Author: Torgomian Varazdat

CONTROL AND AUDIT SERVICE

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
01 June 05

According to Article 27 of the NKR Electoral Code, on April 19 the
Control and Audit Service was set up under the NKR Central Election
Committee to control the adequate use of the means provided for the
election committees, the election deposits and expenses. The head of
the service is the vice chairman of the Central Election Committee,
Seyran Hayrapetian. According to the member of the staff of the
service, Rita Alexanian, almost all the political parties running for
the election have opened special temporary accounts in Artsakhbank.
Of the 111 candidates standing for parliament under the majority
system 55 have opened bank accounts. According to the NKR Electoral
Code, the election costs are covered on the private means of the
candidate, the means provided by the political party which nominates
the candidate, voluntary payments by natural and legal persons.
According to Rita Alexanian, candidates have the right to deposit a
sum equal to the minimum salary 200 times, the alliances of political
parties – the minimum salary 500 times. Natural persons can
deposit a sum equal to the minimum salary 10 times, and legal persons
– the minimum salary 30 times. In the election campaign
candidates may spend not more than a sum equal to the minimum salary
1000 times, and the party – not more than the minimum salary
12000 times. The Control and Audit Service receives information about
the payments to the election deposits of candidates and political
parties from Artsakhbank every three days.

NVARD OJANJANIAN.
01-06-2005

Tbilisi Hosts CIS Summit

Civil Georgia
June 2 2005

Meeting of the heads of governments and senior governmental officials
from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be opened on
June 3 – the first-ever CIS summit held in Georgia.

A total of 34 issues are planned to be discussed during the summit,
but Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli will participate in
discussions of only nine issues, including related with cooperation
in trade between the CIS countries. Nogaideli said on June 1, that
this fact signals “necessity of reformation of the CIS.”

Although, Tbilisi plays down importance of the CIS and instead
focuses on cooperation in frames of GUAM grouping of Georgia, Ukraine,
Moldova and Azerbaijan, officials say Georgia’s withdrawal from this
organization is not yet on the agenda.

Most of the participants of the summit arrived in Georgia on June 2.

Russian 100-member delegation, which is the largest among the
participant delegations, which will be led by Prime Minister Mikhail
Fradkov, is expected to arrive early on June 3.

Belarus Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky will also arrive early on June
3. Bilateral meeting between Sidorsky and Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili is not expected. Tbilisi has been criticizing recently
Belarus authorities for human rights abuse.

President Saakashvili made no secret about Tbilisi’s preferences
among the CIS countries and welcomed Ukrainian delegation led by
Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko in the Tbilisi airport – the only
delegation Saakashvili met at the airport.

“I welcome here Ukrainian Prime Minister and an old friend of
Georgia. Soon, we expect in Tbilisi my friend, [Ukrainian] President
Victor Yushchenko,” Saakashvili told reporters in the airport.

“I can not imagine [the Ukraine’s 2004] Orange Revolution without you
[Georgia],” Yulia Timoshenko told reporters upon arrival.

Along with participation in the summit Timoshenko will also hold
bilateral talks with her Russian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov in
Tbilisi on June 3.

The CIS, which was created shortly after collapse of the Soviet Union
in December 1991, mainly served as a regional forum and failed to
become a strong vehicle of integration between its 12 members.

Georgia was the last to join the organization in 1993.

During a visit to the Armenia capital of Yerevan on March 25, Russian
President Vladimir Putin described setting up of CIS as “a civilized
divorce” after collapse of the Soviet Union.

He said that the organization should continue its activities, as it
represents a “useful club” for the exchange of information as well
as for the determination of opinions on common problems and economic
and humanitarian issues.

“Expecting outstanding achievements in the spheres of economy,
political and military cooperation from the CIS naturally led to
nothing, since there were no prerequisites for that,” Putin said,
but added, “where is a better platform for the discussion of these
issues than the CIS?”

ARMENIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER HOSTS CIS INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY COUNCIL’S SECRETARY GENERAL

YEREVAN, June 1. /ARKA/. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham
Gharibjanyan received Wednesday the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly
Council’s Secretary General Mikhail Krotov who is now in Armenia for
working visit. According to the Ministry’s press service, issues
related to Armenia’s participation in 9th International Economic
Forum to be held in Saint Petersburg on June 14 to 16 were discussed
at the meeting.

