Nepal Politics

FLOOR CROSSINGS and the Days Ahead in National Politics

FLOOR CROSSINGS and the Days Ahead in National Politics

May 2021   
After proving its point in Karnali, as the Madhav Nepal faction prepares to cross the floor in other provinces and finally in the federal parliament, this move by a group within the ruling CPN (UML) . . . Read more »


A Catch-22 Situation for Madhav Nepal

A Catch-22 Situation for  Madhav Nepal

April 2021   
Never in his five decades of political life, has Madhav Nepal faced a situation as crushing as today. As KP Sharma Oli continues to consolidate power within the party, the prospects are grim for the . . . Read more »


House Reinstated

House Reinstated

March 2021   
Ending weeks of speculations, the Supreme Court on February 23 overturned the December 20 move of President Bidya Devi Bhandari to dissolve the House of Representatives on the recommendation of Prime . . . Read more »


The Question of the Prime Minister’s Prerogative

The Question of the Prime Minister’s Prerogative

Presenting a written justification in the Supreme Court on January 3, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has claimed that the dissolution of the House of Representatives is a political decision which . . . Read more »


All Eyes on the Supreme Court

All Eyes on the Supreme Court

All eyes are on the Supreme Court now. The dissident faction within the Nepal Communist Party, Nepali Congress and Janata Samajbadi Party might have been hitting the streets against President Bidya . . . Read more »


Rejection of Truce and a Possible NCP Split

Rejection of Truce and a Possible NCP Split

The formation of the Nepal Communist Party was conceived and executed solely by the then CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, then chair of CPN (Maoist Centre). Now, as the party is . . . Read more »


Political Appointments in Constitutional Commissions

Political Appointments in Constitutional Commissions

When Nabin Kumar Ghimire retired as the chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse Authority in the second week of September he was bade farewell with negative remarks. He . . . Read more »


General Convention and the Future of Nepali Congress

General Convention and the Future of Nepali Congress

Until last month, it seemed Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba had taken his faction into confidence to present himself as a presidential candidate for another term. He being the only . . . Read more »


Upcoming NCP, NC General Conventions and Intra-Party Politics

Upcoming NCP, NC General Conventions and Intra-Party Politics

Amid growing pressure to resign as both party chair and prime minister, KP Sharma Oli in mid-July floated the idea of holding the unified general convention. The proposal was backed by the party’s . . . Read more »


What Next in NCP’s Internal Dispute?

What Next in NCP’s Internal Dispute?

July 2020   
Politics is a game of possibilities. The line best suits the Nepal Communist Party, which has turned a number of unimaginable things into reality. Then CPN-UML and the CPN Maoist Centre amazed the . . . Read more »


What Next in Reclaiming the Lost Territories?

What Next in Reclaiming the Lost Territories?

June 2020   
The Nepali political parties demonstrated unparalleled unanimity in the second amendment to the constitution of Nepal to update the country’s new political map in the national emblem. Except for . . . Read more »


The Future of Oli Government

The Future of Oli Government

May 2020   
There was no looking back for Prime Minister and Nepal Communist Party Chairman KP Sharma Oli ever since he defeated party’s senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal in 2014 to become the chairperson of . . . Read more »


On the Heap of a Crisis

On the Heap of a Crisis

April 2020   
While the world was gearing up to celebrate the onset of a new decade, Nepal’s northern neighbour and the world’s second largest economy China was coping with a crisis of ‘an unprecedented . . . Read more »


OLI DOES TOO LITTLE IN TWO YEARS

OLI DOES TOO LITTLE IN TWO YEARS

March 2020   
Two years of KP Sharma Oli government has been a mixed bag. Some progress can be visible but not to the expectations of the public who gave Nepal Communist Party a thumping majority expecting changes . . . Read more »


The Elusive Transitional Justice

The Elusive Transitional Justice

Amid growing disappointment among the victims of the decade-long Maoist insurgency, Co-chair of Nepal Communist Party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal on September 26, said he was committed to taking the . . . Read more »


Will Oli Walk the Talk to Resolve the Kalapani Issue?

 Will Oli Walk the Talk to Resolve the Kalapani Issue?

