News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal: -- It’s been almost a year since KP Sharma Oli assumed the responsibility of premiership last time. He was appointed Prime Minister on July 15, 2024, which is his third tenure as Prime Minister. He earlier served as prime minister from October 2015 to July 2016 and from February 2018 to August 2021. He twice led the government with the support of the CPN-Maoist Centre and he had to quit the government due to a problem and misunderstanding with the CPN-Maoist Centre. Now he is at the helm of power in partnership with the Nepali Congress (NC). The formation and collapse of the government in Nepal is determined by the number of seats in the lower house of parliament. This is the practice in parliamentary democracies all over the world. However, the case of Nepal is a little different and unique. Following the adoption of a federal system, the country has adopted a hybrid type of electoral system, which is a mix of majoritarian or first-past-the-post and a proportio...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:-- It was Friday, May 30, 2025. A shocking news pierced into my ear—Vijaya Chalise breathed the last today. I could not believe the news, as I had met him only a few days before. We talked at length and discussed many subjects, including journalism, literature and society, life, and the world. We reminisced about our old days when we worked together. Vijaya was still energetic, and his body and energy did not indicate any sign that he would leave us so early. After all, truth is truth, whether one believes or not. Vijaya passed away at 73, leaving this mortal world for his permanent abode. I have many fond memories of the old days when we worked together under the roof of Gorkhapatra Corporation. My first acquaintance with him was in 1989 when I joined The Rising Nepal Daily, an English-language publication of the Gorkhapatra Daily. Vijaya had already established himself as a seasoned journalist and an accomplished literary writer. He joined the Gokhapatra as a jou...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:-- Certain events prove to be watershed in history. So is Nepal’s foreign policy. King Prithivi Narayan Shah laid the foundation of modern and unified Nepal and also charted out basic guidelines for Nepal’s foreign policy. His successors, too, gave continuity to territorial expansion and consolidated the unification process until war broke out between the British colonial power and Nepal in 1814. The Sugauli Treaty was signed between Nepal and imperial Britain in 1816, which not only halted the war but also brought Nepal’s territorial expansion to an end. The Sugauli Treaty was not Nepal’s choice but Nepal was forced to accept it. The Sugauli Treaty changed the course of Nepal’s overall strategy and also marked another turning point in Nepal’s foreign policy. The Sugauli Treaty conditioned Nepal’s foreign policy, to some extent. However, Nepal, in practice, sought to exercise independent policy in relations with other external forces. The Kot Parba of 1846, throug...