Revision as of 05:26, 13 December 2017

State of turmoil

From the archives of "India Today", 2009

June 2001: King Birendra,Queen Aishwarya and other close relatives killed in a shooting spree by Crown Prince Dipendra, who then shoots himself. Gyanendra is crowned Nepal King.

May 2002: Parliament dissolved and fresh elections are called over extending emergency. Sher Bahadur Deuba heads interim government and renews emergency.

April 2006: The King agrees to reinstate Parliament following protests. G.P. Koirala appointed prime minister. Maoists declare a ceasefire.

May 2006: Parliament curtails the King’s powers. Government and Maoists begin talks.

November 2006: Maoists and the government sign accord and declare a formal end to a 10-year insurgency.

January 2007: Maoist leaders enter Parliament under a temporary constitution.

December 2007: Parliament approves abolition of monarchy as part of peace deal with Maoists.

April 2008: Maoists win the largest number of seats in the new Constituent Assembly.

May 2008: Nepal becomes a republic.

August 2008: Prachanda forms coalition government and the Nepali Congress becomes the Opposition.

May 2009: Prachanda resigns citing the “unconstitutional and undemocratic” move by the President to stop the government from sacking the army chief.

Republican and secular

EC moderates pro-monarch, pro-Hindu state RPP

Nepal EC junks `Hindu state' clause from party's statute, Mar 19 2017: The Times of India

Nepal's poll watchdog has decided to remove “Hindu state and monarchy“ clauses from the statute of the pro-monarch and proHindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), saying that they contradicted constitutional provisions of a republican system and secularism.

The election commission's (EC) decision sparked a protest from the party with deputy prime minister and minister for federal affairs and local development Kamal Thapa urging the EC to correct its decision.

“The EC has robbed the party of its soul by deleting a section about Hindu state and monarchy off the party's statute,“ said Thapa, also the chairman of RPP.

The EC decided to remove the portion that advocates Hindu state and monarchy from the RPP statute, saying the sections contradicted constitutional provisions of republican order.

The party termed the decision as “unconstitutional“ and decided to challenge it in a court. “The EC's decision to remove some sections of its charter was unconstitutional as the Constitution had ensured ideological freedom,“ said the party . RPP has been campaigning for reinstatement of a Hindu state since Nepal became a secular nation through a parliament declaration in 2008, when monarchy was abolished following the success of a people's movement.

“The RPP does not accept the decision which would forbid the party's principal norm, and requests the EC to rethink the decision,“ RPP spokesperson Roshan Karki said. The party has also decided to launch a nationwide street movement demanding reinstatement of the Hindu state.

2017

May 2017: Resignation by "Prachanda"

Nepalese PM quits, makes way for Deuba, May 25, 2017: The Times of India

Nepal PM Prachanda resigned after a brief stint of nine months, honouring an understanding with the ruling coalition partner Nepali Congress to hand over the country's leadership to the largest party in Parliament.

His resignation has cleared way for his former rival and Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba, whose appointment is likely to be confirmed in a parliamentary vote within the next 10 days.Prachanda said he had followed a balanced foreign policy and succeeded in normalising relations with his neighbouring countries.

Impeachment motion against CJ; Dy PM quits

Impeachment motion against Nepal chief justice, dy PM quits, The Times of India, May 01 2017

Nepal's first woman Chief Justice Sushila Karki was suspended after an impeachment motion against her was registered in Parliament by two major ruling parties that accused her of “interfering“ with the executive and issuing “prejudiced“ verdicts.

As a fallout of the impeachment motion registered by the lawmakers of the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre), deputy Prime Minister and minister for home affairs Bimalendra Nidhi resigned over his dissatisfaction with the move. A close associate of Nidhi told reporters that he has serious reservations over the move. Nidhi leads the Nepali Congress, the largest constituent of the current ruling coalition, in the Cabinet. Karki (64) was automatically suspended after the registration of the motion.

Nepali Congress lawmaker Min Bishwokarma and CPN (Maoist Centre) chief whip Tek Bahadur Basnet, among other lawmakers, registered the motion in the Parliament secretariat on Sunday afternoon.

A total of 249 lawmakers from the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) have signed the motion which has accused Karki of “interfering in the jurisdiction of the executive and failing to issue verdicts without being prejudiced“.

Deputy Prime Minister and minister for local development Kamal Thapa also expressed his displeasure over the impeachment motion. In a tweet, Thapa said the move was objectionable and unfortunate.

Landslide victory for Communist parties

Left parties poised to form govt in Nepal after winning 105 seats, December 12, 2017: The Times of India

Nepal’s Communist parties were headed for a landslide win in elections seen as a turning point after two decades of conflict, political instability and disaster that have crippled the Himalayan country.

The landmark elections for national and provincial parliaments capped Nepal’s 11-year transition from monarchy to federal democracy after a brutal civil war. Many hope they will usher in a much-needed period of stability in the impoverished country, which has cycled through 10 prime ministers since 2006.

An alliance of the main Communist party and the country’s former Maoist rebels is expected to form the next government, ousting the ruling centrist Nepali Congress. “If Congress had done good work, it would not be wiped out like this from the country. The people are giving these parties a chance but if they do nothing for the country, they will also be wiped out,” said one voter.

The Himalayan Times said the leftist alliance’s strong mandate meant the country “could experience political stability,” which it has lacked over the last decade, but cautioned that a strong opposition was also crucial in the young democracy.

With counting still going on, the alliance has won 105 seats in the national parliament, according to preliminary data from the election commission. The incumbent Nepali Congress has won just 21. That puts the alliance on course for a hefty majority in the country’s 275-seat parliament.

The assembly is made up of 165 directly-elected seats, while the rest are allocated on a proportional representation basis, guaranteeing seats for women, people from indigenous communities and the lowest Dalit caste.

The Communist bloc is also leading in six out of seven provincial assemblies mandated in a new national constitution. The charter was finally agreed by parliament in 2015 in a rare moment of cross-party consensus, months after the country was devastated by a powerful earthquake. It laid the ground for a sweeping overhaul of the political system to devolve power from the centre to newly-created provinces. It was intended to build on the promise of a more inclusive society, integral to the 2006 peace deal that ended the decade-long civil war between Maoists and the state.