Taking into account that the forum is to be held under Russian
Federation President and is considered one the main economic events
either for the CIS member countries or for 50 other world states, the
sides attached importance to Armenian delegation participation in it.

According to the press-release, Gharibjanyan said at the meeting that
Armenia will continue to join processes going on the CIS space and will
make all possible efforts to ensure its effective participation in the
International Economic Forum. The Deputy Foreign Minister also pointed
out the necessity of the CIS member countries cooperation enlargement
in humanitarian area. In his words, Humanitarian Cooperation
Declaration signed on May 8 in the course of a CIS informal summit,
lays favorable ground for interaction in this area either as part of
Armenian-Russian relationship or at the CIS level. M.V. -0–

EUROPE ESCHEWS ‘UNION’: RETURN OF THE TRIBES
By RALPH PETERS

New York Post, NY
June 1 2005

June 1, 2005 — TODAY, the Dutch vote on the proposed European
Union constitution. They’re expected to reject it, as the French
did Sunday. But whatever the result of the referendum, something’s
happening in Europe that international elites swore was impossible.
Tribes are back.

In Europe, they’re called nations, which sounds more distinguished.
But the French voters who refused to submerge their identity in a
greater European state behaved as tribally as any Hutus or Tutsis in
central Africa – or any Arab clan in Iraq.

Certainly, there are practical issues at stake. The French fear an
invasion of their welfare state by hardworking East Europeans. They
dread hints of a market economy and Turkey’s prospective membership
in the EU. The Dutch are still reeling from the failure of their
multicultural experiment and the grisly rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

But the underlying cause of the voter shift from continental
integration to the nouveau chauvinism erupting from Paris to Moscow
is far cruder and more explosive: the undiminished importance of
group identity, of primal belonging.

If anything should strike us about this turn from Greater Europe back
to a Europe of competing parts, it’s how wildly the intellectuals
were wrong and how ineffectual elite power monopolies proved in the
end. For a half century, Europe’s approved thinkers insisted that a
new age had begun, that historical identities were dying. The wealth
and power of a borderless Europe would rival, if not exceed, that of
the United States.

Instead, we see a squabbling, grasping continent. Far from feeling
solidarity with their Polish or Hungarian counterparts, French
farmers view them as the enemy. Labor unions in Germany and France
have turned Slavic job-seekers into bogeymen who’ll rob the daily
bread from the native-born.

The Dutch feel doubly under siege, invaded by an immigrant community
that rejects their values, while simultaneously in danger of being
gobbled up by a leviathan Europe that would seize control of their
destiny.

For Europe’s political elites – accustomed to docile, bought-off
populations – the turn against further EU integration has been an
enormous shock.

The German vote that thumped Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder last month
was a vote against globalization and a European meta-identity. In
his first public appearance after Sunday’s “Non!” vote, President
Jacques Chirac looked like a walking corpse.

Satisfying to watch? You bet. But the pleasure we can take in the
humiliation of Schroeder and Chirac masks the fact that, for all
their rhetoric and anti-American posturing, they were do-nothing,
status-quo leaders whose authority never rose above the nuisance
level. We may come to miss their fecklessness and gourmet-level
pandering as nationalism swells among their electorates.

Whenever Europe’s nationalist tide flows back in, the innocent drown.

The EU is far from Europe’s first attempt at integration. The medieval
church exercised transnational authority until the Reformation
galvanized German identity. The multicultural Habsburg empire split
in two, thanks to primitive nationalism. After the Great War, its
Austro-Hungarian remnant shattered under nationalist pressures.

Group identity is indestructible. Despite genocide, Armenia rose
again. Poland’s back. The phony Yugoslav identity died in a storm of
bullets, leaving behind antique nations. The Soviet empire dissolved
into bloody nationalism. Irish pubs have conquered the world, but
it’s hard to find an EU-themed watering hole.

Forget the genetic arguments against racial purity. Ignore the
historical facts. What matters is who men and women think they are.
Belief is always stronger than truth. It certainly would appear
rational for Europeans to bury their differences and subscribe to a
greater, unified identity. But humankind isn’t rational. That’s been
the crucial lesson of our time.

