China Pushes for Communist Coalition in the Upcoming Elections
Liu Jianchao, the head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, visited Nepal on July 10. The four-day visit of the eight-member team marked the second high-profile visit from Beijing within the span of four months after the ratification of the US’s MCC pact by Nepal in February. Beijing had crossed diplomatic…
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Shrinkflation as the coping mechanism of companies regardless of consumer rights
An unfavorable economic context The world economy is undergoing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine which both provoked a shock in demand and supply globally. The annual growth rate of CPI in April 2022 amounted to 9.2% in OECD countries. Nepal’s economy was recovering from the effect of the earthquake…
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Nepal-China Relations at a Stalemate
Chinese investments in Nepal have steadily risen and China has become Nepal’s biggest investment partner in terms of commitment. China has plans to heavily invest in Nepal to enhance infrastructure connectivity and trade and investment, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. However, Chinese actions contradict its commitments towards Nepal. Reports say that…
Cracks Begin to Show in US-Nepal Ties
The US-China relationship has entered a period of great uncertainty and instability as China has become more powerful and more assertive in the international arena. Similarly, China’s active role in the South Asian region has flared India’s security sensitivities. IPS as a strategy includes a military component, which aims to deter growing Chinese influence in…
Chief Justice Versus The Principle of Natural Justice
On 13 February, the three ruling parties (Nepali Congress, Maoist Center and Janata Samajbadi Party) registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice (CJ) Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the House of Representative. 98 lawmakers from the ruling alliance have signed the impeachment motion. The office of Chief Justice been has been marred by controversy since October…
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News Digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (February 3 – 9, 2022)
The government declared local polls for May 13 to be held in a single phase after a meeting between Sher Bahadur Deuba, KP Sharma Oli, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Local polls, the MCC grant, and other issues were discussed during the meeting. The United States has set a February 28 deadline for Nepal to ratify…
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News digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (January 27 to February 2, 2022)
During a consultation session with constitutional experts and Election Commission officials, government officials agreed to hold the local level elections before May 19, 2022. Inconsistencies between Section 55 of the Local Governance Act 2017 and provisions in the Constitution had led to confusions about fixing local level election dates. The ruling alliance had previously agreed…
Continue Reading News digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (January 27 to February 2, 2022)
News Digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (January 20 – 26, 2022)
On January 23, the Deuba government consulted with legal and constitutional experts about the conflicting rules of the Local Governance Act and constitutional provisions about setting the date for upcoming local level elections. The meeting came to a conclusion after the Deuba government decided to amend the Act in order to align with constitutional provisions.…
Continue Reading News Digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (January 20 – 26, 2022)
News Digest: Domestic Politics and Governance (January 13 – 19, 2022)
On January 18, the ruling alliance held a meeting in order to discuss elections. The Election Commission had proposed elections for April-May. The Commission’s laws on local elections and constitutional provisions had contradictory positions regarding local laws, and the meeting decided to give priority to the latter. CPN-UML criticized the Deuba government for not speaking…
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News Digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (January 6 – 12, 2022)
Sher Bahadur Deuba, on January 8 and 9, nominated 13 party leaders to the central committee. Most of them had lost contests for office bearer positions. On January 5, Shekhar Koirala held a meeting of his political camp, inviting Congress party’s senior party leaders. The agenda of the meeting was to chart out the camp’s…
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News Digest: Domestic Politics & Governance (December 16 – 22, 2021)
On December 17, CPN-UML Secretary General Shanker Pokhrel announced that Bhim Rawal, who lost to KP Oli in elections for party chair in the party’s 10th national congress, has been given a role as a member in the advisory committee of the party. On December 17, Nepali Congress declared the remaining five of the eight…
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June Analysis: Domestic Politics
The State Partnership Program (SPP) and a possible military cooperation between Nepal and the United States has once again triggered debates over sovereignty and national integrity in the country.
May Analysis: Domestic Politics and Governance
This May, the local polls were held across the country and coalition talks, candidates’ selections, election campaigns and results made headlines throughout the month. On the other side, the main opposition CPN UML ended eight months long obstruction of the parliament and decided to let the house function.
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April Analysis: Domestic Politics
The upcoming local polls and coalition talks made headlines throughout the month of April. Almost all parties, in both the ruling alliance and the opposition, were occupied with attempts at forging election coalitions. While parties have reached a consensus to contest the election together with their respective allies in most of the local bodies, there…
March Analysis: Domestic Politics and Governance
The month of March turned out to be just another month with the never-ending political crisis. The winter session of the parliament was prorogued amidst the longest-ever obstruction in Nepal’s parliamentary history. This, in turn, prolonged the judicial deadlock that the Supreme Court has been facing for over the last six months. While intra party…
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February Analysis: Domestic Politics and Governance
This month, the parliament ratified the MCC Compact along with an interpretive declaration. Controversy over the MCC overshadowed the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and the split in the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party in the face of upcoming elections. Timeline of Major Events DateEventsFebruary 7Election Commission announces local government elections for May 13February…
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January Analysis: Domestic Politics and Governance
In the front of domestic politics, the differences among the coalition parties regarding the announcement of general elections date was surfaced this month. Different factions cite the differing provisions on the Constitution and Local Election Act to conduct the local level elections. The Deuba camp of Congress, Maoist Centre, and CPN (Unified Socialist) cite a…
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Chinese Border Encroachment in Humla
As a small landlocked country sandwiched between two giants—India and China—Nepal’s sensitivity for territorial integrity and sovereignty stands out as particularly strong. Never formally colonized, Nepali people appear extra possessive towards their country’s natural heritages and historical richness and have a strong emotional attachment. Therefore, any sort of attack on Mt. Everest and Gautam Buddha,…
News Digest (July 02– July 08, 2020)
The discrimination faced by transgender community in society is persistent and the government lacks in taking sufficient action to ensure their rights.
Reversal of Democratic Thrust
The government is de-democratising the security sector and weakening democratic oversight of the security forces When Pushpa Kamal Dahal became the prime minister in 2008, the Maoists began to call for a new national security policy. While the idea of ‘national unity’ was designed to reconcile and control the Maoists’ former warring partners, the idea…