The issue of Kalapani, the area in the northwestern most corner of Nepal encroached by India, has been raised sharply yet again after India issued a new political map following the scrapping of the . . . Read more »


THE MCC CONUNDRUM 

THE MCC CONUNDRUM 

The internal feuds within the Nepal Communist Party show no signs of fading away. For months after the merger of then CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist), the party had a tough time settling the portfolio . . . Read more »


Political Perplexity of Nepali Congress

Political Perplexity of Nepali Congress

The role of an opposition counts the most when the ruling party is holding an absolute majority. The party commanding the government with an overwhelming majority has chances of curtailing democratic . . . Read more »


Why Dig up the Graves?

Why Dig up the Graves?

July 2019   
Some politicians are trying to resurrect the dead agenda of ‘11-province Nepal’ and ‘multi-nationalities Nepal’. This is bad news for those who have been at ease for the last three-four . . . Read more »


Secessionism Is Dead, Communist Extremism Is Not

Secessionism Is Dead, Communist Extremism Is Not

April 2019   
Two opposite views surfaced immediately after the government signed an 11-point agreement with secessionist leader CK Raut’s outfit, Alliance for Independent Madhes (AIM), on March 8. One view was . . . Read more »


The Taxing Problem of Corruption

The Taxing Problem of Corruption

July 2018   
Corruption has been allowed a fertile ground to flourish in the country. According to the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International (TI), Nepal’s Corruption Rank . . . Read more »


Congress in Crisis

Congress in Crisis

June 2018   
Nepal's oldest democratic party, the Nepali Congress (NC), is in a deep crisis today, to say the least. Having suffered the worst electoral defeat in its nearly seven-decade long political history, . . . Read more »


UML-Maoist Center Unification : So Close,Yet So Far

UML-Maoist Center Unification : So Close,Yet So Far

May 2018   
When the two largest 'communist' parties of the country, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), forged an electoral alliance for the provincial and parliamentary elections held last year, promising to . . . Read more »


Does Oli Want To Become a Dictator?

Does Oli Want To Become a Dictator?

April 2018   
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's efforts to include two Madhes-based parties in the government have boggled the minds of many. Prime Minister Oli's party, the CPN-UML, has 121 members and its political . . . Read more »


Expectations from the New Government

Expectations from the New Government

March 2018   
Going by the previous precedents, there are abundant cases and examples to substantiate that the succeeding governments took several decisions on the retention, transfer and promotion of the civil . . . Read more »


The Games They Played

The Games They Played

The left alliance's landslide victory in the recent elections triggered tremors inside as well as outside the country, but several weeks have since gone by without the new government in sight. The . . . Read more »


Left Unity and the Growing Mistrust

Left Unity and the Growing Mistrust

When the two largest 'communist' parties of the country, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), announced to forge an electoral alliance for the provincial and parliamentary elections right after the . . . Read more »


The Fear of Authoritarianism

The Fear of Authoritarianism

If the left alliance secures a two-thirds (or even simple) majority and forms the government, it will be the doomsday scenario for Nepal. They will turn Nepal into North Korea. Our economy will . . . Read more »


Is the Left Alliance Right?

Is the Left Alliance Right?

The main reason why this alliance took place at this moment, right before two crucial elections, is the Maoists' perception of their own . . . Read more »


The Tough Fight Against Corruption

The Tough Fight Against Corruption

The fight against corruption is getting tougher in Nepal. Several cases of corruption have been exposed by the media this year so far but three 'high-profile' cases stand out. The first one, the one . . . Read more »


The Dangers of Doklam Dispute

The Dangers of Doklam Dispute

Although Nepal has made it clear that it will stay neutral in this latest India-China standoff, and that it wants this issue resolved peacefully, we have to prepare ourselves for a war between our . . . Read more »


Provincial and Federal Elections : Meeting the Constitutional Deadline

Provincial and Federal Elections : Meeting the Constitutional Deadline

Will Nepal be able to hold all three levels of elections - local, provincial and federal - within January 21, 2018, as mandated by the new constitution promulgated in September 2015? This is one of . . . Read more »


Cash for Killers from State Coffers

Cash for Killers from State Coffers

July 2017   
While the decision to postpone the polls in Province 2 was totally uncalled-for, to say the least, it could still be justified to some extent given Rastriya Janata Party Nepal's threat to disrupt the . . . Read more »


