News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal The CPN-UML, which is currently leading the non-Maoist coalition government, appears to be in a deep political and ideological dilemma that has created a big identity crisis in the party. Once a vibrant party that had been viewed as an alternate force in the country now seems to be on the decline mainly due to the absence of its ideological and political standing. Polarisation Its politics is now polarised between rightist and the leftist ideologies. The Nepali Congress represents the rightist and capitalist ideology which is often called liberal democracy. The Maoists represent the mainstream of the communist force in Nepal. Until the Maoists were waging a jungle war condemning liberal democracy, the CPN-UML was a moderate and parliamentary communist force. Such a moderate communist force was necessary in the country given the large chunk of the population that had faith in leftist politics. This has been evident by the results of all the elections held after the 1990...

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...