News, Views From Nepal

Click the link below to read my chapter on Conflict and Media in Nepal in the book " Media & Conflict Reporting in Asia" published by Asian Information and Communication Center (AMIC) and Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. http://books.google.com.np/books?id=ft1eetgJIagC&pg=PT143&dq=yubanath&ots=nDhIZ65bqd&sig=1wYSq5T9AGJx3a10RSEVJqu-SKw&hl=en&ei=HP9aS6arGZXk7AOp5egE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false SKw&hl=en&ei=HP9aS6arGZXk7AOp5egE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The credibility of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) is in crisis. This is because of its own role, reports and remarks. The question that has been raised about the competence and neutrality of the UN agency would have far-reaching impact on the future UN mission not only in Nepal but also in the world as a whole. Report on Nepal United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon recently submitted his report to the UN Security Council on Nepal’s peace process and the role of the UNMIN. The remarks that Secretary General made in New York have sparked furor in Nepal. The government and the ruling parties have come down heavily on the world body accusing the United Nations of interfering in Nepal’s internal politics. The government of Nepal through its mission in New York has already lodged a complaint in the UN headquarters begging to differ in what the UN secretary general has to say about Nepal’s political situation and his prescription. A minister has even sai

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The country is now in the biggest political crisis since the Jana Andolan II. The UCPN-Maoist, the main opposition party in parliament, has waged a nationwide protest seemingly to oust the present Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal from the seat of power and lead the next government. But it is not so easy for the Maoists to pull down the present government that is enjoying strong backing from 22 parties that constitute comfortable majority in parliament. It is against this background that Prime Minister Nepal appears to be fully confident of his majority in parliament and has repeatedly challenged the Maoists to prove their majority in the House. In the present situation as no political party has the majority in parliament, the number plays crucial role. It would be difficult for the Maoists to have the magic 301 number as no party has been forthcoming to support the Maoists. Thus, the chances for the Maoists to form the new government appear to be very slim at the

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The Maoists are on war path now. The bone of contention is over the definition and interpretation of civilian supremacy. The Maoists have unveiled a series of protest programmes against the government to press for their demand of ‘civilian supremacy’. But it is not clear what exactly they mean by civilian supremacy. According to the Maoists, the civilian supremacy is to respect the decision on the sacking of the then army chief Rookmangut Katwal taken by the Prachanda-led government. But the army chief issue has now been obsolete as the controversial general has already retired and another senior army officer has taken over the charge of the Nepal Army. But the storm has not subsided as the Maoists have kept on raising this issue even more strongly these days. This is the issue that forced the Maoists to walk out of the government. Thus, it has become a matter of prestige for the Maoists and they want to make it a political issue among the people. This issue came to

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The consensus is a buzz word in the present day politics of Nepal. The political parties—big or small—are talking tall of consensus and cooperation every now and then. However, the consensus seems to be elusive, despite rhetoric of the parties. This is so because of the arrogance and partisan interest of the political parties themselves. The fact-sheet of the Constituent Assembly, which has the twin responsibilities of writing a new constitution and also working as a parliament, requires the parties to work together and to cooperate with one another to accomplish both these responsibilities. No political party has the mandate to form and run the government on its own strength. Although the Maoists are in the position of the largest party, they still do not have the required number of seats in the Constituent Assembly to form the government. It must acquire support of at least one of the major parties. However, it is even more difficult for other parties to run the g

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The Nepali Congress is in labour pain—the pain it is going through to give a birth to institutional decision making process and collective leadership in the party. With the weakening health of aging GP Koirala, who held the mantle of the party leadership for almost two decades, the Nepali Congress is returning to the old concept of collective leadership. When BP Koirala was in death bed, the founder of the Nepali Congress had advised his friends and followers in the Nepali Congress to adopt collective leadership. Even when BP was alive and leading the Nepali Congress, he had given due role and respect to other leaders in the party. BP always consulted with other leaders before taking any vital decisions of the party and tried to lead the party in a genuinely democratic way. This made BP the most revered leader within the party. After BP’s demise, the concept of troika emerged in the Nepali Congress party. As per this concept, Ganesh Man Singh Krishna Prasad Bhattara

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The politics of consensus and cooperation among the political parties that began during the anti-king movement in 2005 came to an end after the election to the Constituent Assembly two years ago. Parties that had been talking tall of the consensual politics abruptly breached their own promises. And they are busy in calculating their partisan gains in the post-election scenario. This situation arrived due to the unexpected outcome of the Constituent Assembly election. Prior to the election, the Nepali Congress and the Maoists had been portrayed as the underdog whereas the CPN-UML had been projected as the possible winner in the Constituent Assembly election. Although the media had projected UML’s better position in the election, the party was not confident of its win. The UML was not optimistic of its win because its position had been shaken due to the Maoists’ emerging strength nationwide. The Maoists’ rise had weakened UML’s organizational strength as many UML cadr

