News, Views From Nepal

--> Yuba Nath Lamsal On January 19, 2012, it was disclosed that the Bangladesh Army foiled and crushed an attempted coup by a small section of the army. The coup, according to government sources, had been attempted by some serving as well as ex-officers of the Bangladesh Army at the instigation of some Bangladeshi civilians at home and abroad, capitalizing on the sentiments of the Islamic extremists groups. In the conspiracy, some mid-level officers were believed to have been involved. The attempted coup was discovered and crushed before it could do any damage to the legitimate government of Bangladesh. The attempted coup was a planned conspiracy intended to overthrow the Awami League (AL) led civilian Government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed. Fortunately, the democratic process in Bangladesh was saved as the information of the plot was discovered in time and it was crushed before any untoward incidents could take place. Had the coup been succeeded, democracy in Bangl...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Politics is the game of possibilities. In politics, all possible strategies, approaches and games are sought to find an amicable solution to the problems facing a country or society. This is the beauty of democratic polity. Such an approach may not be possible in an authoritarian system in which the rulers impose their decision, and people have no choice other than to accept the decisions and diktats of the rulers quietly. It is only in a democratic system that people are provided with different choices and alternatives. This is why a democratic system is stable and sustainable. People have the right to revolt if the regime or state does not listen to their voice and does not take the initiative to address the people’s woes and concerns. A revolt is the last resort of the people. Prior to resorting to a revolt, dialogue is held to find an amicable solution out of the many possibilities to address the people’s concerns. A similar process is being pursued in Nepal at p...

Yuba Nath Lamshal While the entire Western world is badly bruised by history's worst economic crisis, China remains relatively less touched and hurt by global meltdown and it continues to grow vibrantly. China's miraculous and unhindered economic growth despite global recession is a subject of academic debate and research for economic scholars. With high rate of growth and economic prowess, Beijing's clout and influence is also growing up in the global scene. The world is, thus, looking to China for playing its meaningful and decisive role in rescuing global economic order. China is, thus, expected to assume an increased role in global leadership. This global expectation is mainly influenced and guided by China's growing soft power image. With its growing clout in the global arena, China has already felt its international obligation and is accordingly adjusting its foreign policy and international relations. To do this, China has not adopted hawkish and coercive polic...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Political parties have currently locked horns on governance model. The parties have made the governance model as their prestige issue, which is, in fact, no issue at all. The row is whether Nepal is to adopt presidential system, parliamentary type or a mixed model. The political parties know well that there is no fundamental difference in these models because all the three models are the sub-system within the multi-party capitalist political system. The parties are just using this issue as a tool to weaken the position of the rival party and have their strong say in the constitution making process. There are a clearly three types of views on the issue concerning the governance model. One is the parliamentary model which is being pursued vigorously by the Nepali Congress. The Maoists have proposed and pushed for a presidential system whereas the CPN-UML has come up with a compromising middle way approach of mixed model. There are various models of political sy...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao paid a whirlwind one-day visit to Nepal on January 14, which is a matter of pride for the people of Nepal. The Himalayan republic had long been eager to welcome the Premier of the second mightiest country in the world. Wen came to Nepal on virtually four-hour \'official\' visit at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai. Earlier, a three-day visit had been planned but was postponed for reasons unknown. However, sources said the visit was deferred because Beijing was not fully confident of security arrangement as well as Nepal\'s diplomatic immaturity. The sudden postponement of Wen\'s visit had definitely upset Nepal\'s Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai who wanted to give a message both at home and abroad that he was had enjoyed the recognition of the world including Nepal\'s two immediate neighbors-China and India. Ever since he was elected as prime minister, Dr Bhattara...