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Posts tagged as “Nepal”

Beijing’s Nepal policy will see more continuity than change: Chinese experts

by Purushottam Poudel in The Kathmandu Post,Mar 13, 2023Qin Gang, the new foreign minister of China, is likely to give continuity to Beijing’s old policy towards Nepal, foreign policy experts say. On March 7, Qin, 56, addressed the international media for the first time since taking office as foreign minister. On the margins of the annual session of the Chinese parliament in Beijing, Qin told journalists quoting Confucius: “One should repay kindness with kindness, and…

Nepal bill says murder is not serious rights violation

by Binod Ghimire in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 10, 2023The government on Thursday brought a bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Act retaining most of the “controversial provisions” from the previous bill that couldn’t get through the parliament last year. The Ministry of Law and Justice registered the bill at Parliament Secretariat following a Cabinet nod on Thursday morning. The new bill, like the previous one, hasn’t listed murder as a…

Nepal’s opposition politics has been a saga of opportunism

by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post,March 07, 2023March 7, 2023Updated at : March 7, 2023 06:48Raising public issues, analysing the laws proposed by the executive, and speaking up against the wrongdoings of the government in Parliament all fall under an opposition party’s chief responsibilities. But in Nepal, that is still a distant dream. Regardless of their number of seats, all that the political parties, whether big or small, want is power, political observers say.…

Nepal stares at recession amid depressing market conditions

by Krishana Prasain in The Kathmandu Post, Mar 6, 2023At most of Kathmandu’s apparel stores, one poster is common nowadays: SALE. But that’s not helping rev up sales. The apparel stores have witnessed a slowdown in discretionary spending by consumers over the past few months, primarily because of inflationary pressures, reflecting how a slowing economy has dampened the market’s mood. A credit crunch, real estate slowdown, tumbling stock market and rising unemployment have rattled the…

How are Dahal, Deuba and Nepal sharing PM’s seat between them?

by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 27, 2023After offering the post of President to the largest party in Parliament, the three parties—the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the CPN (Unified Socialist)—are now looking to finalise a new power-sharing deal, including the exact durations individual leaders will become the prime minister for. As the three parties have decided to helm the government by turns, the ongoing five-year tenure of Parliament will…

Madhesh parties eye presidency as major forces remain at loggerheads

by Nishan Khatiwada in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 23, 2023 In the run up to the presidential elections, Nepal’s political parties have begun their exercises to grab the top state position. Claims by several political parties to the presidential positions have thrown up multiple possibilities of who the next President and Vice President will be. The nominations for the top jobs are scheduled for Saturday. But the parties are still discussing the candidates as consensus…

Oli’s offer has Madhav Nepal dreaming of Sheetal Niwas

by Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 22, 2023Former prime minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) chair Madhav Kumar Nepal suddenly finds himself thrust to the spotlight following news reports that CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli has proposed Nepal as a possible presidential candidate. Nepal is also eager to run for the President in a vote scheduled for March 9, but the question remains whether the political parties will agree to make him their…

Nepal’s democratic struggle is long but political gains still under threat

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…

On presidency, Maoist Centre chair Dahal has feet in two boats

by Tika R Pradhan in the Kathmandu Post, Feb 17, 2023As the nomination day for the presidential election is approaching, the third largest party that leads the current government with the backing of the CPN-UML and later got the support of other parties including the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre) seems inching closer to the Congress. Some leaders of the party said the Maoist Centre could support the Nepali Congress in the presidential polls…

Little progress in Nepal’s quake preparedness since 2015

by Purushottam Poudel in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 12, 2023The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria earlier this week has killed over 24,000 people as of Saturday afternoon—and the death toll is still rising. The jolts in Turkey and Syria bring to mind similar quakes Nepal witnessed on April 25 and May 12, 2015 that took the lives of around 9,000 and injured over 22,000. The 7.8m quake and its aftershocks destroyed or damaged…

Congress strategy: Party-proposed head of state. If that fails, stop UML candidate

by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Feb 12, 2023The Nepali Congress, encouraged by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s proposal of electing the new President based on ‘national consensus’, has made a two-pronged strategy for the March 9 vote. After the Congress extended its vote of trust to Dahal on January 10, he floated the “consensus” idea. Congress leaders see their early success in the ‘suspicion and doubt’ that they have been able to sow…