What man or woman on that old, bloodstained continent says, “I’m a
European” with the same conviction he or she says “I’m French” or
“I’m Polish” or “I’m Russian”? The last time we heard that Europe
had overcome its national identities was on the eve of World War One.

France may not invade Germany this summer, but we need to escape the
illusion of a new, pacifist Europe too sophisticated to repeat past
errors. This is the continent that perfected genocide and ethnic
cleansing, the source of history’s grimmest wars.

Europe may be good for some ugly surprises as its states struggle with
faltering economies, declining birthrates, angry Islamic minorities
and a lack of opportunity for the young that resembles the plight of
the developing world. Expecting Europe’s nationalities to behave is
as foolish as hoping to beat the house in Vegas.

We may discover that Europe has changed less than any other part of
the globe, that all the bureaucrats in Brussels can no more suppress
the local tribes than could the Roman legions. For all of our concern
about a European super-state, we may live to regret the return to a
Europe of nations.

Ralph Peters’ next book is “New Glory: Expanding America’s Global
Supremacy.”

ARMENIAN, NAGORNO-KARABAKH PARLIAMENTS’ SPEAKERS DISCUSS INTER-PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION ISSUES

YEREVAN, May 31. /ARKA/. Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh National
Assembly’s Speakers Arthur Baghdasaryan and Oleg Yesayan discussed
issues related to inter-parliamentary cooperation on Tuesday.

According to Armenian national Assembly’s Public Relations Department,
results of bilateral cooperation for last years were discussed at
the meeting. They pointed out high level of cooperation and said
the agreement made by the Speakers two years ago is fulfilled
completely. Oleg Yesayan presented the results of activity of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s third convocation Parliament and election processes
in the republic. He assured that the elections will be transparent
and about 50 international observers are expected to be present in the
elections. He also noted that the third convocation Parliament adopted
twice greater number of laws than previous one. In his words, open
hearings have become traditional and parliamentary control has been
set over the period of the third convocation Parliament activity. He
noted that parliamentary representation of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
in Armenian National Assembly established direct ties between the
legislative bodies of the two republics.

Karabakhi Speaker also stressed the importance of the fact that
Nagorno-Karabakh lawmakers had been included in all the Armenian
parliamentary delegations composed for visits.

It should be noted that this is believed the last working meeting of
Armenian and Karabakh Speakers, because Oleg Yesayan won’t run for
the June 19 parliamentary elections in Karabakh. M.V. -0–

“WE MUST RESPECT THE SOVEREIGNTY OF KARABAKH, AS WELL AS THE RIGHT OF THE REFUGEES TO RETURN”

A1plus

| 20:01:08 | 30-05-2005 | Politics |

RA first Foreign Minister Raffi Hovhannisyan was elected today
President of the party Heritage. But before the election he made a
one-hour speech in which he represented concisely our history of the
first, second and third Republics.

He called everyone not to criticize the founders of either the first
or the second republics as if it weren’t for them, perhaps the third
republic would not exist. He recalled Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen
Sargsyan. Then he spoke about the challenges of the time.

Raffi Hovhannisyan also referred to his version of the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict. According to him, Karabakh’s right of
sovereignty must be respected, as NKR is a sovereign republic. Karabakh
must be included in the negotiation process as a third party. “And we
must remember: there are no recognized or non-recognized republics;
there are existing and non-existing republics”.

Raffi Hovhannisyan also announced that the Azeris must return to their
houses in Artsakh and Armenians must return to theirs in Getashen
and Shahoumyan, and, on the whole, “We must respect the right of the
refugees to return to their houses”.

As for the new format, Raffi Hovhannisyan said he respects Hovhannes
Hovhannisyan and Aram Sargsyan, as well as other representatives of
the political field, but today it is still to early to speak about
it. And Hovhannes Hovhannisyan informed the journalists once more
that the creation of a new format is inevitable.

By the way, the RA first and second Presidents, the NKR President
and the leaders of all the parties were invited to the conference of
the Heritage party. Naturally, the Presidents had not accepted the
invitation. Representatives of the Pan Armenian Movement and “New
Times” were not present either. Nevertheless, there has never been
such a wide range of representatives in the session of another party.

