By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, March 28, 2023The writer is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs.After struggling for weeks to expand the Cabinet, the prime minister and top leaders of the major ruling coalition partners are now closing in on a power-sharing deal. If the officials at the prime minister’s secretariat are to be believed, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will expand his Cabinet…
Posts tagged as “Kathmandu”
By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, March 27, 2023The Maoist Centre-CPN-UML ruling coalition collapsed within two months of its formation. Now the Congress-led 10-party coalition is in place in Kathmandu, and its reverberations are being felt in the provincial politics as well. In this context, the Post’s Tika R Pradhan spoke to the UML deputy general secretary and former chief minister of Gandaki province Prithvi Subba Gurung, who was also among the architects…
by Arjun Poudel in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 3, 2023Customs officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport confiscated drugs worth Rs1.8 million last week. The drugs, which are used in the treatment of severe Covid infection, were brought from India to smuggle to China, officials said. “We have been investigating the rising trend of smuggling drugs worth hundreds of thousands of rupees,” said Santosh KC, spokesperson for the Department of Drug Administration (DDA). “We will destroy…
by Purushottam Poudel in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 24, 2023Despite a series of intra-party and inter-party parleys on Thursday, no decision could be made on the presidential candidate. Talks have intensified as the date for the presidential election draws close. A tripartite meeting between leaders of the CPN (Maoist Centre), Janata Samajbadi Party and CPN (Unified Socialist) on Thursday agreed to decide the presidential candidate only after a joint meeting with the Nepali Congress on…
Report in Kathmandu Post, Feb 21, 2023 at 07:34 pmWith the decision of the CPN (Maoist Centre) office bearers on Monday to elect a new President through national consensus, Nepali Congress leaders said they have become more confident about their nominee getting elected to the top post. The presidential election is slated for March 9 and the Maoist Centre has entrusted Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal with the responsibility of taking the final call on…
by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 20, 2023On Falgun 7, 2007BS, the 104-year-long Rana regime ended in Nepal as the 1950 movement ushered in democracy. Next year, the Interim Government of Nepal Act 1951 was promulgated. It was a landmark achievement. But since then, Nepal’s democracy has experienced many trials and tribulations. Lok Raj Baral, a political analyst, says the establishment of democracy in 1951 opened “our door to light from darkness—of our…
Report in The Kathmandu Post, February 15, 2023Whenever there are high-level visits from New Delhi, the media, political circles and talking heads in Kathmandu are eager to know what message the visiting dignitaries passed on to the Nepali political leadership. Accordingly, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra’s two-day visit (Feb 13-14) to Kathmandu got a lot of attention. Kwatra, who served as Indian envoy to Kathmandu until February last year, is someone familiar with the…
by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 14, 2023Nepal and India held a foreign secretary level meeting on Monday where they discussed a range of issues of mutual interests. But they avoided broaching contentious issues related to boundary and border, submission of the final report of the Eminent Persons’ Group on Nepal-India relations, and resolution of the standoff over the Agnipath scheme on recruitment of Nepalis in the Indian Army. The meeting took place…
by Sangam Prasain in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 12, 2023updated at 22:41 hrsA months-long import ban on several products described as luxury items caused revenues to plunge so sharply that the government has been forced to slash the budget for lack of cash, officials said. The government lifted the embargo after eight months in early December following pressure from the private sector and the International Monetary Fund, but by then it had left lasting repercussions…
by Tika R Pradhan and Purushottam Poudel in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 13, 2023As differences persist between the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the CPN-UML over the candidate for President, ruling alliance parties have started doubting the longevity of their partnership. A meeting of the ruling parties held at the prime minister’s residence at Baluwatar on Sunday failed to make any headway in the dispute with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal sticking to his proposal of…
by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 3, 2023The seven-party ruling coalition seems to be in a serious crisis within just 40 days of the formation of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a major partner in the ruling coalition, has threatened to pull out of the government after the prime minister refused to reinstate party president Rabi Lamichhane as home minister. The joint meeting of the RSP’s Central…