News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal:----- With the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) securing almost two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, the party’s senior leader, Balen Shah, has assumed the office of prime minister. The new RSP government is now set to implement its commitments expressed in the election manifesto on a priority basis. It has promised to address several issues but its urgent focus seems to be on good governance, the economic sector and foreign policy front around which many other issues revolve. Foreign policy is definitely a key area of governance. Pragmatic and astute handling of foreign policy plays a key role in the success and failure of any government, especially in countries with geopolitical complexities like ours. This is so because foreign policy is the extension of domestic policy and foreign policy conduct is closely linked with several other matters, including national security, economic prosperity and national interests. T...

इतिहास केवल अतीतको घटनाक्रमको अभिलेख मात्र होइन । वास्तविक इतिहास भनेको अतीतको यथार्थ र वस्तुपरक विश्लेषण हो । इतिहासका पाना पल्टाउँदा संसारमा अनेकौँ सभ्यता, साम्राज्य र शासन व्यवस्था उदाएको र कालान्तरमा पतन भएको पाइन्छ । असिरियन, रोमन, पर्शियन, ग्रिक, मौर्य, मुगल, अरब, ख्मेर, चिनियाँ, जापानी, मङ्गोल, बाइजेन्टाइन, एज्टेक, ओटोमन, पोर्तुगाली, टर्किस, डच, जर्मन, फ्रान्सेली, बेलायती, रुसीलगायत थुप्रै साम्राज्यको उदय र पतन भएको इतिहास साक्षी छ । इतिहासको चक्र सधैँ अगाडि बढिरहन्छ । समय कहिल्यै पछाडि फर्कंदैन । संसारमा सबै कुरा परिवर्तनशील छन् । परिवर्तन नै प्रकृतिको स्थायी विशेषता हो । घटना दोहोरिएको जस्तो देखिए पनि वास्तवमा तिनले ठ्याक्कै पुनरावृत्ति गर्दैनन् । कार्ल माक्र्सका अनुसार इतिहास पहिलो पटक दुःखान्तका रूपमा र दोस्रो पटक प्रहसनका रूपमा दोहोरिन्छ । तथापि, इतिहास अतीतकै ढाँचामा पुनः दोहोरिँदैन । घटना मिल्दोजुल्दो देखिए पनि इतिहास उस्तै ढङ्गले दोहोरिँदैन । त्यसैले भनिन्छ– इतिहास ठ्याकै दोहोरिँदैन, दोहोरिए जस्तो मात्र देखिने हो । मानिसले इतिहासका घटनाबाट पाठ सिकेर भविष्यको दिशा कोर्न...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:--- The September 2025 Gen Z movement has brought about a new paradigm shift in Nepal’s political discourse. Two schools of thought have come up with their distinctly opposite views in defining the Gen Z movement and the new political changes. A section of society calls the new change a mere continuation of the ongoing political process, while the other one is of the view that the new change brought about by the Gen Z movement in the minds of people is a clear rupture in political development. However, this is neither a mere continuation nor a total rupture in political dynamics. Rather, it is a mix of both—continuation as well as a rupture. It is a continuation in the sense that the Gen Z movement did not bring about any systemic change in the political landscape, except pulling down the then government and forcing it to hold a fresh election for the House of Representatives. The constitution and all other state apparatus remained in place and are working accordingl...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:---- We celebrate Democracy Day today in commemoration of the day that marked the end of a century-old Rana family oligarchy and the establishment of multi-party democracy in Nepal in the face of the popular uprising in 1951. Since then, the day is celebrated annually to honour those who sacrificed to bring democracy to the nation. However, we have yet to do justice to the genuine cause for which the martyrs sacrificed their life. Democracy is to empower people and ensure the governance that works for the greater interests of the people. However, the people are often found neglected and forgotten, as partisan and personal interests often appear to have eclipsed the overall interest of the people and country. Although democracy, in principle, is people’s power in which people decide their fate. In genuine democracy, people freely elect their representatives to rule the country, and the government of the people’s representatives governs in the best interest of the ...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:--- The general elections are set to be held on March 5 this year to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives. Of the 275 total seats, 165 will be directly elected by the people based on the first-past-the-post system, while the remaining 110 will be chosen based on the proportionate electoral system. Over 60 registered parties are participating in the election fray, and over 3400 candidates, including party representatives and independent candidates, are contesting the election. Democracy is the people’s polity. All rulers in the world call their regimes democratic, seeking public and international legitimacy. Even notorious dictators call their rule democratic. However, not all regimes are democratic. Genuine democracy is the system wherein periodic elections are held on a multi-party basis and citizens are allowed to choose their representatives in a free, fair and fearless manner. In other words, democracy is the government of free and responsible cit...