathmandu to protest the monarchy. They were met by riot police, and at least one protester was killed.

Now, normally I am ecstatic about uprisings like this one, but this time I'm not. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for democracy in Nepal. However, I am very disturbed by the fact that, in order to gain enough strength to oust Gyanendra, the pro-Democracy forces have been forming loose ties with the brutal Maoist guerillas. Now that the Maoists are part of the milleu, it is becoming harder to see the opposition as a positive force. If they succeed in toppling the king now, many fear that they will bring anarchy rather than democracy and that the Maoists will become more powerful.

While the opposition has done a pretty good job of messing things up, I still place the blame for this whole situaltion sqaurely on Gyanendra's shoulders. If he hadn't ousted the forces of democracy, those same forces would not now be forced to ally themselves to the Maoists, and there would not be bloodshed on the streets of Kathmandu. So, for making a royal mess out of his country, King Gyanendra of Nepal is ConservaGlobe's Person of the Week.

Tags: Nepal, South Asia, Asia, News, Revolutions, Democracy, Politics, Gyanendra, Person of the Week