September 2023 Analysis: Domestic Politics and Governance
There are signs of discontent within the ruling coalitions - the opposition faction of the Nepali Congress (NC) - the biggest party of the ruling alliance - has been asking to form a new government under the leadership of the Nepali Congress, and PM Dahal too has raised doubts about the longevity of the government. As the political parties are caught up with coalition affairs, governance and delivery have taken a backseat. In September itself, the meeting of the National Assembly was postponed twice each for more than a week as the government failed to give any business - that too when as many as four dozen laws, pertaining to implementation of constitutional provisions, are yet to be tabled in the parliament even after seven years of the promulgation. Some parties of the Socialist Front have sought to drag the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact into controversy yet again, questioning the relevance of the 12-point interpretative declaration ratified by the parliament in 2021 - the interpretative declaration is, however, already acknowledged and agreed upon by the US.
PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) claimed that some parties have been seeking to break-up the current coalition and threatened that the CPN (Maoist Center) would resort to street protests if the government wouldn’t be allowed to serve at least two and half years. PM Dahal’s remark came when the opposition faction of the Nepali Congress (NC) - the largest party of the ruling coalition - has been asking to form a government under the leadership of the NC itself. Quite a few leaders of the factions have blamed the government for its inability to deliver, the government's biased moves on corruption cases among others. Some leaders of the faction have been intimating that the possibility of collaboration with the main opposition party, CPN-UML, shouldn’t be ruled out altogether - and if the government could be formed under the NC’s leadership in collaboration with the CPN-UML, that should be prioritized. Nepali Congress top leader Mr. Deuba is also reportedly pressuring PM Dahal to replace the current home minister who has gone on an anti-corruption spree in which a few leaders of the Nepali Congress were arrested.
That a faction of the Nepali Congress is openly seeking for other alternatives to the current government means that PM Dahal is now under pressure to keep the current coalition intact - and when survival is at stake, it is difficult for any government to deliver properly. As many as forty-eight laws, which are required to fully implement constitutional provisions are still to be proposed in the legislative even after seven years of the promulgation of the constitution. The judiciary and legislative have been put into one crisis after another, over the years, due to inefficiency of the government. For instance, even in the first week of September, the meeting of the National Assembly was deferred indefinitely as the government failed to give any business, and the meeting was deferred once again in the last week for the same reason.
IIh, a social activist, protested against Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s atrocities against street vendors staging a stand-in protest outside the metropolitan office for eight days. Then, an agreement was reached between the two parties to form an eight-member committee to study the issue and suggest the solutions so as to allocate appropriate places and time for street vendors to run their street business and to make an effort within a week for temporary management of the street vendors. Mayor Balen Shah had banned street businesses citing them as illegal, and the street vendors were subjected to atrocities - confiscation of goods and physical abuse by the metropolitan police. The street business has been in practice throughout the nation for long, and banning street business forcefully with no alternatives for street vendors was a wrong move in and of itself. This is just one case, in a list of many, which reflects Mayor Shah’s tendency to resort to political stunts and demagoguery in catering to his vote base.
On 30th August, the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact entered into the implementation phase and within a week, some parties of the Socialist Front, including the ruling CPN Unified Socialist, sought to drag the compact into controversy. The CPN (Unified Socialist) has formed a panel led by its vice-chair to study if implementation of the compact “undermines Nepal’s sovereignty.” Another party of the Socialist Front, the Communist Party of Nepal led by Netra Bikrma Chand has threatened to disrupt activities pertaining to MCC, if the implementation undermines Nepal’s sovereignty. Earlier, the MCC compact was dragged into endless controversy with false claims that the compact entailed US’s security objectives. The issue was blown out of proportion, so much so that the compact was put in limbo for years. It was later ratified by the parliament in January 2022 along with the 12-point “interpretative declarations”. PM Dahal himself warned of protests if the explanatory note of the MCC wasn’t regarded as “indispensable part” of the compact. The declaration, however, has already been acknowledged and accepted by the US Embassy in Nepal.
There is a huge gap in infrastructure funding in Nepal - according to the Nepal Development Update of 2019 published by the World Bank Group, around 10-15% of the GDP is needed annually for the next ten years to bridge the pre-existing gap. For this, foreign grants and investment are crucial. However, there has been a longstanding tendency amongst political parties - particularly the communists - of championing against foreign aid which has been a major impediment in creating a conducive environment in attracting and maximizing such aid and assistance.