U.S. SENATOR NORM COLEMAN HEADS TO ARMENIA

WASHINGTON, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
committee member Norm Coleman (R-MN) arrives in Armenia this week
for meetings with high level Armenian and U.S. officials in a trip
co-sponsored by the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) and the
Cafesjian Family Foundation. According to the AAA, during his 3-day
fact finding trip on the growing U.S./Armenia relationship, Senator
Coleman will meet with President Robert Kocharian, National Assembly
Chairman Arthur Baghdasaryan, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
Defense Minister Serge Sargsian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
and Justice Minister Davit Haroutiunian. US Ambassador John Evans,
together with the US Embassy and USAID Mission teams, will provide
in-depth briefings for the Senator at the recently-opened US Embassy
in Armenia. Senator Coleman will visit the sacred Armenian Genocide
Memorial, attend the construction launch of the Gerard L Cafesjian
Museum of Art and more. The first-term Senator has been an active
supporter of Armenian issues, advancing last year’s passage of
a bill extending permanent normal trade relations and urging the
U.S. to encourage Turkey to lift its blockade of Armenia. Coleman has
co-sponsored a resolution ensuring that the lessons of the Armenian
Genocide, and other crimes against humanity, are not forgotten and
supported a 2005 congressional letter to President Bush urging him
to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. Prior to his election
to the Senate, Coleman served as mayor of St. Paul, MN where he
issued a proclamation declaring 1999 as Armenian Centennial Year. Two
years later, he signed a proclamation marking April 24th as Armenian
Remembrance Day. Country Director of the Armenian Assembly’s Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh Offices, Arpi Vartanian, has been working with the
Cafesjian Family Foundation, and US and Armenian officials to make the
Senator’s first visit to Armenia productive and successful. Vartanian
notes, “It is very important that U.S. officials visit Armenia and
witness first-hand the progress in Armenia, as well as the challenges
facing Armenians today. Only by understanding the successes, challenges
and developments, can the vital and ever-expanding U.S./Armenia
relationship be strengthened. We look forward to welcoming Senator
Coleman and introducing him to Armenia.” The Cafesjian Family
Foundation has been working closely with the Senator’s office to
schedule and organize the trip. Cafesjian and Coleman, who are
long-time friends, have worked together on Armenian and important
local community issues – including a project to preserve a historic
State Fair carousel in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Russian military complain about difficult life in Georgia

Channel 3 TV, Moscow
28 May 05

[Presenter] While our politicians are discussing with Georgian
authorities the deadline for withdrawal of the Russian [military] bases
[from Georgia], the everyday life of the Russian military in the once
friendly state is gradually switching to a state of siege. Moscow has
forgotten about them, while Tbilisi is in a hurry to vacate the place
for American bases, which will not spoil the investment climate. See
a special report by Ivan Volonikhin.

[Correspondent] Russia’s 12th military base in Batumi today has
about 1,000 personnel, 70 tanks, 150 armoured personnel carriers,
500 lorries, tractors and trailers and 120 artillery systems including
famous Grad rocket launchers.

All this military equipment was made 16-17 years ago but is still in a
very good condition. Insisting on an immediate pullout of the bases,
the Georgian authorities evidently hope that the equipment will
not be taken to Russia, because this task would be too difficult,
troublesome and costly.

But the Russian military assert that they will take everything,
including two memorial T-34 tanks.

[Mikhail Mulin, captioned as commander of the 3rd battery of the
artillery battalion] If we left these weapons and equipment, we would
never know what would happen to the Georgian government and what they
might do with it.

Armoured vehicles are lined up for tens of metres. There are enough
weapons for an army of an African state behind the barbed wire fence.

The vehicles have been motionless for several years. Basically,
they could go to Russia if filled up and provided with batteries,
but they will be transported by sea aboard a big assault ship. The
reason is that there are not enough drivers.

More than half of the manpower of the base are local contractors. New
conscripts from Russia cannot get to the base for more than a year,
because the Georgian government does not issue entry visas to them.

[Mulin] There practically no conscript soldiers. I have five officers,
five conscripts and five contract soldiers in my battery.

[Correspondent] And how many people do you need?

[Mulin] There should be 54 conscripts.

