Nepal
From the field Emerging movement for peace
I did not feel safe when I travelled to Bardiya in the last week of November, 2010. Just before my journey, the district treasurer of the Nepali Congress was killed by unidentified persons on the east-west highway near the Bardiya National Park, while he was returning to his home around 6pm. I landed at nearby Nepalganj airport around 6.30pm, and then had to drive one-and-a-half hours to the district headquarters of Bardiya, at Guleriya. Just a couple of days before, two children aged 13-14 had been kidnapped for ransom near Nepalganj, and killed after the kidnappers received the ransom money. My unsafe feeling increased when I drove through the village where the kidnappers lived, as my driver suddenly told me this. Thank God! I arrived safely at the hotel where my accommodation was booked for the next four days. Read more >>>
From the field Nepal: change is possible!
Situated some 300km east of Kathmandu, Sindhuli is a remote district of Nepal where many villages are without access or means of transportation. It was one of the first districts attacked by the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) when they initiated their ‘People’s war’ in February 1996. During the 11 years of internal armed conflict, 14 people disappeared and 221 lost their lives in Sindhali. I recently had the opportunity to visit the region, and to assess how far people there have been able to rebuild their lives and communities since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in November 2006. Read more >>>
From the field Fate of Nepal’s Peace Process!
Nepal’s seven month-long prime ministerial election finally ended on Wednesday, 12 January 2011 when the lone PM candidate of the Nepali Congress (NC), Ram Chandra Paudel, announced the withdrawal of his candidacy shortly before the sixteenth round of voting. Paudel was running against Puspa Kamal Dahal (“Prachand”), from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), after the previous Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, resigned from the post in June 2010. After the seventh round of voting, Prachada withdrew his candidacy saying it was meaningless to continue to compete in an election which did not provide any result. Read more >>>
From the field Nepal: PM election and Dashain
The joy and happiness of the Nepalese people during Dashain (the annual 15-day religious festivial) was ended immediately with failure to elect the new Prime Minister after the 13th round of elections in parliament.
I drove for 15 hours, from Kathmandu to my home town of Jhapa, in the very east of Nepal. During my journey opportunity to see people’s happiness during this time. I felt that peopleduring Dashain, forgot political unrest, the fragile and uncertain peace process and the unsuccessful Prime Ministerial elections. Indeed, they did not care about the 13th round of elections that was held on October 26. But when the result was published, people certainly woke up and all the happiness was wiped out within a second. I was worried during my whole trip whether this happiness would not be converted into darkness. Nepalese people are tired enough by conflict and its impacts and do not wish to happen it again in any form, in any part of the country. Read more >>>
From the field When Will the Nepalese People Get a New PM?
Unfortunately the seventh round of elections for the position of Prime Minister of Nepal has once more failed to produce a result. (See my previous posts for coverage of earlier rounds in this process). One change however is that the the candidate of Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), Mr. Puspa Kamal Dahal, has declared his withdrawal from the race to be PM. Mr. Dahal has made this decision following the three-point agreement with the Chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML). The both parties have also asked the Nepali Congress (NC) to withdraw its candidacy of the PM post too. They have claimed that for the national consensus government, both parties have to withdraw their candidates for the PM post. The three-point agreement focused on a way to break the deadlock in the PM election process and the formation of the national consensus government. Read more >>>
From the field PM Election in Nepal – A Neverending Story?
Following the three-point agreement signed by the major three political parties – Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML) and Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) on the midnight of 28 May 2010, PM Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned from the post of the PM a few weeks ago. The president has asked to Mr. Nepal to run a caretaker government until the new government is formed. According to the interim constitution of Nepal, the President called on the political parties to form a consensus government within a week. The political parties were unable to form the consensus government, even after being given an extended five days to do so. After the efforts to form the consensus government had failed, the president called for the formation of a majority government through voting in the parliament, based on the other provision in the interim constitution. Read more >>>
From the field Nepal Peace Process at a Standstill
‘Resignation of the Prime Minister’ – the much awaited demand of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) was finally fulfilled on June 30, when Prime Minister Madhev Kumar Nepal submitted his resignation letter to the President, Ram Baran Yadav. The President in turn provided his consent to the resignation letter on the very same day, and asked the political parties to form a consensus government within seven days. Today is the last day for formation of the new government; and yet none of the political parties have yet reached for agreement on the consensus government. Read more >>>
From the field An Extension for the Constituent Assembly in Nepal, but the Problems Remain
It is very hard to wait for news when you know that something really meaningful and important is about to happen; we in Nepal experienced this last Friday, May 28 – the last day of the two-year term for the Constituent Assembly (CA) Read more >>>
From the field A Political Crisis in Nepal is Ahead!
The political dynamic is changing everyday in Nepal. It is difficult to predict the likely scenario of politics considering the day to day politics. In previous posts on this blog I have included some more postive possibilities, but unfortunately politics in Nepal seems to be developing a worse case scenario. Read more >>>
From the field Continuing Uncertainty in Nepal
The ‘indefinite general strike’ called by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) recently ended, after 6 days. The strike followed the mass rallies and meetings on the occasion of the Labor Day on May 1st. It is suspected that more than one hundred thousand people, especially youths, were brought to Kathmandu from the different parts of the country to celebrate the Labor Day and for the general strike. Read more >>>
