<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4dd9c7e80680e0d30c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="667" height="1000"/><figcaption>Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (UML) chair K P Oli are back in a coalition government, ousting Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Nepali Congress. Photo: GOPEN RAI</figcaption></figure>On Sunday, Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/left-led-coalition-upturns-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appointed Nepal’s Prime Minister</a> by President Bidya Devi Bhandari with support from the UML, effectively putting an end to the very coalition government formed to oust the UML's KP Oli from power in 2021.Dahal finally has his coveted third term as Prime Minister, having last held the position in 2016. With support from seven political parties, his left-led alliance has a 169-majority in the House, even as it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-past-is-foretold-in-nepal-poll-results/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">only the third-largest in Parliament</a> with 32 elected members.Until Saturday, a day before the President’s deadline to form a majority government ended, Dahal had maintained his commitment to the NC-led coalition. But the Maoist supremo did a dramatic U-turn when he and NC chair and prime minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> failed to reach an agreement over which one of them would become PM first under the new government.Insiders said Dahal said he was going off to lunch and would return to continue the negotiations, but instead Deuba and other NC members heard he had gone to K P Oli's residence in Balkot to get his support.Dahal’s desire to become prime minister seems to have overruled everything else -- ideology, principles, and the 'liberation' of the people for which he waged a ruinous 10-year insurgency. As soon as Oli offered him the first stab at prime ministership on the condition of breaking away from the former alliance, all bets were off.“The best interests of the party and party leaders have become secondary to the Chairman’s personal interests,” says a Maoist official. “Breaking the alliance just so he could get to be Prime Minister was a shameful political act.”Had Dahal been a bit more patient, not only would he have been prime minister anyway in two years, his party's nominees would also have bagged the posts of President and House Speaker, not to mention plum ministerial positions over the next five years. Now, it will be Oli who will be pulling the strings on appointments even if Dahal is prime minister.A continued alliance with the NC would have benefited of many more of the Maoist rank and file. With this deal, only Dahal benefits. As of Monday morning, a Maoist Centre meeting has decided to appoint party vice-chair Narayan Kaji Shrestha deputy prime minister.While Dahal has bagged premiership at the expense of his own party, Oli — whose UML is the second-largest in Parliament after the November election — has shrewdly  gained the upperhand once again, playing the long game by agreeing to give Dahal the first go at leading the government while bagging plum political positions for his party in the process.Indeed, Dahal may be in the the prime minister's seat, but Oli is the one calling the shots.And with a left-led alliance now in power, Sher Bahadur Deuba have been out-maneuvered even though he has been considered to be a clever deal-maker, as evidenced by the five times he has been prime minister from the days of the monarchy in 1997.Just like Dahal, Deuba’s quest to lead the government for the sixth time left him unable to make an objective assessment of his and his party’s political future. Now, the NC which won only 23 FPTP seats in the election, finds itself in the opposition despite being the largest party in the House.The big loser in all this has been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-up-is-hard-to-do/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Madhav Kumar Nepal</a> who split from the UML to back the Deuba-led coalition last year, and was angling for a senior appointments for his CPN (Unified Socialist). Dahal and Oli largely ignored Nepal as being a bit player, his clout diminished further by his party's power performance in elections.Nepal subsequently grew closer with Dahal, breaking from the UML to eventually launch his own political party. Now, his party after a poor show in the local as well as national polls finds itself without national recognition in Parliament or the backing of a multi-party alliance.Had Nepal not put his entire weight behind Dahal and focused on an election strategy and party expansion, perhaps CPN-US would not have missed the chance to become a national party.A secretariat meeting conducted after Dahal’s abrupt exit from the coalition meeting in Baluwatar and subsequent foray to Oli’s residence in Balkot on Sunday was unable to dispel the uncertainty regarding the future of the CPN-US.“After a serious discussion regarding recent political developments, we have decided to move forward in the best interests of the country, our people, and the party,” read its vague statement.The UML-Maoist alliance has also blindsided senior NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel, who had been banking on continuing the coalition with Dahal as Prime Minister so that he could become President, making his own backroom deals with Maoist and CPN-US leaders since before the election.In the aftermath of the election, as the top political leaders negotiated to form a government in the absence of a clear majority in parliament, there had been much discourse about how a more stable government could be formed through an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/back-to-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NC-UML alliance</a>. After all, such an alliance had been possible in 2013.The Maoists make up only 11% of the 275-member Parliament, so the appointment of Dahal as PM is contrary to the people’s mandate. It has brought into question why elections should even be held when the results have no bearing on who leads the government.But this is not the first time something of this nature has happened in Nepali politics. RPP leaders Lokendra Bahadur Chand and Surya Bahadur Thapa were both elevated to prime minister in 1997 by the UML and NC respectively after the parties that fought to restore multiparty democracy polarised Nepal's politics.as In the next 30 days, Dahal will have to obtain a vote of confidence from the House per Article 76(4) of Nepal’s constitution. So, there could still be some surprises. He will need support from all seven parties that were behind his bid to become prime minister, which means more murky wheeling and dealing.Dahal, whose idea of democracy was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pushpa-kamal-dahal-is-still-prachanda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rooted in the armed struggle</a>, does not have the best record with human rights, freedom of speech, and Nepal’s larger political process.But now, as prime minister, he needs to see beyond his personal ambition and keep the lines of communication between Baluwatar, Budhanilkantha and Balkot open. This will be in the best interest of Nepal’s democracy, federalism, and republicanism.