By Yuba Nath Lamsal Although Nepal has, in principle, decided to adopt the federal structure, debate on the federal modal has entered a new dimension. Perhaps, it would be the thorniest issue that would consume more time and energy of the political parties in the Constituent Assembly in the process of drafting the new constitution. The Interim constitution has defined Nepal as a federal democratic republic. All political parties except a couple of groups have been committed to the principle of federal Nepal. The idea of federalism in Nepal was first floated by the Maoists, which gained so much currency that it turned out to be the main political agenda of all parties. Bur political parties took the decision on federalism in such a haste that they did not even think it necessary to go for public debate on its pros and cons. This speaks of the authoritarian attitude of the parties that have taken the people just for granted. Federalism is Maoist agenda. By convincing other political part

By Yuba Nath Lamsal Prime Minister Madhav Nepal is in New York, USA with a pack of officials and his loyalists to take part in the 64th plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The UNGA is already in session in the UN Headquarters in New York and Prime Minister Nepal is expected to use the UN forum to apprise the international community of Nepal’s pressing problems, issues and their possible solution. Opportunity The Prime Minister has tight schedule. He has already addressed the UN Climate Summit hosted by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. In his address, he has openly and clearly raised the environmental issues facing the world including Nepal. In another function, he has raised the international security system and hailed the role played by the United Nations in the international peace-keeping operation. Nepal has been sending its peace-keeping troops to different troubled spots in the world at the call of the United Nations. Nepal wants to increase its con

By Yuba Nath Lamsal The April 22 and September 15 are the momentous days for Nepal’s communists. Different communist groups in Nepal mark these two days with enthusiasm and fanfare. The April 22 is the founding day of the Communist Party of Nepal while the September 15 is the day when the manifesto of the communist party of Nepal was first declared. Controversy As Nepal’s communists lock horn on every issue, these two dates are also not free from controversy. The Nepali communists are divided on the date of founding day of the communist party in Nepal. Most communist parties including the CPN-UML and the Maoists are of the belief that the April 22 is the founding day of the Communist Party in Nepal. They claim that the September 15 is the day when the manifesto of the Communist Party of Nepal was issued. But some other groups do not agree with this and claim that the communist party was formally formed with the announcement of its manifesto which falls on September 15, 1949. According

By Yuba Nath Lamsal History repeats but it repeats more often in Nepal’s political parties. Our leaders seem to be so short sighted and a bad memory that they forget the events and mistakes immediately. They, therefore, keep on repeating the same mistakes over and over again. This is a common and chronic problem in all political parties of Nepal. Now is the time that all political parties need to develop a common understanding and work in a collective and cooperative way so that the political mission with which the country is moving ahead can be achieved and accomplished. The Interim Constitution, too, has clearly stated that there must be collective decision, compromise and consensus among the major political parties to govern and take any decision that may have far-reaching impact on the life the country and the people. But that is hardly in practice when it comes to Nepal’s applied politics of today. Parties are far apart on national issues. Nepal is passing through the gravest cris

By Yuba Nath Lamsal It appears as though Nepal’s political parties are more like the gang of cronies than the political organizations. Some influential leaders are trying to turn the parties into their family business rather than political entity. This is not an isolated phenomenon of any particular party or leader but a general tendency in Nepal. There are scores of political parties in existence in Nepal. In the Constituent Assembly held last year, 49 political parties registered in the Election Commission and contested the polls. Of them, only 25 political parties have their presence in the Constituent Assembly. If we look at their internal politics and activities, most of them are suffering from factionalism and power rivalry. The bigger the party is the bitterer is the bickering in the leadership and internal life of the organization. Now look at the power struggle and factional fighting in these parties. Let us first analyze the UCPN-Maoist because it is the largest political par

By Yuba Nath Lamsal It is going to be 50 years since the communist party was founded in Nepal. All communist groups are expected to mark this eventful year in their own way. The CPN-UML has already announced to observe the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Nepal with fun and fanfare in October this year. For this, a committee headed by party’s senior vice chairman Bamdev Gautam has already been formed. The Communist Party of Nepal was founded on April 28, 1949. The party was announced in Calcutta by Puspa Lal Shrestha, Niranjan Govinda Vaidya, Narayanbilas Joshi and Nrbahadur Karmacharya. Puspa Lal Shrestha was chosen as the founder general secretary of the party. Puspa Lal, in one of his write ups, has said that they decided to include Moti Devi, who was not present at the time of the formation of the party, as the founding member of the party. On the same day of the formation of the party, a manifesto of the Communist Party of Nepal was issued outlining the

By Yuba Nath Lamsal Old habits die hard. This is truly applicable to our political parties. Given the activities and performances over the last three years, it seems that our political parties and leaders have not learnt the lessons from the history. They are repeating the same mistakes over and over again. In the multi-party democracy, parties are the key players and the genuine protector of democratic system. It is with this belief that people entrusted the political parties and came to the streets to rally against the tyrannical regimes in the past. Be it in 1951 or 1990 and 2005, people gave full support to the parties which overthrew the authoritarian regimes and put the democratic polity in place. Each time when the parties went to power after the success of the movement, they have not lived up to the expectations of the people. People have a feeling that parties have often betrayed them once they are voted to power. After the 1951 political change, which could be possible with t