Vote for Monkey

[Guest guest]

In Nepal politics have come to standstill over the question what the

national animal of the New Nepal must be: the cow or the goat.

 

Animal Nepal offers to mediate and suggests a different choice: the

monkey. Now that breeding centres are being established to export

Nepalese rhesus monkeus to US labs it is the monkey that needs extra

attention. Even Comrade Prachanda (maoist leader) might agree...in terms

of evolution isn't the monkey the greatest example of revolutionary

change?

 

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Goat or cow?

Jana Aastha, 16 August

 

From Issue #311 (18 August 06 - 24 August 06)

 

Guess why the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee is delayed? Well,

it’s not over some intractable issue like monarchy or parliament, but

over whether the national animal should be a cow or a goat. The

Congress-aligned members of the committee are for keeping the cow as the

national animal, while the Maoists are against it. The UML members argue

that since Nepal is now secular, maybe there shouldn’t be any national

animal at all. Frustrated by the lack of progress some members made fun

of the whole debate by saying: “Why not a goat?” Sources say coordinator

Laxman Aryal is also not happy with keeping the cow. There are lots of

other sticking points like the Maoists’ people’s court, age limit for

officials, and whether the word ‘parliament’ should be changed.