Seven years ago, on September 20 2015, Nepal promulgated its first federal republican constitution. This historic moment was accompanied by promises guaranteeing rights, representation, and justice to identity communities that had endured centuries of systemic discrimination. This constitution is characterized primarily by three main aspects - republicanism, federalism and inclusiveness. Eight years have passed since the constitution's promulgation, and there has been a noticeable lack of visible efforts from political parties to fully implement the constitution. More importantly, the demands of the Madhes-based political parties who have been opposed to the constitution for failing to address the core demands of three Madhes-based movements are yet to be fully addressed. This year too, the Madhes-based parties labeled September 20 as the “black day”. On the other side, there have been attempts to challenge this constitution by monarchists, anti-secularists and anti-federalists. It is high time that political parties put sincere efforts to implement the constitution while remaining cautious of such subversive attempts.
President Mr. Ram Chandra Poudel pardoned as many as 670 prisoners upon the recommendation of the council of ministers on the occasion of the constitution day. There has been a tendency to pardon a criminal convict under political cover. In August, the Supreme Court had ruled that granting pardon in a criminal case under political cover as unconstitutional in a verdict to uphold the lower court’s decision to imprison Mr. Resham Lal Chaudhary for life - a convict of the 2015 Tikapur massacre incident - but within ten days of the verdict, President Ram Chandra Poudel had commuted his remaining jail term. This time too, a murder convict Mr. Yogaraj (Regal) Dhakal affiliated with Nepali Congress’s sister organization Nepal Tarun Dal among others was pardoned which drew criticisms from across the spectrum.
The opposition faction of the Nepali Congress has upped its ante against the top leader Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba and the establishment faction in the Central Committee Meeting which began on 21st September. The faction criticized the leadership for unconstitutional attempts at forming government in the Koshi province, lackluster performance of the current government of which the Nepali Congress is the main coalition partner, and Deuba’s proclivity to run the party on his whims undermining stated procedures. There has been a growing dissatisfaction against the performance of the Nepali congress’s ministers and that of the government as a whole which was evident in the meeting.
The internal turmoil within the Nepali Congress has intensified after the November 2022 polls in which the party, although managed to emerge as the largest one, had performed below expectations despite contesting the election in collaboration with as many as six parties. Added, the new alternative parties pulled off surprise electoral results posing further challenge to the mainstream political parties, particularly, the Nepali Congress – a mass-based party with a similar electoral base to that of the alternative ones. The growing anti-incumbency wave, and the party’s inability to adapt to the changing circumstances has alarmed the second and lower-rung leaders within the party who sense an electoral threat from the new parties in the next election cycle. This was further exacerbated by corruption scams in which the senior leaders of the party were implicated but the party failed to take action against them.
Timeline of Major Events
| Date | Events |
| 1st September | CPN (Unified Socialist) forms an investigation committee to look into the implementation of the MCC compact and another party of the Socialist Front, namely Nepal Communist Party (Chand) announces nationwide campaign against the implementation of the M |
| 6th September | Meeting of the National Assembly deferred indefinitely as the government failed to provide any business. |
| 19th September | Social Activist IIh began his stand-in protest against Kathmandu metropolitan’s banning of the street business and atrocities against street vendors. |
| 27th September | Meeting of the National Assembly was postponed once again due to lack of business. And, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and activist IIh reach an agreement ending IIh’s stand-in protest. |
Signs of discontents within the ruling coalition
PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) claimed that some parties have been seeking to break-up the current coalition and threatened that the CPN (Maoist Center) would resort to street protests if the government wouldn’t be allowed to serve at least two and half years. PM Dahal’s remark came when the opposition faction of the Nepali Congress (NC) - the largest party of the ruling coalition - has been asking to form a government under the leadership of the NC itself. Quite a few leaders of the factions have blamed the government for its inability to deliver, the government's biased moves on corruption cases among others. Some leaders of the faction have been intimating that the possibility of collaboration with the main opposition party, CPN-UML, shouldn’t be ruled out altogether - and if the government could be formed under the NC’s leadership in collaboration with the CPN-UML, that should be prioritized. Nepali Congress top leader Mr. Deuba is also reportedly pressuring PM Dahal to replace the current home minister who has gone on an anti-corruption spree in which a few leaders of the Nepali Congress were arrested.
That a faction of the Nepali Congress is openly seeking for other alternatives to the current government means that PM Dahal is now under pressure to keep the current coalition intact - and when survival is at stake, it is difficult for any government to deliver properly. As many as forty-eight laws, which are required to fully implement constitutional provisions are still to be proposed in the legislative even after seven years of the promulgation of the constitution. The judiciary and legislative have been put into one crisis after another, over the years, due to inefficiency of the government. For instance, even in the first week of September, the meeting of the National Assembly was deferred indefinitely as the government failed to give any business, and the meeting was deferred once again in the last week for the same reason.
