<img width="1050" height="526" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181124/636be2c79c7e80680e083ecajpeg.jpg" alt=""/>A group of 13 civil society members have called for Nepal’s political parties to set aside their rivalries and work to address the health and economic emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Nepal’s governance has nearly ground to a halt because of infighting between two top leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), as well as a power struggle between factions in the opposition Nepali Congress (NC).The NCP is on the verge of a split, with Prime Minister K P Oli and party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal locked in a struggle for supremacy.‘Economic advance and social progress in any country are dependent upon social and constitutional constancy, whose precondition is political stability,’ the statement said, adding that a prime minister’s removal is a matter for the parliamentary party and not the party itself. ‘At a time when political instability has begun to shake the public’s trust in the political system itself, and carries the possibility of weakening a Constitution that is as yet in its initial stage of implementation, we call on the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) and all other parties represented in Parliament to recognise the dangerous trend and move to protect the Constitution,’ the statement adds.The 13 signatories include former senior bureaucrats like Rameshore Khanal, human rights activists like Kapil Shrestha and Renu Adhikari as well as academics, lawyers, doctors and journalists.‘The personal ambition of the top-level leaders ... have cumulatively created a sense of hopelessness among the public at large,” the statement goes on. ‘It is obvious that the NCP leadership has not been mindful of the weakening of democratic values emanating from the political instability to which they have contributed.’The activists called on the political leadership to rise above personal ambition and concentrate on the good of the country and people. Otherwise, it warned, Nepal was in danger of being sucked into the geopolitical tensions in the region as the country’s giant neighbours take sides in the infighting.‘With the escalation of geopolitical tensions within South Asia and the Asian continent as a whole, a politically unstable Nepal will not be able to adequately address evolving challenges,’ it warned. ‘We ask the Government of Nepal to develop a balanced foreign policy on the basis of the principles of non-alignment, to develop relationships of trust with neighbouring countries as well as the democratic forces around the world.’The civil society activists also called for a generational change in the leadership of the parties to bring young blood, new energy and fresh perspectives.It says: ‘All political parties including the ruling NCP and main opposition NC should now develop a specific roadmap to achieve generational transformation in leadership ... hold their general conventions as announced, and in a way that will generate a new crop of leaders.’The statement says that instability has impacted on governance, and also led to the shrinking of public space. The government has not been able to provide effective leadership for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and thus protect the public, it said.The statement called upon all political parties to abandon opportunism and unite to tackle the challenges of the pandemic. The civil society signatories included: Arjun Karki, Bipin Adhikari, Bishnu Prasad Baral, Dambar Chemjong, Devendra Biswakarma, Kanak Mani Dixit, Kapil Shrestha, Kripa Ram Tharu, Mohan Singh Thebe, Rabindra Karna, Rameshore Khanal, Renu Adhikari and Sushil Pyakurel.

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Civic appeal for stability and governance

