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Posts published in “Nepal”

Can the Swatantra Party answer the bell?

by Purushottam Poudel and Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 1, 2022The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)’s swift rise as a political force is perhaps the biggest story of the November 20 polls. It has also made people curious: What is its governing ideology and political line? RSP President Rabi Lamichhane claimed in a recent interview with Onlinekhabar, a news website, that the party is right of centre. However, Shishir Khanal, a party leader elected…

Congress reaches out to Janamat Party chief Raut to discuss new government

Report in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 1, 2022CK Raut, president of the Janamat Party, held talks with Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi on Wednesday and offered to join the new ruling coalition. Nidhi confirmed to the Post about his meeting with Raut. Nidhi later visited Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and briefed him about his meeting with Raut. During their meeting at Baluwatar, Nidhi informed Deuba that Raut has offered to support the ruling coalition…

Two new forces enter federal parliament as national parties

by Binod Ghimire in The Kathmandu Post,30 Nov 2022Four months ago, media personality Rabi Lamichhane-led Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) made a foray in Nepali politics. Registered on July 1, the party didn’t just win seven seats under the first-past-the-post elections to the House of Representatives, but also has safely crossed the threshold to qualify as a national party. By press time on Tuesday, the party had secured over 11 percent votes under the proportional representation…

New House of Representatives to be less inclusive

by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post,30 Nov 2022With most Dalit, Janajati and women candiates across parties failing to win the first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections for the House of Representatives, the upcoming parliament is set to become less inclusive than the last one. As many as 35 Janajatis, eight women and only one Dalit have won parliament seats under the FPTP system of elections with almost all results from the November 20 elections already in.…

CPN (Unified Socialist) rules out the possibility of leftist alliance

Report in The Kathmandu Post,30 Nov 2022CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal has said he does not see any possibility of the leftist parties coming together and forming a government. Nepal said this while talking to journalists at the end of this party’s Secretariat meeting on Tuesday. The stance of the party, a member of the current ruling coalition which also contested the parliamentary and provincial elections as an alliance, means it would be…

Doti earthquake victims languish in tents

by Mohan Shahi in The Kathmandu Post,30 Nov 2022Almost three weeks since they were displaced by an earthquake, hundreds of families in Doti are still awaiting rehabilitation. With the winter cold already setting in, the survivors are having a hard time living in temporary shelters. The earthquake victims complain that the authorities concerned have completely ignored them and their hardships. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has not yet assessed the damage caused…

Maoist rank and file prefer left alliance, not so their chair

by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, Nov 29, 2022When CPN (Maoist Centre) General Secretary Dev Gurung congratulated his electoral rival in Lamjung, Prithvi Subba Gurung of the CPN-UML, upon the latter’s election as federal lawmaker from the district on Friday, he also floated a proposal to jointly lobby for a left alliance. UML Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung, who beat Maoist General Secretary Gurung, accepted the proposal. But despite the lobbying by…

Leaders in talks for new coalition with several eyeing prime minister’s post

by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Nov 29, 2022With almost all results from the November 20 federal and provincial elections already in and no party winning a clear majority, big parties have intensified discussions to form a new government with the help of smaller parties. Although the current ruling five-party alliance led by the Nepali Congress is determined to form a new government again, it is still uncertain whether the coalition member parties will…

Exploitation fears as more contractors become lawmakers

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, Nov 28, 2022As more contractors have been elected to parliament and provincial assemblies through last week’s elections, stakeholders have raised concerns about its potential adverse effects. They fear that the contractors could skew laws and policies in their favour. At least half a dozen contractors have been elected to the House of Representatives under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, according to the Federation of Contractors’ Association of…

Nepali Congress-led alliance likely to form governments in all seven provinces

by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, November 28, 2022Just as in the case of federal parliament, the post-poll positioning of political parties is coming into focus in the provincial assemblies too. The shape and size of the federal government will have a big impact on government-formation in provinces. If the ruling Congress-led alliance gets a majority in the federal parliament, and forms a government at the central level, the alliance members are likely to…

Ruling alliance fails to stop UML

by Purushottam Poudel in The Kathmandu Post, Nov 27, 2022A group of five political parties led by the Nepali Congress forged an alliance for the federal and provincial elections with an aim to limit the prospects of the CPN-UML, but the incoming results show the allies have failed in their endeavour. The Left alliance of the UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre had won almost two thirds of the parliamentary seats in the 2017 elections. This…