Polls Apart
Bizarre Electoral Alliances

<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:20px">Polls Apart<br /> <strong>Bizarre Electoral Alliances</strong></span></p>

June 2017   
In almost all democracies across the world (except for those with a two-party system), political parties forge pre-election alliances, which occur when two or more political parties agree not to . . . Read more »


Merger of Madhesi parties
Too Little, Too Late

<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:18px"><strong>Merger of Madhesi parties<br /> Too Little, Too Late</strong></span></p>

May 2017   
Madhesi unity has always been a desirable goal but the unity never materializes for reasons no one knows. Nor has there been any research to bring to light the forces that have caused disunity. The . . . Read more »


Nepal Police 
and 
Nepali Politicians

<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:20px"><strong>Nepal Police&nbsp;<br /> and&nbsp;<br /> Nepali Politicians</strong></span></p>

April 2017   
Politicisation of the police force has always been the case, before as well as after the restoration of democracy in 1990. If policing becomes politicised and the police are seen as partisan, the . . . Read more »


Local polls on May 14
Easier said than done

<p><strong><span style="font-size:16px">Local polls on May 14</span><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">Easier said than done</span></strong></p>

March 2017   
The biggest hurdle is, however, the politicians' intent to hold the elections. Among the major political parties, only the CPN-UML seems to be ready to hold the polls at the earliest as 'public mood' . . . Read more »


The Amendment or Election Question

 The Amendment or Election Question

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has two daunting but urgent tasks ahead. First is amending the constitution so as to address the demands of the Madhes-based parties. And second is holding local . . . Read more »


Is Federalism Failing even before its Implementation?

Is Federalism Failing even before its Implementation?

A decade after the country formally embarked on the path of federalism, 15 months after the constitution officially recognized the federal model, a year after the economic blockade that left deep . . . Read more »


Constitution Amendment : A Hard Nut to Crack

Constitution Amendment : A Hard Nut to Crack

The government has finally registered a Bill in the Legislature-Parliament to amend the constitution for a second time, as demanded by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF). However, nobody – . . . Read more »


Goodbye, Mr Lokman!

Goodbye, Mr Lokman!

CIAA Chief Lokman Singh Karki is a peculiar character. It is not easy to understand him. He ignores the Supreme Court (SC) and its notices served on him as if the apex court means nothing to him. . . . Read more »


Lokman’s Last Chance

Lokman’s Last Chance

The announcement by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to accelerate the probe into the alleged corruption in the distribution of salaries and allowances to the Maoist . . . Read more »


Three Elections by Next Year!

Three Elections by Next Year!

Can Nepal hold three elections – local, provincial and federal – within the next 16 months or by December 2017 as envisaged in the new constitution? This is one of the biggest questions facing . . . Read more »


Prachanda's 2nd Innings

Prachanda's 2nd Innings

Faced with a no-confidence motion just after nine months in power, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on July 24. The CPN (Maoist Centre), a key partner in the Oli-led alliance, had pulled the rug . . . Read more »


Questions Raised By Kabul Tragedy

Questions Raised By Kabul Tragedy

July 2016   
If the past 15 years are anything to go by, it would be wise to expect such attacks in the future as well. Because what the West calls terrorism is in fact patriotism for the brainwashed Taliban . . . Read more »


Lords of Impunity

Lords of Impunity

June 2016   
The controversial nine-point deal sealed between the ruling CPN-UML and the UCPN-Maoist [now CPN (Maoist Centre)] has shattered thousands of conflict-victims’ hope for justice. To be blunt, it has . . . Read more »


Anomalies of Ambassador Appointment

Anomalies of Ambassador Appointment

May 2016   
These are tough times to be representing the country abroad. Although Nepal now has a constitution, and hence the decade-long political transition has formally ended, disagreements over the new . . . Read more »


Daunting Days Ahead for Deuba

Daunting Days Ahead for Deuba

April 2016   
A long-cherished dream came true for Sher Bahadur Deuba when he was elected the 8th President of the Nepali Congress (NC) by the party’s 13th General Convention held in the capital on March 3-7. . . . Read more »


