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...