[Vladimir Timoshenko, captioned as chief of staff of the artillery of
the base] My three-year-old son once said: Daddy, we are Ukrainians
with Russian passports living in Georgia. Who we are?

[Correspondent] Lt-Col Timoshenko and his family cannot choose the
route for travelling to Ukraine or Russia on their own. Since the new
administration came to power in Ajaria, all travel details have been
determined by Tbilisi officials.

[Olga Timoshenko] We must go to Tbilisi first, then return to Batumi
and travel to [the Russian port of] Adler.

[Correspondent] The Gonio training ground occupies about two sq.km. of
land near Batumi. Between doing various exercises, tank driver Zaza is
ringing his wife by mobile phone to ask her about the menu for dinner.

[Passage omitted: Georgian contract soldier says he will go to Russia
and continue to serve in the Russian army after the base pullout]

The tanks are not allowed to go beyond the training ground so that
the windows in nearby houses did not shutter and foreign investors
were not frightened off.

[Gela Vasadze, captioned as Batumi deputy mayor] You should agree
that foreign military in a resort area hinder the investment climate.

[Correspondent] Nobody has ever seen a Russian tank in the city of
Batumi. But a pretext for a conflict will always be found if someone
wants it.

[Russian soldier in Georgian police custody, speaking off camera]
I have no right to answer.

[Correspondent] This video footage was shown by all Georgian television
channels for several days. Four Russian soldiers were accused of
hooliganism and arrested. They were released later as no concrete
charges could be brought against them.

[Pte Aleksandr Yeliseyev, captioned] Acts of provocation are
common. They ask soldiers to sell them cartridges and film the scene
on camera, or ask for an interview and then misinterpret your words.

[Correspondent] The Georgian officials are competing in who will
create more obstacles for the Russian military. Supplying food from
Russia has been prohibited. The hospital has found itself in a state
of siege. The list of medicines medics are allowed to buy locally
has been shortened. The personnel has been strongly recommended not
to provide medical aid to the local population though about 50 per
cent of doctors and nurses are locals.

[Makhmud Karamirzayev, captioned as hospital head] On 1 May I was
officially notified that our licence for buying group A medicines was
annulled. These are drug-containing medicines without which any kind
of surgery is impossible.

[Correspondent] The fort D, built several centuries ago and once
used by the British army, is now one of the biggest arms depots in
the Caucasus. Hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, cartridges
and firearms are stored there. Several wagons were recently shipped
from there to a Russian base in Armenia. The Georgian authorities
did not give permission for seven months.

[Vladimir Belov, captioned as deputy commander of the 12th military
base] The ammunition shipped by trains to Armenia is a small part of
what is still here.

[Passage omitted: Lt-Col Belov, who served in Batumi for 20 years,
is packing his personal belongings; he says that he is ready to leave
but does not want to be treated as an occupier]

Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)
May 27, 2005 Friday
City Edition

System of a Down’s new album doesn’t Mezmerize’

Rock
System of a Down
“Mezmerize ”
4 stars

“Mezmerize,” the latest album from Armenian alt-rockers System of a
Down, is solid but not spectacular.

Last fall, guitarist Daron Malakian told Rolling Stone magazine that
fans should expect a drastically different sound this time around.
The Los Angeles-based foursome gets harmonic on “Mezmerize,” more so
than on the band’s 1998 self-titled debut or 2001’s “Toxicity,” and
Malakian sings a lot more on this one, but the elements that made the
previous albums so successful are still there: screeching vocals,
heavily distorted guitars and abrupt changes in dynamics.

In the radio single “B.Y.O.B.,” or “Bring Your Own Bombs,” lead
singer Serj Tankian throws in a line that sounds like it belongs in a
pop or hip-hop song (“Everybody’s going to the party, have a real
good time”), and the 11 tracks also include references to gonorrhea,
sodomy and Tony Danza, but the bizarre lyrics should come as no
surprise from a band that recorded a song about a pogo stick
(“Bounce” from “Toxicity”) and an ode to pizza toppings (“Chic ‘N’
Stu” from 2002’s B-side collection “Steal This Album!”). The
ridiculousness of some of the lyrics helps to balance the seriousness
of other parts of the album, which, at times, is highly political.