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Oli-Dahal political déjà vu

<figure><img width="1364" height="740" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d17f99c7e80680e0ac798jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>Three months after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">assuming office for the fifth time</a>, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday finally expanded his Cabinet after reaching a power-sharing agreement with his coalition partners.Sixteen new ministers and two new state ministers were inducted to be later sworn in by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-is-delaying-nepal-cabinet-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appointments were delayed</a> by haggling over important ministerial portfolios between four of the five members of the coalition, and between factions within individual parties.The Cabinet expansion triggered a widening controversy this week as news emerged that Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana wanted two of his nominees to also be given ministries. This raised objections from a cross-section of the media as well from within the legal fraternity and Prime Minister Deuba’s own Nepali Congress (NC).Critics saw this as not just going against the accepted practice of not nominating unelected representatives to the Cabinet, but also because of what they characterised as a blatant violation of the doctrine of separation of powers.  In the end, Deuba only took in one of the candidates reportedly proposed by Chief Justice Rana: Gajendra Bahadur Hamal who is now Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister.Hamal is the brother-in-law of Chief Justice Rana, and has also been a long-standing NC member in western Nepal, but was not a MP in the federal Parliament. Rana refuted allegations that he had proposed Hamal’s ministership, but most analysts believe that he was exacting a pound of flesh for his landmark Supreme Court ruling in May that led to Deuba replacing K P Oli as prime minister.The coalition partners have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/government-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">divided up the ministerial portfolios</a> such that the NC has eight ministers, and the Maoist Centre (MC) has five, while Upendra Yadav’s JSP and Madhav Nepal’s UML Unified Socialist (US) have four ministers each. (See list, below)The MC, US, and the JSP also have one state minister each.The expansion had been delayed due to competing demands within members of the five-party alliance, including from the Ram Chandra Poudel faction of Deuba’s own NC, as well as factions within Nepal’s UML-US party. And since this is going to be a coalition that will oversee elections in 2023, the parties all wanted influential ministries like home, foreign, communication, or those with the biggest budgets: education, agriculture, transport and physical infrastructure.While the MC had already sent its list of recommended ministers to Deuba on Wednesday, and the UML-US had reached an internal agreement, the JSP and NC were still finalising their list of ministers till early Thursday.Of the eight ministers from NC, Deuba has distributed the Law and Defence Ministries to Poudel loyalists: Dilendra Prasad Badu and Minendra Rijal respectively. Additionally, Uma Kanta Chaudhary from the NC’s Krishna Prasad Sitaula camp has been appointed Minister of Water Supply.The NC had already taken Home, Foreign, and Law Ministries when Deuba took office three months ago. Now it also has Ministries of Communications and Information Technology, Women, Children and Senior Citizens, and Industry, Commerce and Supplies.  <figure><img width="1260" height="686" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d17fb9c7e80680e0ac799jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The MC had also reserved two powerful ministries for itself soon after joining the coalition in May: Janardan Sharma at finance, and Pampha Bhusal at energy. The Maoists have now added Devendra Poudel at the Education Ministry, Sashi Shrestha at Land Management. The JSP has got the miniseries in agriculture, physical infrastructure and transport, forests and federal affairs. <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-post-breakup-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Madhav Nepal’s UML-US</a>, which joined the political alliance after Deuba’s controversial ordinance to amend the Political Parties Act allowed him to break away from former prime minister K P Oli’s UML, has the Health, Labour, Culture, Tourism and Urban Development Ministries. <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/political-expediency-trumps-nepal-constitution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deuba later repealed the ordinance</a> at great moral and political cost to make way for cabinet expansion because the move was seen to have bent the Constitution to fulfil his partisan interest. Among the new ministers appointed today, none are from the senior leaders of the parties which have nominated their second-rung leaders. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pushpa-kamal-dahal-is-still-prachanda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> of the MC, Madhav Kumar Nepal of the UML-US have already become prime ministers before, and Upendra Yadav of the JSP has been minister many times in previous coalitions. This also means that Deuba has not had to appoint anyone deputy prime minister for reasons of seniority. Notable among the new ministers are the UML-US’ former firebrand student leader Ram Kumari Jhankri as Minister of Urban Planning. Besides her, four other ministers are women:  the NC’s Uma Regmi as Minister of Women and Children, Renu Yadav of the JSP as Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, and the previously appointed Pampha Bhusal of the Maoist as Minister of Energy. And Sashi Shrestha of the RJM as Minister of Land Management. List of Ministers: Prime Minsiter:  Sher Bahadur Deuba, NC Home Ministry: Bal Krishna Khand, NC Communication and Information Ministry: Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, NC Energy, Water and Irrigation Ministry: Pampha Bhusal, MC Federal Affairs and Administration Ministry: Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, UML US Health and Population Ministry: Birodh Khatiwada, UML-US Finance Ministry: Janardan Sharma, MC Defence Ministry, Minendra Rijal, NC Water Supply Ministry: Uma Kanta Chaudhary, NC Foreign Ministry: Narayan Khadka, NC Physical Infrastrucutre and Transport Ministry: Renu Yadav, JSP Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry: Prem Bahadur Ale, UML-US Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry: Dilendra Prasad Bandi Education Ministry: Devendra Poudel, MC Agriculture Ministry: Mahendra Rai Yadav, JSP Women, Children and Senior Citizens Ministry: Uma Regmi, NC Urban Development Ministry: Ram Kumari Jhankri, UML-US Industries Ministry: Gajendra Bahadur Hama NC (Uneleected) Forests and Environment Ministry: Ram Sahaya Yadav, JSP Land Management Ministry: Sashi Shrestha, MC Labour Ministry: Krishna Kumar Shrestha, MC Youth and Sports Ministry: Maheswar Jung Gahatraj, MC State Ministers PMO Office: Umesh Shrestha, NC Health Ministry: Bhawani Prasad Khapung, UML-US Education Ministry: Bodh Maya Kumari Yadav, MC

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Nepal govt fills Cabinet after 3 months

<figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02999c7e80680e0a368cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>On 9 September, while a US delegation was landing at Kathmandu airport on a four-day visit, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha got together at the residence of Upendra Yadav for an important meeting.The Nepali Congress, which leads a five-party coalition government, was not invited to the discussion between its own partners.The meeting was to discuss a common posture of the coalition members towards a<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-millennium-challenge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> $500 million US grant</a> under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to upgrade Nepal’s electricity transmission lines and highways.Cross-party support for the much-needed infrastructure project should have been a no-brainer, but MCC ratification has become such a political hot potato that it <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/mcc-row-rocks-nepals-ruling-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">threatens Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s ruling alliance</a>, two months into his fifth term in office.Deuba’s current coalition made up of Dahal’s Maoist Centre, Nepal’s breakaway CPN (Unified Socialist), and the Rastriya Janamorcha parties are opposed to the project. In fact, Rastriya Janamorcha even staged a street protest on 7 September, two days before MCC vice president Sumar landed in Kathmandu.Deuba’s NC has been in favour of ratifying the MCC in parliament since his Nepali Congress-Maoist coalition government signed the agreement in 2017 during his fourth term as prime minister. In fact, Deuba’s political rival KP Oli backed the MCC after he succeeded Deuba in 2018. <figure><img width="1131" height="1455" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d029c9c7e80680e0a368djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>MCC vice-president Fatema Z Sumar with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.</figcaption></figure>Baburam Bhattarai was Prime Minister in 2012 when Nepal was selected for the MCC threshold program. Bhattarai is now with another coalition partner, the Janata Samajbadi Party, but while he has been speaking publicly in support of MCC, his colleague Yadav is hedging his bets. Hence his inclusion in the meeting with Dahal and Nepal on 9 September. Ironically, a bilateral negotiating team was formed for the MCC Compact during Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s stint as Prime Minister in 2017. Dahal later changed his stance and joined up with dissidents from Oli’s own UML, who considered the project as being ‘anti-national’, to ultimately <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/own-goal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remove him from power</a> in July. As internal disputes within the erstwhile NCP escalated, a task force including Bhim Rawal, Jhala Nath Khanal, and then foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali suggested that the MCC could be ratified, but after amendments. Had the process not been deadlocked by the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/knowing-whats-good-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feud between Oli and Dahal</a>,  it could easily have been endorsed by Parliament then.Differing views within the ruling coalition towards the United States, as well as individual and party relationships with neighbouring India and China, have stopped the project from moving forward as it nears a deadline for acceptance.“Nepal’s political leadership has failed to recognise the difference between ultranationalism and patriotism,” says Khadga KC, a professor at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at Tribhuvan University. “Geopolitics has now permeated right down the political chain of command of the parties that seek to use the clash between an imperialist America and an expansionist China on the one hand and between China and India on the other.”Deuba has lately been seen to be a bit too eager to please New Delhi by not raising the issue of a Nepali man who was killed while trying to cross a wire bridge across the Mahakali river into India, as well as resurrect an already settled border dispute with China in Humla.  <figure><img width="1800" height="850" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02a09c7e80680e0a368ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Nepali Congress leader Jeevan Bahadur Shahi's team with security personnel during an inspection of the Nepal-China border in Humla. Photo: JANAK SHAHI</figcaption></figure>In response, the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU) associated with the CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Maoist Center held anti-India street protests. The significance of the ‘student’ wings of parties in the ruling coalition <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/mcc-damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-dont/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">protesting the policy of the prime minister</a> was not lost on anyone. If Deuba was hoping for New Delhi’s support for the MCC, that has not been forthcoming. The project’s power lines would increase the capacity of future export of surplus electricity to India. In fact, most analysts see China’s hand in behind the scenes lobbying against the MCC they regard as America’s response to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/bri-and-trans-himalayan-connectivity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beijing's Belt Road Initiative (BRI)</a>. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/afghanistan-abandoned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fall out of the US defeat in Afghanistan</a>, its growing tension with China with last week’s strategic AUKUS pact with Australia and Britain in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing growing global clout have undermined the prospect of the MCC going ahead in Nepal. Diplomatic experts see an attempt by Deuba to use the China border issue and the formation of an investigative committee to ingratiate himself with India so it will openly support the US project. Nepal signed a framework agreement on the BRI in 2017 after the Indian Blockade of 2015 prompted Kathmandu to plan alternative trans-Himalayan trade routes. Critics of the agreement interpreted this as Beijing’s increased influence in Nepal. “Deuba is trying to counter the narrative that Nepal is cosying up to Beijing and the BRI so as to assuage New Delhi,” says Professor KC. In November 2019, India issued a political map that included disputed border areas of Kalapani and Limpiyadhura. In response, Prime Minister Oli got Parliament to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-passes-map-bill-india-reacts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unanimously pass an amendment bill</a> to include the territory in its national emblems and its own political map, much to New Delhi’s chagrin. And while the border issue with China is gaining traction, Professor KC says that the Nepal Congress has failed to offer any criticism to India regarding Limpiyadhura as well as the 2015 blockade. Says Professor KC: “Nepal’s diplomatic relations have unnecessarily jeopardised due to the selfishness and immaturity of the political leadership. Nepal must restore the strategic balance in its stance towards the triangular rivalry between China, India and the US.” Experts say that Nepal has not been able to come up with a coherent response to this changed geostrategic terrain globally and in the region, and its leaders react in an ad hoc manner, allowing a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/using-the-delay-in-mcc-to-dissect-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">development grant like the MCC</a> to become a pingpong in domestic politics.  Former Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey says that Nepal should have a consistent and common foreign policy messaging on matters like the MCC, even though there might be internal disputes. “Nepal’s foreign policy is not fixed and keeps changing as the government changes hands,” says Pandey. “In fact, not only does our foreign policy change based on the political party in power, every political leader seems to want to dictate the country’s foreign policy.” Former Ambassador Dinesh Bhattarai believes that while the NC’s foreign policy has been fairly consistent from the beginning, Nepal's diplomatic relations especially with its neighbours have been affected by other parties using geopolitics for their domestic power struggles. “When parties which are part of a coalition government themselves take to the streets in protest, it affects our international diplomacy and credibility negatively,” says Bhattarai. He says Nepal's international credibility will hit rock bottom if the MCC Compact is not ratified: “It will mark a strategic shift in our relationship with the United States, and affect our relationship with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank.”  (Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125877">original</a> in the September-October issue of Himal Khabarpatrika.)

Nepal stuck between rock and hard place

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00bb9c7e80680e0a35f2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1460" height="1086"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took office nearly two months ago, but aside from five ministers he <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-is-delaying-nepal-cabinet-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has not been able to set up a full Cabinet</a>.It is not for the lack of trying: he needs to balance disparate demands of coalition partners who want their rewards for backing him. The second Covid wave may be waning, and Kathmandu Valley lifted its three-month lockdown on Wednesday, but the economy and development are at a standstill.But that seems to be of little concern to personalities in the parlours of power whose eyes are set on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/they-fail-we-fall/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">grabbing important portfolios</a> ahead of the 2023 elections so they can build up war chests, as well as command the government and security apparatus.Staking their claims to Cabinet positions are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/old-wine-in-old-bottle-in-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Madhav Kumar Nepal</a> who launched his own party, the CPN (United Socialist) on 25 August, and whose defection in July led to the collapse of the K P Oli government, and paved the way for Deuba to become prime minister for the fifth time.Deuba also needs to pacify other members of the five-party alliance, including his own Nepali Congress (NC), where rival factions need to be placated ahead of his party’s general convention in November so that he can counter rivals for presidentship.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deuba</a> has to decide whether it is more important to pacify dissidents like Ram Chandra Poudel, or dangle carrots in front of members supporting Bimalendra Nidhi’s candidature for president of the NC.The Maoist Centre (MC) is also demanding its share, and not just a pound of flesh. The MC’s Pushpa Kamal Dahal complained publicly that he was under “tremendous stress” because of demands from many of the party’s 49 members for ministerships. “I wish I could make all 49 MPs ministers, but there are only 7 slots,” an exasperated Dahal told a gathering last month.Then there is the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) which, besides its own ministerial candidates, is also putting pressure on Deuba to retract the ordinance he used to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-post-breakup-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allow Madhav Nepal to split off from the UML</a>.That ordinance allowed the Mahanta Thakur faction to also break away from the JSP because it lowered the constitutional threshold of parliamentary party membership for a formal split. The JSP now fears more dissidents may leave the party.Two lengthy meetings of coalition leaders this week in Baluwatar failed to agree on the ministerial lineup. The NC and MC have divided up the most important ministries between themselves. Deuba already has his loyalists in the home affairs and law ministries, and the state minister for health. The Maoists have finance and energy. The two also want to keep foreign affairs, defence, and information.The JSP and United Socialists will have to make do with remaining ministries, and are haggling over the more lucrative ones. Deuba’s problem is that the Constitution only allows 25 ministries in government, and his aides say the partners are working on a compromise but a deal “may take a few more days”.There are also demands from within coalition members. Dahal has to placate comrades from the conflict days. Even the JSP has not been able to finalise its list in order to strike a Mountain-Madhes balance. The remaining member of the alliance, Rastriya Janamorcha has only one MP and has said it does not want to be a part of the government.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/from-the-fire-into-the-frying-pan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deuba</a> is working on a quota of 5-7 portfolios for Madhav Nepal’s United Socialists, five more ministries for the Maoists and the JSP, and five more for his own NC. And with that he will have hit the limit for Cabinet size. Negotiations within the coalition are expected to drag on.

