HELLO NEPAL

The Kathmandu Post 28 July 2017 ENCOURAGING DECISION For a number of reasons, new political forces did not perform well in the first phase and second phase of local election. However, Sajha Party’s Kishore Thapa and Bibeksheel’s Ranju Darshana who fought for Kathmandu’s mayoral position, were talk of the town and did surprisingly well. It seems that two parties have learnt from these elections and have realized that they needed to combine forces to gain traction. (“Sajha and Bibeksheel announce unification” July 27, Page 1). The united party has agreed to pursue the agenda of inclusive democracy and welfare economy. Leaders feel that this unification will fill the void of an alternative political force, which could lead the country towards enduring peace and prosperity. Similar principles and visions and an a respectable performance in the first phase of local elections might have played a crucial role in bringing them now closer. However, the new party has to work hard a...

The Himalayan Times 27 July 2017 Will RJP-N join poll? Finally, the Nepali Congress through its Central Working Committee (CWC) has decided to put the constitution amendment bill to vote without waiting for other parties’ support “NC to put amendment bill to vote”(THT, July 25, Page 1) which had to be technically done before holding the second phase of local elections. However, NC’s this decision will put other parties especially the UML and some other fringe parties under pressure to think twice before saying “no” to this bill. It will also definitely put pressure on the Rastiya Janata Party (RJP-N) to seriously consider participating in the upcoming third phase of local polls scheduled for September 18 whatever the result of the vote will be. The Ratriya Prajantantra Party (RPP), which has 35 lawmakers in the parliament, seems still undecided whether or not to support the bill. Its role can be crucial for the bill. As demanded by RJP-N, the Dahal led government had with...

The Kathmandu Post 21 July 2017 STATUTE AMENDMENT The first and the second phase elections were successfully held in six provinces. Not surprisingly, the UML and the NC won a majority of the seats. It seemed that the people gave another chance to these big political parties believing that they would address their grievances (“All in the same vote” July 19, Page 6). Now, the people from Province 2 are anxiously waiting to cast their votes in the third phase election scheduled for September 18. The government had promised before holding the second phase of local elections that the constitution amendment process will be completed before holding the third phase election so as to enable the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) to participate in the polls. However, looking at the recent political environment, the government seemed to be losing hope of garnering a two-third majority to pass the amendment bill, given the UML’s decision not to budge from its stance that the amend...