“Mezmerize” opens with the eerie intro “Soldier Side,” which
transitions into six fast-paced songs before slowing down (a little)
with the acoustic ballad “Question!” The music is relentless, which
may come as a disappointment to those looking forward to hearing the
softer side of S.O.A.D., but perhaps the toned-down stuff is yet to
come when the band releases the other half of the two-disc set,
“Hypnotize,” this fall.

As for this album, Tankian sounds amazing, demonstrating his range of
shrieking and wailing but refraining from his usual animal noises. He
even seems to channel David Byrne of Talking Heads near the end of
“This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m on This Song.” Malakian and
bassist Shavo Doadjian are also in fine form, hammering away at their
instruments at breakneck speed.

But “Mezmerize” lacks variety. The first five songs are all
standouts, but the last half of the album blurs together, and the
crunched-up guitars get old after a while. And, at less than 40
minutes, it’s mighty short for an album four years in the making.

This is a “must-have” for alternative rock buffs, but everyone else
should file this one under “maybe.”

– Sean Hagewood

Lincoln Journal Star

Rules of the game

Landlordism is still with us

Nepali Times (Nepal)
13-19 May 2005
#247

BY ASHUTOSH TIWARI

Daron Acemoglu, a professor at MIT, was honoured last month with a John
Bates Clark medal. While a Nobel Prize is given out every December, the
Clark medal is rarer because it is awarded to an influential economist
under the age of 40 every two years. Through his research, Acemoglu has
attempted to shed light on the central puzzle of development economics:
what accounts for the wealth of nations?

Policy pundits have long hewed the usual `poor countries save less,
invest less on education and do not use technology’ explanations. Others
attribute it to variations in geography and culture. Still others,
citing North and South Korea as examples, say that what matters is
market-friendliness of a country’s institutions. Working with other
academics, Acemoglu has treated this last observation with rigour to
answer: how is it that countries end up with the institutions that they
have now and how big is the effect of such institutions on those
countries’ wealth? In doing so, he has put the study of institutions
right in the middle of economics and underscored the importance of
history, politics and legal systems in interpreting nations’ economic lives.

Acemoglu defines institutions as `the rules of the game in economic,
political and social interactions’. These rules refer to property
rights, contract enforcement mechanisms, limits on politicians’
excesses, distribution of political power and the like. What he shows is
that in many countries, these institutions have been set in place by
historical happenstances that responded to the then prevailing
incentives. For instance, even when the Spanish were in San Francisco
and Los Angeles well before the English traders, they could not be there
for long. Because they had to share the profits with monarchs in Europe
who controlled how much spoils the traders could keep for themselves,
they saw little incentive to hold on to their new land. Meanwhile, the
English pushed for property rights to stake claims on the New World that
the Spanish had first discovered.

Likewise, in Africa, death rates of their `bishops, soldiers and
sailors’ affected the settlement patterns of Europeans. That, in turn,
affected the eventual arrangement of institutions in African countries.
The logic is that in most places, high death rates discouraged Europeans
from settling down. As such, they set up institutions to siphon the
riches from those places to their home countries. As a result, at times
of independence in the `60s and the `70s, most African countries such as
Zaire, inherited those entrenched extractive institutions, which the
local elites kept in place to transfer resources into their own pockets.
But in places (such as the US and Australia) where their death rates
were lower, the Europeans settled down, cleared land for farming and
started demanding that their properties be protected by laws similar to
those of their home countries. Over time, those demands coalesced into
market-friendly `rules of the game’, positively affecting those new
countries’ economic growth.

Could an application of this `rules of the game’ theory help us
understand what is holding Nepali businesses back? Two hypotheses:
first, the Nepali state, though never a colony, has long acted as a
landlord – extracting surplus from villagers to pay for the elites’
indulgences. Reforms notwithstanding, that landlordism is still with
us – dulling Nepalis’ entrepreneurial zeal to innovate, produce and sell
anything anywhere with ease. And second, given that Nepal’s legal system
is a mishmash of Hindu jurisprudence, traditional rules, ad hocism and
western common-law statutes, Nepali businesses continue to find it
difficult to fit in with the global supply chain of goods and
services – credibly, competitively and for a long haul.