Who gets what?

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141136/636cfe6b9c7e80680e0a0c3ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1260" height="686"/>Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took office over a month ago, but aside from six ministers he has not been able to set up a full Cabinet yet because of the need to balance the demands of coalition partners.This is despite the need to have all hands on deck to tackle the health and economic emergency caused by the Covid-19 crisis. The delay cannot just be attributed to the recently registered CPN (United Socialist) led by Madhav Kumar Nepal whose critical dissident votes forced the K P Oli government to step down in July and paved the way for Deuba to become prime minister for the fifth time.It appears that the delay has more to do with the competing g demands within other members of the five-party alliance, including Deuba’s own Nepali Congress, the Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP).Both Prime Minister Deuba and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had claimed that the Cabinet would be expanded as soon as CPN-UML’s senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal’s new party (United Socialist) was officially registered. Yet, even after being recognised by the Election Commission on August 25, Cabinet expansion has not happened.Deuba has not been able to decide the next ministers from his own party, and because of the upcoming party general convention he wants to reward loyalists. So far he has appointed his trusted aides Bal Krishna Khand as Home Minister, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Umesh Shrestha as Minister of State for Health.Deuba has announced his own candidacy for NC resident in the party’s next general convention which is scheduled for November. Deuba may be trying to decide on distributing ministerial portfolios to either reward loyal party members or buy the loyalty of dissidents.So far, Deuba wants to appoint only those who have expressed their support for his re-election with ministerships. But he may find that he will have to compromise and take in key figures from the Bimalendra Nidhi and Ram Chandra Poudel factions so they will vote for his party presidency.Another reason for the delay comes from the Maoist Center. Currently, former guerrilla commander Janardan Sharma has been appointed Finance Minister and Pampha Bhusal has been made the Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation minister. Both are close to party president Pushpa Kamal Dahal.Dahal himself publicly admitted last month that he was finding it difficult to select from his 49 Maoist MPs aspirants for ministerships. He said: “At most, we will be given only 7 portfolios. It has now become common practice to criticise the party if one is not made minister. I am under immense stress from all the demands. I wish I was able to make all 49 members ministers.”Within the Maoist Centre, voices have been raised that leaders from the Ekta Kendra and the CPN (United Socialist), who have been with the Maoists since the war and integrated with the Maoists after the peace process, should be included in the government.Even the JSP has split, and not been able to finalise the names of those who will join the government. Unable to strike a Mountain-Tarai balance, the Rastriya Janata Party led by Mahanta Thakur has been unable to finalise names either. The other member of the alliance, Rastriya Janamorcha, which has only one MP in Parliament has already announced that it will not participate in the government.Deuba has not forgotten the role Madhav Nepal’s CPN (United played in getting him to office and apparently wants to reward it with 5-7 portfolios. And it could be that Nepal will also need time to decide on a list of ministers to give Deuba.  Translated by Aryan Sitaula from the Nepali language original in Himal Khabar: <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125640" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125640&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630376494617000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzH53P7H76MS467An-uvZMV9i_UQ">https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125640</a>

What is delaying Nepal cabinet expansion?

