NEPALI POLITICS

The Himalayan Times 3 November 2023 Conflict victims’ sufferings The Maoist conflict in the country was a dark period in the country's political history considering its past and present impact in the national political situation and social and cultural environment. About 17,000 people lost their lives in the decade-long so called people’s war, almost pushing the nation towards political, social and economic disintegration. Although the conflict formally came to an end nearly 17 years ago, the scars of this bloody war are still fresh. All the conflict victims are still waiting for appropriate and lawful justice. It has been utmost necessary for the major political parties to move on from this violent past and build a peaceful future by resolving the long-pending transitional justice issue. The 10 year long armed conflict came to a formal end with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the promulgation of the Interim Constitution of Nepal in 2007. The then gov...

The Himalayan Times 13 October 2023 Health delivery service The 2015 constitution has converted Nepal into a federal structure, with significant reforms of the health delivery system in terms of both structure and devolution of power and authority. Moving from a unitary system to a three-level federal system of government, the then national health delivery system was restructured accordingly to meet the needs of the new political and organisational structure. As the nation transitioned from a unitary system to the federal structure, governance system underwent a profound transformation. This shift had a significant impact on healthcare delivery services among others and demanded many changes to meet the needs of the hour “PM Dahal expresses determination to resolve problems in the health sector” (THT, October 11, Page 1). Decentralization became, even in the federal structure, a key process that required a harmonised effort of all the concerned authorities to ensure that h...

The Himalayan Times 6 October 2023 Ruling vs opposition parties Parliamentary democracy is based on the party system of government answerable to the House of Representatives (HoR). Such a democracy is governed by two parties: ruling and opposition parties, although in a parliamentary democracy, decisions are taken on a majoritarian basis. However, both the ruling and opposition parties have a crucial role to play in strengthening parliamentary democracy. These two parties should work in   the interests of their country and people even though their functions and responsibilities are different. While the ruling party governs, the opposition should play the role of making the ruling party accountable to the country and people by closely monitoring each and every action of the government. However, these democratic practices are not often seen in national politics. If a political party plays the role of an effective opposition, it can give a tough time to the ruling party if ...

The Himalayan Times 1 September 2023 EC proposes NOTA Periodic election is called one of the basic pillars of democratic governance. Democracy can neither imagined nor materialised in any democratic country without holding periodic elections. It was pleasant to read “Election Commission proposes NOTA, suffrage right for Nepali citizens employed abroad” (THT, 29 August, Page 1) at such a time when the voters were demanding for many years for these clauses to be included in the existing electoral system. The EC has proposed a provision that gives voters a right to reject any candidate and for that, “ None of the Above ” (NOTA) sign should be included in the ballot paper. Another outstanding concern of the general public was the voting right for the migrant workers living abroad. As per the proposed amendment, the Election Commission (EC) has also suggested, among others, that a person who has already been elected twice through the proportional representation (PR) system be b...