A Life Lived in Politics

A Life Lived in Politics

March 2016   
Death doesn’t make an announcement before it comes; it is often sudden and unexpected. But a death as unexpected and sudden as that of Sushil Koirala is rare, especially when one considers who he . . . Read more »


Futile Four Months

Futile Four Months

After four months of its promulgation, the new constitution was amended on Jan 30 in an effort to end the current impasse caused by the Madheshi parties’ protests. This amendment has tried to . . . Read more »


The Blockade : Illusion and Reality

The Blockade : Illusion and Reality

It’s been more than two months since supply management was thrown out of gear in Nepal under the pretext of the Madhes agitation. This has completely exposed Nepal government’s management . . . Read more »


Oli, Oil and the Alternative

Oli, Oil and the Alternative

The country has moved ahead on the constitutional front since Oli’s appointment as the new chief executive. Key constitutional positions have been filled and we have recently got a new President, a . . . Read more »


Hard Part Over, Now the Harder Part

Hard Part Over, Now the Harder Part

Terai makes up just about 17 percent of Nepal’s total area, but nearly half the country’s population lives there. The violence seen in the restive regions of the Terai has been very disturbing, . . . Read more »


A Pandora’s Box of Sixes and Sevens

A Pandora’s Box of Sixes and Sevens

The issue of federalism has left Nepal at sixes and sevens. It has proved to be the Pandora’s Box for the country. . . . Read more »


Constitution, Questions, the Four Faces and You

Constitution, Questions, the Four Faces and You

Going by the number of articles kept in the constitution draft, one would assume that it’s a perfect and inclusive document, addressing the aspirations of all Nepalis. But that’s not the case. . . . Read more »


Court Vs Constituent Assembly

July 2015   
This tussle between the judiciary and the legislative bodies has spread to other crucial institutions of the state as well, polarizing opinion down the political corridors and Nepali society as a whole. . . . Read more »


Oli’s Climb, Prachanda’s Fall

May 2015   
By the magnitude of his ‘flexibility’ shown in recent days including the withdrawal of the three-day Nepal bandh after the first day and taking the constitution writing process forward, it would appear that Prachanda has greater things in store for the New . . . Read more »


Redundancy: Six Hundred and One

April 2015   
The matter of graver concern is: this CA is increasingly appearing to be dysfunctional to such an extent that it perhaps will never be able to write a functional constitution which would embody all three desired ingredients of federalism, republicanism and . . . Read more »


A Medley of Destructive Demagogues

March 2015   
Dahal at present is in his chosen position but like of a 'big, powerful rat in a trap' depicted in a fable. The rat that is neither ready to give up nor able to free itself from the trap, but moves berserk dragging the trap along, causing more damage to the surroundings, which sometimes can scare away even the . . . Read more »


Black Drama and Red Courtship

No political argument perhaps can defend this act of meaningless and purposeless violence in the venue that was meant to institutionalise Nepal's democracy by writing ‘the’ new . . . Read more »


Catch-22 of January 22

Nepali People's best guess about the worst outcome on country’s constitution writing process is turning out to be true. No constitution, not even the first draft of any form, is likely to be issued by January 22, 2015, the date promised under a sort of political consensus to promulgate a . . . Read more »


Derailing Democracy

Throughout Nepal's seven decade long modern political history, the biggest problem to institutionalize democracy has been sheer absence of democratic essence among the political actors - political parties and politicians, both. . . . Read more »


Democracy Vs Minority Diktats

If the ongoing irresponsible behaviour of some of the key political players of the country doesn't come to a halt, it is certain that the Constituent Assembly-Two (CA-II) will also not be able to deliver a new democratic constitution for the 'federal new . . . Read more »


Vibes and Visages of Modi Visit

One of the most notable ripple effect of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official Nepal visit in the first week of August could be India’s invitation to Nepal to discuss on Power Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two countries. . . . Read more »


Games To Delay The Constitution

  
As it happened to be, the much-awaited all-party political conference or round table conference – to use a more popular phrase- which was supposed to see a dialogue take place among the three major parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the parties outside . . . Read more »


What Does India Want?

What Does India Want?

  
What does India want from Nepal? This is the question on everyone’s lips – from the meetings attended by the Prime Minister to private dinner tables, to coffee and tea shops. The other question . . . Read more »