Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Nepal”

Mahakali corridor road project in limbo

by Bhawani Bhatta in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 21, 2023The track opening of the 11 km Kanchanpur-Mal road section in Kanchanpur is yet to take off two years after the project’s contract was signed. Failure to clear trees from the project site has thrown the project in limbo. When the contract was signed, the deadline set for the project—which falls under the Mahakali Corridor, a mega infrastructural and development project—was the end of this fiscal…

Attorney General gives Rabi Lamichhane a clean chit:

Report in The Kathmandu Post, March 21, 2023The Office of the Attorney General has given a clean chit to Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chief Rabi Lamichhane in the case of possession of dual passports. “As per the report submitted to the Nepal Police, the Office of the Attorney General has decided that there is no need to file a case against Lamichhane for holding dual passports of Nepal and the United States of America,” Joint…

Discord among Madhesh parties could complicate power-sharing negotiations:

By Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, March 21,2023The Madhesh-based Janata Samajbadi Party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and Janamat Party gave a vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal during his floor test on Monday. Under the new power equation, the door has opened for government expansion. Although all three Madhesh-based parties are now part of the new alliance led by the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre), the Madheshi parties are divided.…

Coalition split on revising common programme:

By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, March 21, 2023On Monday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal got a vote of confidence for the second time in 70 days, this time with a different set of coalition partners. With the change in the major constituents of the coalition–the Nepali Congress, the largest party in parliament, replacing the second largest CPN-UML–the government is all set to move ahead in a new direction. “Today, the prime minister…

Protest in Biratnagar calling for renaming Koshi Province

by Deo Narayan Sah in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 20,2023Clashes ensued between security personnel and protesters demonstrating against the naming of Koshi Province in Biratnagar on Sunday. Armed Police Force personnel fired four rounds of bullets in the air and lobbed around 24 shells of tear gas after the protesters from the indigenous communities breached a prohibited area to stage the protest. The demonstration which started from Jan Andolan Chowk in Biratnagar breached the prohibited…

Dahal assured comfortable majority in his second vote of confidence:

By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, March 20,2023When Pushpa Kamal Dahal sought the confidence of House members on January 10, only a handful of lawmakers were opposed to his prime ministership. As Dahal goes for a second-floor test on Monday, the number of backers in the House is expected to decrease significantly. This time, the CPN-UML—which effectively made Dahal the prime minister after his electoral ally, the Nepali Congress, denied him the top…

Disputed bill to revise transitional justice law lands in House:

By Binod Ghimire in The Kathmandu Post, March 20,2023The government, on Sunday, presented a bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act in the House of Representatives amid objection from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (NMKP). Acting on behalf of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently heading the law portfolio among others, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma presented the bill…

Congress leaders jostle to lead party in government

by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 18, 2023Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is set to seek a vote of confidence in the House on Monday and plans to expand his Cabinet by the week’s end. A meeting of the 10 political parties supporting the government on Saturday decided to give Dahal their vote of confidence. The meeting also decided to back a bill to amend the Enforced Disappeared Persons and Truth and Reconciliation…

Prime Minister Dahal steps up effort to win confidence vote and for expanding cabinet

by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 18, 2023With the elections of the President and the Vice President, the prime minister is now geared up to give a full shape to his Cabinet where two-thirds of the seats have been vacant since the CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party pulled out of the government last month. The prime minister is currently holding 16 of the total 21 ministerial portfolios. Prior to…

Nepalis forced to pay more for rice, no one knows why

by Krishana Prasain in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 18, 2023Food prices from wheat and meat to edible oils have shot up sharply and refuse to come down. And now even rice, the staple food of millions of Nepalis, has become more expensive. According to market observers, the price of the most common grain food in Nepali homes has gone up by Rs100 to Rs700 per bag. Analysts blame higher fertiliser costs for making food more…

Out of power, what has Oli up his sleeve?

By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, March 18, 2023CPN-UML vice-chair Asta Laxmi Shakya lost the vice-presidential election on Friday. A week ago, the party’s another vice-chair, Subas Nemang, was defeated in the presidential race. This outcome for the second largest party in the House of Representatives may be unexpected but it’s because it had to quit the ruling alliance over differences with the CPN (Maoist Centre) two weeks ago. With Prime Minister Pushpa…