<figure><img width="800" height="478" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfddd9c7e80680e0a0c0ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Leaders of Oli-led UML gather for a photo after a Standing Committee meeting on 24 August. Photo: PRADEEP GYAWALI/TWITTER</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s Election Commission on Wednesday evening officially recognised and certified Madhav Kumar Nepal’s UML (Socialist) and Mahanta Thakur’s Loktantrik Samajwadi (LSP) parties. Nepal’s disagreement with K P Oli ended up <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-1-step-forward-2-steps-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">splitting Nepal’s largest party</a>,  even though Oli has managed to woo back a dozen or so of the most influential Nepal-backers. In almost identical but reverse symmetry, Thakur had sided with Oli, and that too ended up splitting his JSP so that he had to form a new one. The registration of two new political parties has taken the total number of political parties in Nepal to 97. However, the way political leaders including <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deubas-long-and-winding-road/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister Deuba</a>, and Oli when he was head of government, bent constitutional rules to suit their short-term power games does not bode well for Nepal’s democracy, and future governance. Earlier on Wednesday, 59 lawmakers from the UML had identified themselves in favour of the UML (Socialist) at the Election Commission, while 14 MPs from the JSP were verified for the LSP. <figure><img width="800" height="473" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfddf9c7e80680e0a0c0bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Madhav Kumar Nepal and other leaders arrived at the Election Commission on Wednesday to verify for the Nepal-led UML (Socialist) party. Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>The two new entities were able to split from their mother parties after Prime Minister Deuba of the centrist Nepali Congress (NC) <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/old-wine-in-old-bottle-in-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bypassed the Constitution with an ordinance</a> last week allowing political parties to split with only 20% support from the Central Committee and the parliamentary parties.To do this, Parliament had to be adjourned despite a crucial budget debate. But he needed to go through with it to accommodate Nepal’s group in his five-party alliance government as a reward for mutinying against Oli, and bringing down his government in June.Most political moves have something to do with elections in mind, and these power dynamics are also dictated by polls. Some see Deuba’s move to split Nepal’s largest party, the UML, as a shrewd move ahead of polls scheduled for 2023.But Sher Bahadur Deuba also got badly exposed for hypocrisy. In 2020, he had spoken out vehemently against <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-oli-goes-it-alone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">K P Oli’s attempt to pass a similar ordinance</a>, and his ordinance was sharply criticised across the political aisle, including from within his own NC. These new circumstances will not only impact how the UML and JSP will move forward, but have far-reaching consequences for Nepal’s political and parliamentary processes. Cabinet expansionIt has been 40 days since he assumed office, but Deuba seems to be in no particular hurry to expand his Cabinet beyond just the four ministers he has from the Maoists and his own NC. However, we have word that he is working behind the scenes, trying to divide up ministerial positions, balance competing demands from his five-party alliance that propelled him to prime ministership <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">for the fifth time</a>.  <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfde29c7e80680e0a0c0cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal attend newly-appointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's oath of office in July. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>There is no doubt that his ordinance move was meant to facilitate his ally Madhav Nepal’s participation in government. NC leaders admit that Deuba will move to fill the Cabinet quickly now that the UML split is official.  "We had been waiting for Madhav Nepal," says NC joint general secretary and close Deuba confidante Prakash Sharan Mahat, “the cabinet should now be complete within the next couple of days.” UML (Socialist) leader Veduram Bhusal says that although there has not been a formal decision to join Deuba’s government, the party will remain in the coalition.  “Madhav Nepal played a significant role in forming the current government, and the government is even stronger now that our party has been officially recognised,” he said. Parliament serves a full term In July, Deuba received 165 votes in Parliament to pass the floor test, including from 22 lawmakers from the Nepal faction of the UML and surprisingly, from the entire pro-Oli Mahanta Thakur faction within the JSP.  That Deuba got that support beyond the required simple majority of 138 votes increased the likelihood that Parliament will after all be able to serve its full term after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/supreme-court-puts-nepal-politics-back-on-track/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oli dissolved it twice</a> amid fierce infighting within his party. Possible UML reunification The UML was established in 1990 after the unity of two communist parties and had split once before in 1997 only to be reunited three years later.  So, there is still a slight possibility that history will be repeated. Indeed, as Madhav Nepal moves forward with his rump party, Oli has also been planning his next political move.  The former prime minister has been stepping up party activities standing shoulder to shoulder with his enemies and staunch former Madhav Nepal allies like Bhim Rawal, Astalaxmi Shakya, Surendra Pandey, Ghanshyam Bhusal, Yogesh Bhattarai, Gokarna Bista, and Raghuji Pant. These gentlemen, and one lady, obviously saw their electoral prospects would be brighter if they remained in the original UML with Oli. New electoral alliances Besides negotiations on government formation, leaders of the Maoist (Centre), UML (Socialist), and JSP have already begun to explore the possibility of forming an electoral alliance ahead of the polls in 2023.  In fact, political analyst Shyam Shrestha believes that Mohan Baidha and Netra Bikram Chand factions of the Maoists could also join the alliance if Madhav Nepal’s party “adopts a slightly more revolutionary path”. Considering the similar ideological backgrounds of leaders like Upendra Yadav, Baburam Bhattarai, Ashok Rai, Mahendra Rai Yadav, and Rakam Chemjong, a ‘socialist’ alliance indeed looks possible —at least on paper.  However, the implosion of the ambitious UML-Maoist (Centre) merger into the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) that barely lasted three years has made leftist leaders wary of forging similar marriages of convenience. Says Giriraj Mani Pokhrel of the Maoists (Centre): “The UML and the Maoist (Centre) have both learned that unity is only possible if all parties involved are on the same page regarding political, ideological and organisational issues, and that such a meeting of minds lasts.” Transliteration by Shristi Karki from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125597">Himal Khabar original</a> in Nepali.