Protest against Kathmandu Mayor’s Street Vendors Ban
IIh, a social activist, protested against Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s atrocities against street vendors staging a stand-in protest outside the metropolitan office for eight days. Then, an agreement was reached between the two parties to form an eight-member committee to study the issue and suggest the solutions so as to allocate appropriate places and time for street vendors to run their street business and to make an effort within a week for temporary management of the street vendors. Mayor Balen Shah had banned street businesses citing them as illegal, and the street vendors were subjected to atrocities - confiscation of goods and physical abuse by the metropolitan police. The street business has been in practice throughout the nation for long, and banning street business forcefully with no alternatives for street vendors was a wrong move in and of itself. This is just one case, in a list of many, which reflects Mayor Shah’s tendency to resort to political stunts and demagoguery in catering to his vote base.
Attempts to Drag the MCC Compact into Controversy Yet Again
On 30th August, the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact entered into the implementation phase and within a week, some parties of the Socialist Front, including the ruling CPN Unified Socialist, sought to drag the compact into controversy. The CPN (Unified Socialist) has formed a panel led by its vice-chair to study if implementation of the compact “undermines Nepal’s sovereignty.” Another party of the Socialist Front, the Communist Party of Nepal led by Netra Bikrma Chand has threatened to disrupt activities pertaining to MCC, if the implementation undermines Nepal’s sovereignty. Earlier, the MCC compact was dragged into endless controversy with false claims that the compact entailed US’s security objectives. The issue was blown out of proportion, so much so that the compact was put in limbo for years. It was later ratified by the parliament in January 2022 along with the 12-point “interpretative declarations”. PM Dahal himself warned of protests if the explanatory note of the MCC wasn’t regarded as “indispensable part” of the compact. The declaration, however, has already been acknowledged and accepted by the US Embassy in Nepal.
There is a huge gap in infrastructure funding in Nepal - according to the Nepal Development Update of 2019 published by the World Bank Group, around 10-15% of the GDP is needed annually for the next ten years to bridge the pre-existing gap. For this, foreign grants and investment are crucial. However, there has been a longstanding tendency amongst political parties - particularly the communists - of championing against foreign aid which has been a major impediment in creating a conducive environment in attracting and maximizing such aid and assistance.
Seven Years Since the Promulgation of the Constitution
Seven years ago, on September 20 2015, Nepal promulgated its first federal republican constitution. This historic moment was accompanied by promises guaranteeing rights, representation, and justice to identity communities that had endured centuries of systemic discrimination. This constitution is characterized primarily by three main aspects - republicanism, federalism and inclusiveness. Eight years have passed since the constitution's promulgation, and there has been a noticeable lack of visible efforts from political parties to fully implement the constitution. More importantly, the demands of the Madhes-based political parties who have been opposed to the constitution for failing to address the core demands of three Madhes-based movements are yet to be fully addressed. This year too, the Madhes-based parties labeled September 20 as the “black day”. On the other side, there have been attempts to challenge this constitution by monarchists, anti-secularists and anti-federalists. It is high time that political parties put sincere efforts to implement the constitution while remaining cautious of such subversive attempts.
Presidential Pardon Under Controversy
President Mr. Ram Chandra Poudel pardoned as many as 670 prisoners upon the recommendation of the council of ministers on the occasion of the constitution day. There has been a tendency to pardon a criminal convict under political cover. In August, the Supreme Court had ruled that granting pardon in a criminal case under political cover as unconstitutional in a verdict to uphold the lower court’s decision to imprison Mr. Resham Lal Chaudhary for life - a convict of the 2015 Tikapur massacre incident - but within ten days of the verdict, President Ram Chandra Poudel had commuted his remaining jail term. This time too, a murder convict Mr. Yogaraj (Regal) Dhakal affiliated with Nepali Congress’s sister organization Nepal Tarun Dal among others was pardoned which drew criticisms from across the spectrum.
Internal Turmoil within the Nepali Congress
The opposition faction of the Nepali Congress has upped its ante against the top leader Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba and the establishment faction in the Central Committee Meeting which began on 21st September. The faction criticized the leadership for unconstitutional attempts at forming government in the Koshi province, lackluster performance of the current government of which the Nepali Congress is the main coalition partner, and Deuba’s proclivity to run the party on his whims undermining stated procedures. There has been a growing dissatisfaction against the performance of the Nepali congress’s ministers and that of the government as a whole which was evident in the meeting.
The internal turmoil within the Nepali Congress has intensified after the November 2022 polls in which the party, although managed to emerge as the largest one, had performed below expectations despite contesting the election in collaboration with as many as six parties. Added, the new alternative parties pulled off surprise electoral results posing further challenge to the mainstream political parties, particularly, the Nepali Congress – a mass-based party with a similar electoral base to that of the alternative ones. The growing anti-incumbency wave, and the party’s inability to adapt to the changing circumstances has alarmed the second and lower-rung leaders within the party who sense an electoral threat from the new parties in the next election cycle. This was further exacerbated by corruption scams in which the senior leaders of the party were implicated but the party failed to take action against them.
CESIF Nepal