HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 28 March 2019 People don’t want violence Nepal is enjoying its federal structure with a two-thirds majority government led by Prime Minister K.P.Oli of Nepal Communist Party (CPN) in command. This party had made a lot of promises during the elections which were tempting for the voters to get attracted. It has, however, failed to fulfill its promises.   But his government does not get tired of telling the people that it is doing its level best to fulfill them. The main opposition has also equally failed to play its constructive role both in Parliament because of its internal political feud. In brief, both the ruling and opposition parties have disheartened the common people because of their poor performances. Corruption in every governmental agency is rampant and has become more institutionalized. This situation has been gradually undermining the image and legitimacy of such a powerful communist government. The disappearance of 33 Kilos of...

The Himalayan Times 14 March 2019 Credibility of the deal It was indeed surprising to see the 11-point agreement signed between the Oli led government and C.K.Raut on March 9. He was in jail for the last five months for making secessionist remarks and had lost the battle for his release at the district and high courts. However, the Supreme Court had ordered his release on March 8 on a general date.   Looking at these speedy events, people started making different guesses about this abrupt signing ceremony.     Various interpretations about the wordings of 11-point agreement have surfaced. Some of the leaders of the ruling party and the main opposition have criticized the government for abruptly and hastily signing the deal. Soon after the 11-point agreement was made public, the government is having a difficult time to defend the phraseology used in the agreement.  Even the Home Minster had a hard time convincing the lawmakers in the house ab...

The Himalayan Times 7 March 2019 Devolve power to local levels The implementation of federal structure in Nepal has completed its one year with much furore between the central and local level governments about the power sharing in line with the constitution. The excitement of the local and provincial governments for effectively running their organizations has been dashed due to the unwillingness to hand over power by the central government to them. Most of the senior leaders of all the major parties used to talk about federalism before the promulgation of the constitution. It now seems the centre is not serious about sharing and devolving its some to the sub-national governments “Hand over power” (THT, March 5, Page 8) even though it has been explicitly mentioned in the constitution. One of the visible and insensible acts of the federal government was to dissolve all the district level offices responsible for looking after education, health agriculture, forest, l...

The Himalayan Times 21 February 2019 Poor law and order It seems that maintaining law and order situation in the country has been a challenging job for the government and its concerned authorities, considering the increasing number of heinous crimes carried out by anti-social elements. Common people feel that the government and its concerned authorities have completely failed to nab the culprits and put them behind bars. Culprit(s) of Nirmala Pant’s seven month-old rape and murder case is/ are still at large. Likewise, other culprits involved in other rape and murder cases in different parts of the country are freely roaming around.  Another shocking and dreadful incident occurred in Mithila Municipality of Dhanusha district on February 23. An 11-year old girl was raped before being murdered “Eleven-year old gang-raped before she was burnt alive” (THT, Feb.19, Page 1). As reported, the innocent girl, who could not speak, was burnt to destroy any evidence of r...

The Himalayan Times 28 January 2019 Respect sovereign people To me, the ongoing political environment of Nepal is not favourble for bringing the desired changes in the social, economical and overall development of the nation as envisaged by the common people considering the high-handedness of the ruling party. Democracy does not mean ruling the country with high handedness on the basis of arithmetic strength in the parliament. It is the system that demands the respect of the opposition and hearing the people’s voices through their elected representatives. It is a system that should follow the universal norms and values of democracy. The Parliament in itself is not sovereign, it represents the sovereign people. The Parliament should not be a forum for some rowdy leaders to chase their own interests rather than it should be a place looking for the well being of the nation and its people. The passage of the National Health Education Bills without letting the main opposi...

The Himalayan Times 24 January 2019 Political tussle continues Nepal has been practicing its federalism for the last one year soon after the completion of three tiers of elections. Accordingly, local, provincial and federal governments are in place in line with the new constitution. Most of the three tiers of governments are in the hands of the Nepal Communist Party. The Nepali Congress could not perform well during the elections because of its intra-party feud and factionalism. Since then, the K.P. Oli led two thirds majority government is at the political helm that seems to be not performing well as per the people’s expectations.   In the mean time, it seems the ruling party does not want to bow down an inch in incorporating its own agreements made with Dr. K.C   in the past regarding the National Medical Education Bill (NMEB). The main opposition wants to see the government endorsing the bill without any deviations. This situation has invited political tu...