Nepal’s post-breakup politics

<figure><img width="2777" height="2385" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfd6c9c7e80680e0a0be3jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>A month after the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-court-orders-deuba-to-succeed-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">downfall of his government</a>, K P Oli's inability to keep his party together is still rocking Nepal's larger politics with aftershocks.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-accidental-prime-minister/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> has repeated transgressions of his predecessor to allow political parties to split through ordinance -- exactly the sin his five-party alliance <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pressure-mounts-on-pm-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">accused Oli of committing</a> to oust him.Deuba ended the Parliament session, the budget debate be damned, just so that he could get President Bidya Devi Bhandari to sign the ordinance that that will now allow his ally Madhav Kumar Nepal to form a new party.The ordinance allows political parties to split even if only 20% of the Central Committee and the parliamentary party support it — obviously meant to allow Madhav Nepal’s UML (Socialist) party to break away from Oli’s mainstream UML so it can join the government.But Deuba’s move has been condemned across the political spectrum, including from within his own Nepali Congress (NC) where there was scathing rebuke from senior members.  ‘It doesn’t matter who does it, it is wrong to pass an ordinance like this in a democracy. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now,’ the NC’s Gagan Thapa posted on Twitter. ‘Anyone who stood against Oli’s moves back then has no right to support it at this time.’ The NC’s Shekhar Koirala described his own boss’ decision to end the Parliament session to directly influence the division of another political party as being ‘against the culture of the Nepal Congress’.  <blockquote>संसद अधिवेशन हठात अन्य गरेर संसद छल्दै अध्यादेश ल्याउनु गलत!हिजो गलत,आज गलत,सधैं गलत,जसले गरेपनि गलत 👎️ हिजो ओलीले ल्याउँदा गलत भन्ने,त्यसको विरुद्धमा उभिने कसैलाई पनि आज समर्थन गर्ने हक छैन/हुँदैन।समर्थन गर्ने भए त्यतिवेला विरोध गरेकोमा सार्वजनिक माफी माग्नुपर्छ।— Gagan Thapa (@thapagk) <a href="https://twitter.com/thapagk/status/1427831835984236547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2021</a></blockquote> Experts agree that ordinances passed to serve short-term partisan interests will have far-reaching consequences for Nepal’s political and parliamentary processes. “The prime minister passed this ordinance allowing parties to split with just 20% support, what if in future other ordinances bring down the required votes to 10%, or even 5%,” asks political analyst Puranjan Acharya. Oli seems to have gotten wind of Deuba’s move, and on Tuesday expelled 14 party members including Madhav Nepal before that could happen. That sealed the fate of the UML.“We tried our best until the final moment to keep the party united, but K P Oli closed the door,” Nepal said at a virtual public sector meeting on Tuesday.However, Deuba’s supporters in the party saw it as a shrewd move to split the powerful UML so that his party would be better placed in elections in 2023.Nepal moved quickly on Wednesday to register his CPN-UML (Socialist) at the Election Commission with 95 Central Committee members, 58 among which have switched over with him from Oli’s UML.However, popular second-echelon leaders like Bhim Rawal, Gokarna Bista and Ghanashyam Bhusal, who had been mediating between the two leaders, have not joined Nepal’s new party. They appear to have feared a backlash for supporting the NC, and also seen better prospects in elections if they stayed on in the UML. <img width="2106" height="1320" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfd6f9c7e80680e0a0be4jpeg.jpg" alt="">Ironically, Deuba’s ordinance seems to have also directly benefited Mahanta Thakur, who had also been demoted from the JSP’s Central Committee for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/going-down-with-the-ship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">supporting Oli</a>.If it were not for the ordinance, Thakur would not have been able to muster the 40% of parliamentary party membership that was earlier required to register his own JSP (Democratic). The UML <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/tried-tested-and-failed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">split despite efforts by the rank-and-file to keep it together</a> only because Oli and Nepal could not get along. Nepal accused Oli of authoritarianism, and Oli was angry about Nepal siding with the opposition alliance to unseat him. But at the heart of it was an ego-clash between Nepal's top communists.'Nepal’s communist movement is built on the revolutionary vision of our forefathers and the sacrifices of thousands of martyrs and warriors, and we want to prevent it from collapse,' Madhav Nepal said in a statement. “To achieve our goal, and to move in the direction of scientific socialism, we must take firm steps towards our national independence and self-respect.’The UML was established in 1990 after the unity of two communist factions, and split before in 1997 only to be reunited three years later. There is no reason why it cannot do so again if Oli and Nepal are out of the picture. Deuba’s five-party coalition has undoubtedly been playing the long game, with eyes on the 2023 local, provincial and federal polls and to recoup its drubbing in 2017. The bigger question now is how the hydra-headed five party alliance is going to divide up the spoils of government ahead of those elections. But as farsighted as Deuba may be about political strategy, he has not been as efficient in forming a government to tackle the country’s multiple crises. He has been unable to expand his cabinet beyond four ministers, and Nepal’s foreign and labour ministries at a crucial time remain without a leader even as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/bring-us-home-says-nepali-in-kabul/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">thousands of Nepalis trapped</a> in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/who-will-rescue-nepalis-from-afghanistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">await repatriation</a>.The delay is due to Deuba having to balance conflicting claims to senior ministerial berths from his alliance partners. He has to appease his once arch-enemy Pushpa Kamal Dahal, accommodate the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/jsp-as-nepals-king-maker-party/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kingmaker JSP</a>, and reward Nepal for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/parliamentary-whiplash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bringing in the swing votes to oust Oli</a>. All the while, he has to keep rival factions within his own party led by Ram Chandra Poudel at bay.This political disarray among Nepal’s three biggest parties is to the advantage of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-party-reincarnating-hindu-monarchy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">royal-Hindu-right parties</a> who want to cash in on public disillusionment by flagging secularism, federalism and even republicanism as being unsuitable for Nepal.Rabindra Mishra of the alternative Bibeksheel-Sajha party has felt the public pulse, and knows there is considerable support for Nepal reverting to a Hindu state, if not a monarchy, and called for a referendum. Factions in the other parties also sympathise with this potentially potent election agenda, some more openly than others. The fierce reaction from mainstream parties against Mishra shows just how insecure they have become, but even this threat to roll back the Constitution has not been enough to end the infighting between and within them.Like all alliances, this will be fickle, driven by the self-interest of politicians with one eye on elections.

Old wine in old bottle in Nepal politics

<figure><img width="640" height="769" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfc929c7e80680e0a0b97jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: SUBASH RAI</figcaption></figure>At first glance it may look like the infighting within Nepal’s main political parties are internal matters, but the lack of a national purpose is adding to the people’s hardships at a time of national crisis. 
It was because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/k-p-oli-rams-it-home/">leadership clashes</a> that the NCP split vertically down the middle into the ominous sounding Unified Marxist-Leninists (UML) and the Maoist Centre (MC). The emasculated MC is now in dalliance with former sworn enemies, and the UML is not just in the opposition but is itself far from unified.
Former prime minister K P Oil has sidelined Madhav Kumar Nepal, and it now looks like not even a miracle will save the party. Nepal is now setting up a parallel party with its own cadre base.
The Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) is split in two. Technically, Mahanta Thakur and Rajendra Mahato may still be in the party, but they have been evicted from the Central Committee, sacked from the leadership, and along with 16 others are demoted to ordinary membership.
The Nepali Congress (NC) had greatness thrust upon it when Sher Bahadur Deuba became ‘<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-accidental-prime-minister/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">accidental prime minister</a>’ last month. But his feud with Ram Chandra Poudel goes back at least two decades. The Koirala clan could still have some heft within the party if only the family could speak in one voice.
NC infighting has prevented the party from conducting its 14th general assembly, which raises questions about internal democracy. The NC is not on the verge of a split like the UML or the JSP, but it is getting there.
Till press time on Thursday, Prime Minister Deuba <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-has-no-health-minister-as-covid-19-cases-rise-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has not been able to expand his Cabinet</a> beyond the three ministers he currently has. This is for no other reason than the need to offer lollipops to his own colleagues, reward the Maoists for carrying him on their shoulders, give the JSP its pound of flesh, and find a place for the pro-Nepal UML dissidents who cast the decisive vote. 
All this is nothing new. Ever since the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990, Nepal’s personality-driven politics has split because of personality clashes. The need to buy loyalty to divide and rule, or to keep parties together, contributed to the rot.
Successive elected governments have failed to deliver despite enormous mandates, and the same feckless faces have populated the political stage for the past two decades. This is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deubas-long-and-winding-road/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fifth time Deuba is prime minister</a> — that says it all.
Nepalis have long given up expecting anything good to come out of Singha Darbar. Except for party cadres, the ordinary citizen is least bothered about who said, or did, what to whom today.
However, such toxic and perpetual discord does not just hurt the parties, but keeps the country down, its self-esteem, governance, service delivery, long-term planning, crisis and disaster management.
It was K P Oli’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-up-is-hard-to-do/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inability to appease Dahal and Nepal</a> that drove the NCP and later the UML to a dead end. The winner takes all zero-sum game held the country hostage for three full years. 
Oli considered himself duly elected party chair and prime minister, and saw no reason why he had to give up either just because his rivals found him “autocratic”. But it was Oli’s failure as a supposedly astute politician to propitiate them.
Oli’s advisers now tell us that they were able to work properly for only half the time he was in power, the rest of the time was wasted on dealing with the political fallout of the power struggle at the top. As the pandemic spread, the rival factions spent millions on staging rented rallies as shows of force.
The instability allowed outside powers, and especially Nepal’s neighbours, to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/power-politics-delays-mcc-in-nepal/">meddle in</a> Nepal’s domestic politics. Those opposed to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-yam-between-two-indias/">hammer and sickle flag waving</a> over Nepal appeared to be most active behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, the government forgot all about the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-ruling-party-feud-affecting-covid-19-response/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">people reeling under a health and economic emergency</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-ruling-party-feud-affecting-covid-19-response/">.</a> No one expected much from the five-party coalition in government, and no one is surprised that we do not even have a fully functional government yet.
The five parties did manage to agree on a Common Minimum Program, which was just that: the bare minimum. Deuba and Dahal have so many mouths to feed within their parties that they haven’t been able to agree on ministerial portfolios. They are also waiting for Nepal to finally and formally leave the UML so his loyalists can also be offered positions in government. 
Not even the rise of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-party-reincarnating-hindu-monarchy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hindu right, monarchists</a>, or the call to scrap federalism and secularism has united Nepal’s politicians.

