News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal It has been 62 years since the communist party was formed in Nepal. Some leftist groups marked September 15 as the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). However, a large section of leftists do not subscribe to the proposition that September 15 is the founding day. Instead they claim that the communist party was founded on April 22, 1949. Divided issue Nepal’s communists lock horns over every issue, which has contributed to the fragmentation of the communist movement. They differ on and dispute even on a minor issue, keeping them divided and disintegrated. The issue concerning the founding day of the communist party has also fallen into controversy, with different groups observing the founding day on different dates. This controversy is not a new phenomenon but began soon after the communist party was formed. Even researchers are divided on this issue. Dr. Surendra KC and Dr. Raj Kumar Pokhrel are two prominent scholar...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has recently made some important remarks that will have a far-reaching impact on Nepal's foreign policy. In public speeches in two separate programs last week, Prime Minister Bhattarai sought China's entry into South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as a full-fledged member. In his first ever policy statement announced in parliament, Premier Bhattarai opined that China's entry into the SAARC was necessary to bolster meaningful cooperation in South Asia. He also expressed similar views in the conference of China-South Asia Friendship Organizations Forum. These remarks are the policy and commitment of the new government which was formed under Bhattarai's leadership three weeks ago. Bhattarai's remarks provide the impression that the new government would bring about some rupture not only in the domestic politics but also in the foreign policy priorities of the Himalayan Republic. His remark...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Catastrophe does not take place with prior notice and warning. But this is not the case with Libya's Colonel Maummar Gaddafi. There had been loud and clear warning of political tsunami in Libya long ago. The Arab Spring and Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution that swept across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should have served a clear warning to Libya's dictator. But Gaddafi failed to read the writing on the wall and people's mood, which proved costly for him. Had he sensed the magnitude of the revolution and protests that had been snowballing since last February and acted in time to pacify the people's rebellion, he would not have met such a humiliating fate. As a result, 42-year old erratic rule of Libya's dictator came to a bad end. And the Gaddafi's regime in Tripoli collapsed like a house of cards. The Jasmine Revolution that forced Tunisia's dictator flee the country paving the way for multi-party political system sen...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Sometimes, an individual makes a big difference. This is more in diplomacy. By diplomacy we generally mean a tool and approach to achieve foreign policy goals. Traditionally foreign policy is defined as an extension of domestic policy. But it may not always be true because domestic policy of a particular country may change with the change of government or person in power. Foreign policy is something that does not change frequently with the change of the government and person in power. It may be more appropriate to define foreign policy as the approach and strategy to serve the national interest. Foreign policy is and should, thus, be guided by national interest. A country's policy and approaches may vary with different countries depending upon the nature of the relationship. Accordingly, priorities differ with different countries. Economic, trade, strategic, political and cultural issues have direct bearing on the conduct of foreign policy and diplom...

Yuba Nath Lamsal A new government headed by Maoist ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai is at work, which has taken some new initiatives to revive the hope of the people. The peace process that started five years ago is in a crossroad. The fate of the peace process is uncertain because none is sure that the political process that began five years ago would arrive at a meaningful conclusion in near future. However, the formation of the Bhattarai-led coalition government has revived the hope and given impression that the peace process now would be expedited and concluded at the earliest. When the peace process started, there was a competition among parties and leaders to claim its ownership and take its credit. As the situation got complicated, the parties have given up their ownership of the peace process. The 12-point agreement that was reached between the alliance of seven parliamentary parties and the Maoists was the starting point of the peace process. The peace process is, ...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Yoshiko Noda, former finance minister, has been elected new Prime Minister of Japan to replace Naoto Kan, who stepped down from the post acknowledging his failure to tackle some of the challenges his country faced over the last one year. Noda won the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Monday and was formally installed by Diet, parliament, on Tuesday as the 60th prime minister and the third since the DPJ won election in September 2009. Noda's predecessor Naoto Kan, who resigned on August 26 amidst widespread public pressure and protest against his government's mishandling of several issues ranging from economic downturn and joblessness to the nuclear disaster and reconstruction in the areas where earthquake and tsunami hit hard last year. Kan's period is best known as the biggest failure on the part of the government in handling the issues directly related to the people. There had already been disgrunt...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Parties are the key players in a multi-party democracy and they are the ones that run the government and maintain checks and balances. Checks and balances are necessary in democracy that make the government more responsible and ensure better functioning of the democratic policy. The absence of effective mechanism for checks and balances may give rise to dictatorship that would ultimately exterminate democratic polity. In the name of multi-party democracy, Nepal's political parties are merely jockeying for power and scrambling to impose their own type of dictatorship on the people. The rhetoric, activities and behavior of Nepal's existing political parties indicate that they lack minimum political culture which is required for strengthening and upholding democratic values and practice. If we look at the history of democratic movement in Nepal, parties have played crucial role in establishing democracy in the country. In the absence of parties and their l...