They fail, we fall

<figure><img width="918" height="645" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d07c59c7e80680e0a5fdbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nepali Times issues #53 (27 July-2 August 2001) and #67 (9-15 November 2001).</figcaption></figure>Sher Bahadur Deuba became Nepal’s prime minister last week, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-accidental-prime-minister/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-accidental-prime-minister/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748497000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOKQcVt5lo_DELvBty5qp0r8cv0A">won a confidence vote</a> in the House on 18 July. This is familiar terrain for a man who has been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/from-the-fire-into-the-frying-pan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/from-the-fire-into-the-frying-pan/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFBd1bSpQFQVPzpLxHDrFZMfDSSkQ">on this road four times before</a> in the last 26 years.And so have we, here at Nepali Times. Combing through our archives, we dug up the reports, commentaries and cartoons from the past 20 years about Deuba’s previous tenures as prime minister.Few national leaders are offered so many chances to get it right. Yet, as we can see from his past tenures including this one, Deuba has struck when the iron is hot to manoeuvre himself to prime ministership. However, there have not been too many examples of successful governance that stand out.And we hear that Deuba’s astrologers have told him he will be prime minister two more times after this!When Deuba became prime minister for the first time in 1995-97, it was still looking like the restoration of democracy and open economy would allow the country to finally take a great leap forward. Foreign Direct Investment was flowing in. His high-profile wife, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7457" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D7457&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHa4EJo-FajMullZm-SYyZRDjxzZw">Arzoo Deuba</a>, was a key link to the international community.Local elections were beginning to devolve political power to the grassroots, ensuring more accountability and spurring development. But that was when the Maoists decided that parliamentary democracy was too slow to bring an end to a feudal monarchy.Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai handed Deuba a 40-point demand (that included end to Gurkha recruitment and ban on Hindi movies) and an unrealistic deadline of a week to fulfil them. This was essentially a declaration of war, and sure enough on 13 February 1996 the Maoists launched their armed struggle. Deuba ignored the insurgency, and treated it like a law and order issue. But when he finally acted, it was to get the police to launch campaigns code named Kilo Sierra 1 and 2. Ordinary people in the western mountains were terrorised, and this drove them into the Maoist fold.During his <a style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6685#.YPVWlS9w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D6685%23.YPVWlS9w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEga2JokpL9JKkRFJZEoI4FOI5gFg">second term</a> as prime minister in 2001-02 following the massacre of the royal family, the army was dragged into war and casualties escalated. More people were killed in the year after the Royal Nepal Army joined the conflict than in the previous six years. <figure><img width="1202" height="619" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d07c89c7e80680e0a5fdcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Nepali Times issues #199 (4-10 June 2004), #229 (7-13 January 2005) and #859 (9-15 May 2017).</figcaption></figure>In 2002, Deuba dissolved Parliament (much like Oli did this year) declared a state of emergency and was eventually sacked by King Gyanendra who in a televised address called his prime minister “incompetent”.  The king used and disposed of Deuba like a raggedy doll, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2494#.YPVV7y9w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D2494%23.YPVV7y9w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE6v6VTP1eVpde_WfbZsNbHb2MUrA">bringing him back</a> as prime minister for his third time (<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2548#.YPVXJy9w0Wo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D2548%23.YPVXJy9w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGOoqiHiKJ4_feVzIVbcWnbGGDW3A">2004-05</a>) and then promptly putting him under house arrest for corruption after he staged <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1260#.WS_1fZJ97Dc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D1260%23.WS_1fZJ97Dc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEL0XfIiAV9awGFULZ3UgBg9QnCCA">a royal-military coup</a> on 1 February 2005. Despite the ignominy, Deuba kept <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dahal-deuba-oli,3151" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dahal-deuba-oli,3151&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFPICQ_VeXEU5l9gJkJpAzdZ8xPnw">resurrecting himself</a>. He returned to Baluwatar after 12 years in 2017 after consolidating his grip over the Nepali Congress and cobbling a coalition with the Maoists. Being prime minister between two phases of the election, Deuba after much bargaining with Dahal handed over the Home Ministry to the Maoists. He must have had a strong sense of déjà vu when he had to undertake <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/pm-deuba-iv,3745" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/pm-deuba-iv,3745&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1626787748498000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEU8RxRsa5FbgFypOpxoszBOJTtTw">identical negotiations</a> last week with Pushpa Kamal Dahal over the Cabinet. This time, not to repeat the mistake and with an eye on the 2023 elections, Deuba kept the Home Ministry but had to relinquish Finance to the Maoists. Now that he has won the vote in the House, there will be more parties to reward and appease with ministerial posts. There are no permanent friends and foes in politics. But it is an irony of ironies that Deuba is now at the helm with the help of 'Prachanda' who tried to assassinate him, and on whose head he had announced a ransom during the conflict. The return of Sher Bahadur Deuba signifies a break from the paralysing power struggle that prevented the Oli administration from addressing the people’s everyday concerns during the pandemic. The confidence vote this week also saves the exchequer an estimated Rs100 billion for an early election that will now not be needed. And because this is essentially an election government, Deuba will have to get his disparate coalition to perform and deliver like never before. If he can maintain discipline in the Cabinet, showcase transparency, make breakthroughs in vaccination, job creation and disaster relief, voters may take kindly to him. The signs are not good. Even before he won the vote, Deuba got his Nepali Congress colleague Bijya Kumar Gachhedar who had been convicted of corruption released on bail, and he has vowed to release another party member, Aftab Alam, who is in jail for murder. With this kind of track record, and given that this is a coalition with the Maoist Centre, we cannot expect meaningful progress on transitional justice for the victims of the conflict either.  If the Deuba government behaves like it has before, it will only give the UML the chance to exploit the NC's incumbency disadvantage to return to power in 2023.

Deuba's denouement

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07809c7e80680e0a5fc4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="810" height="540"/><figcaption>All photos: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> won a trust vote in the House of Representatives on Sunday, putting an end to more than two years of political turmoil in the country.Deuba filed a motion to seek the vote of confidence when the Parliament reconvened on Sunday, following a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-court-orders-deuba-to-succeed-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Supreme court verdict</a> that restored the Lower House dissolved by his predecessor KP Oli on 22 May.Deuba needed a simple majority of 136 out of 271 members of the current House members to pass the floor test. He received 165 votes out of the 249 members present in Parliament on Sunday. 83 lawmakers voted against him, and 1 lawmaker did not vote.“Deuba is an accidental prime minister, no one has any great expectations from him. We just hope that he will not do the country more harm,” says political analyst Puranjan Acharya.Deuba received votes from lawmakers of the Nepali Congress, Maoist Center, both the Yadav-Bhattarai and Thakur factions of the JSP, as well as Durga Poudel, the only parliamentarian representing the Rastriya Janamorcha Party in the House. 22 lawmakers from the UML also cast their votes for the Prime Minister.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07839c7e80680e0a5fc5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1418" height="945"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07859c7e80680e0a5fc6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07889c7e80680e0a5fc7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Former Prime Minister KP Oli, who was not present inside Parliament for the majority of the House session, walked into the hall as Speaker Agni Sapkota was explaining the voting process to the House members following Prime Minister Deuba’s final address.Deuba will remain Prime Minister until the next general election in early 2023, and the country has avoided holding <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-sets-elections-in-middle-of-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expensive early elections</a>.“The time has come for us to put the past behind us, and unite beyond party lines to confront the challenges of Covid, the economy and natural disasters in the country,” Deuba told the House before the vote.However, even within days of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/from-the-fire-into-the-frying-pan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">becoming Nepal’s prime minister for the fifth time</a> at age 75, Deuba has already faced criticism for releasing Nepali Congress members jailed for corruption and murder.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d078a9c7e80680e0a5fc8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="960"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d078d9c7e80680e0a5fc9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1365" height="910"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Critics have said that if he was really serious about ensuring vaccines for all, he would have prioritised the appointment of a can-do <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/3-health-ministers-in-1-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Health Minister</a> instead of appeasing his Maoist partners with key portfolios.Pradeep Gyawali, who served as foreign minister in the K P Oli cabinet, also addressed Parliament on Sunday, asking MPs not to give Deuba the vote since he was “appointed by judicial proclamation and not the people’s representatives in Parliament”.He also warned <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/parliamentary-whiplash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UML MPs who voted for Deuba</a> that they would no longer be accepted in the party.In a surprise move, UML vice-chair Bhim Rawal, who led the Madhav Nepal faction on the UML in a task force to keep the party intact, resigned from Parliament."In my nearly half-century long political career, I have experienced and faced many political ups and downs and setbacks. Throughout it all, I have worked, believing that our political mechanisms would be dedicated to the national interest, independence, self-respect and the well-being of the Nepali people,” said Rawal outside Parliament.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07909c7e80680e0a5fcajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Reading out his resignation letter outside Parliament, Rawal said that Nepalis are disgusted by the “unbridled and immoral politics of the greedy, self-serving, vindictive, and conspiratorial political leadership at the highest levels”.Many UML leaders like Rawal found themselves between a rock and a hard place after Deuba suddenly called for a House vote. On the one hand, they did not want to support Oli but on the other, voting for Deuba would have split the party in two.Earlier on Sunday, a Standing Committee meeting of the UML had directed its MPs to cast their votes against Deuba, even as leaders of its breakaway Nepal faction reaffirmed their support and intention to vote for the Prime Minister.Till the last moment, the UML task force was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-up-is-hard-to-do/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trying to patch up the ego-clash between Nepal and Oli</a> that led to this political debacle. They even offered to appoint an alternative candidate for prime minister from among Bhim Rawal, Subhas Nembang or Bishnu Poudel to replace Oli. But Nepal shot down the idea.Another UML MP Ram Kumari Jhankri was prepared to be evicted from the party to support Deuba in the House vote, saying “it is the duty of our party to support the government”. Twenty-three anti-Oli UML members had signed the writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding restoration of the House and Deuba being appointed PM.Meanwhile, Pushpa Kamal Dahal in his address before the vote delivered a pointed criticism of President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s decision to disregard 149 signatories from the opposition alliance and their claim to form a Deuba-led government in May.“We told the President that there were no ifs or buts when it comes to the Constitution,” Dahal said. “This was a mockery of democracy."<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07929c7e80680e0a5fcbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1120" height="747"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07959c7e80680e0a5fccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1404" height="936"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151112/636d07989c7e80680e0a5fcdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="960"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As it turned out, with the vote of the entire JSP (including the pro-Oli Mahant Thakur faction) Deuba did not even need the UML’s support to win the House confidence test.Although Mahanta Thakur extended his support to Prime Minister Deuba, he added that Deuba had been appointed “not through the people’s mandate, but the Supreme Court’s order”.“This is a power struggle between you,” Thakur said. “The oppressed communities, the Nepali public will not gain anything from this.”The Prime Minister has so far filled four of his cabinet seats, appointing Nepali Congress leaders Bal Krishna Khand and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki Home as Minister and Law Minister respectively. The Maoist Centre’s Pampha Bhusal and Janardhan Sharma were appointed Energy Minister and Finance Minister respectively.Deuba, leading a five-party alliance of 149 MPs--from the Nepali Congress, the Maoist Centre, as well breakaway factions of the JSP and the UML--<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/reinstate-remove-repeat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had filed a writ petition</a> on 24 May after President Bidya Bhandari thwarted claims from both Oli and and the opposition alliance of a House majority to form the next government.Mohan Shrestha of the royal-right RPP also says that Deuba’s prime ministership may have ended instability for now, but he does not inspire much hope.Shrestha says: “His track record shows that Deuba has tried, tested and failed as prime minister many times. But he does have a final chance to clean up his tainted political career.”

Nepal’s ‘accidental prime minister’

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.

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