<figure><figcaption>Illustration: BHANU BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>While Nepal hurtles towards the 1,000 Covid-19 deaths mark and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kcs-fast-highlights-nepals-covid-19-failure/">hospitals run out of beds</a>, the country’s two top leaders are engaged in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-political-tug-o-war-continues/">a fight to the finish</a> that is once more threatening to split their ruling Nepal Communist Part (NCP).<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/at-midpoint-nepal-pm-struggles-to-deliver/">Prime Minister K P Oli</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/running-to-remain-in-place/">party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> had buried their hatchets last month agreeing to a one-post-one-person formula – letting Oli serve out his term as prime minister, and Dahal to lead party affairs.However, the truce did not last long. In the latest episode of this epic saga, Dahal has reportedly staked a claim to the prime ministership, while Oli has threatened to split the party before that happens.To be sure, this is not the first time the NCP has come close to binary fission. Oli has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-seat-of-power/">mastered the craft of brinkmanship</a>, using ordinances, anti-Indian ultra-nationalism, re-registering the UML at the Election Commission in August, or dangling lollipops in front of Dahal’s loyalists to stave off previous challenges to his supremacy.However, matters had been coming to a head ever since there was an attempt last month to unseat the Dahalist chief minister of Karnali Province, a move  blamed on Oli getting provincial assembly members from his faction to pass a vote of no confidence. Dahal deftly defused this by convincing his ally, the former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, to get his followers in the assembly to withdraw support for the no-confidence vote.The prime minister then went ahead and appointed new ambassadors, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-shuffles-ministers-around/">brought in new ministers</a> into the cabinet and reassigned secretaries. Dahal was miffed because he felt Oli should have taken these decisions in consultation with the party and not unilaterally.Party insiders had hoped that in the Dasain spirit, the two leaders would meet privately over the holidays and sort out their grievances as they have done in the past. However, the communication gap between the two has got even wider in the past two weeks.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emissary and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/">spy-in-chief Samanta Goel’s surprise visit to Kathmandu</a>, and his three-hour meeting with Oli on 27 October aroused further suspicion among Dahalists that the prime minister was up to some mischief with geopolitical backing.They were outraged about being kept in the dark, and ridiculed his perceived ‘nationalism’ by meeting an Indian spymaster. Dahal was already angry about not just the lack of consultation over the three cabinet appointments last month, but was livid that he had to learn about it from the media after the swearing in by President Bhandari.NCP mediators like former speaker Subhas Nembang and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel finally convinced Oli and Dahal to meet for tea at Baluwatar on Saturday, hoping that they would be able to defuse the crisis.However, it looks like by then the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/you-stab-my-back-i-stab-yours/">mistrust was too deep-rooted</a>. On Sunday, the two leaders had got members of their factions to leak to the media their own versions of what transpired in the meeting at Baluwatar, and later that night in a fiery phone call.Dahal reportedly told members of the party secretariat at a meeting at his residence that the NCP was in ‘grave crisis’ because Oli had turned down his request to call a standing committee meeting, and had told him he was not going obey the party’s directives, and may even split the NCP.Bishnu Poudel, whom Oli appointed Finance Minister last month, took to Facebook to also warn that the NCP was on the verge of a split, and entreated senior leaders to honour the sacrifices of the cadre to ‘defend the unity of the party’.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636bdfb89c7e80680e083db5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="301"/>Poudel is regarded as a prime mover of the unification of the former UML of which he and Oli were members, and the ex-Maoists led by the former guerrilla chieftain Dahal. Formal UML-Maoist unification came about after their electoral alliance in the 2017 federal and local elections gave the parties a near two-thirds majority.Dahal’s next move has been to call a meeting of the NCP Central Committee to decide on the internecine power struggle once and for all and prevent a split. He and Madhav Nepal’s followers have a majority in the Central Committee, and it is unlikely Oli will agree to that meeting.For his part, Oli told supporters on Sunday that it was actually Dahal who had said that if he did not hand over the prime ministership, he would split the party.Even if the party does split, it does not look like it will be a clean division between the former UML and Maoist members. There are some ex-Maoists who are with Oli, and former UML cadre loyal to Madhav Nepal and Jhalnath Khanal and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/alpha-males/">Bamdev Gautam</a> have defected to the Dahal camp.Insiders say that the real reason for the latest crisis is outright disagreement between Oli and Dahal about an impending Cabinet reshuffle. Dahal wants to recall two former Maoists that Oli has wooed to his fold: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and the Commerce and Supply Minister Lekh Raj Bhatta.He wants them replaced with two of his own trusted lieutenants, and had warned Oli not to dare induct two other former Dahalists who have lately been speaking publicly in support of Oli: Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Haribol Gajurel.Baluwatar sources told Nepali Times the meeting on Saturday and the subsequent phone call had turned into a shouting match because of this wrangling.The source quoted Oli as telling Dahal: “It is the prime minister’s prerogative who to bring into the Cabinet and which minister to remove. You want two of my ministers removed? All right then, I will remove three of yours.”Oli was alluding to three of his Cabinet ministers who are staunchly pro-Dahal: Energy Minister Barsha Man Pun, Forest Minister Shakti Basnet and Water Supply Minister (and Dahal daughter-in-law) Bina Magar.A Dahal supporter who was also at the meeting confirmed this exchange, adding: “That is where it all started on Saturday, and the quarrel escalated to the point where they started talking about splitting the party in two.”A NCP Standing Committee member says that in the current system of government it is indeed the prime minister who should have the final say in whom to sack or keep as minister based on performance. But the party has to provide him guidelines and give him the authority to do that.Oli and Dahal do not have ideological differences as such any more, it is more of an ego-clash, mixed with a power struggle for supremacy in the party. Both are trying to exert their authority through plum Cabinet berths ahead of elections in 2022.Said the member: “Even though the two parties were united, they are still behaving like Maoists who want their own comrades in senior positions. It is proof that the party never really united in substance or spirit.”

Nepal’s communists on verge of split, again

<figure><img width="1176" height="742" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6859c7e80680e073728jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Prime Minister K P Oli made some grandiose declarations to bring ocean-going vessels to Nepal's borders. Even less ambitious goals have not been met in the past two-and-half years.</figcaption></figure>Halfway into his 5-year mandate, the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) government led by Prime Minister K P Oli has seen many of the ambitious pledges and promises that brought it to power ring hollow.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survey-is-wakeup-call-for-nepal-government/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survey-is-wakeup-call-for-nepal-government/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG93fGks7-mmrU_dqxiXe0YT-vgVA">Public disillusionment</a> towards the government has risen steadily, in particular about his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFu8etILKKCW32C6074Z3tNZiHGpA">handling of the COVID-19 pandemic</a> and its socio-economic fallout. <img width="500" height="672" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6889c7e80680e073729jpeg.jpg" alt="">Having swept to power in 2017 with lofty promises to eradicate poverty, modernise the country and make Nepal self-sufficient, the election manifesto of the UML-Maoist electoral alliance is largely unfulfilled with almost its boxes unticked. The list of projects still stuck in stages of financial planning, design or not even begun is a damning assessment of the government’s inaction over the last two-and-half years. This is despite Oli’s NCP having the strongest majority in Parliament and the longest-lasting in the last three decades.Political analyst Shyam Shrestha says the NCP’s slogan of ‘stability and prosperity’ is sounding more and more hollow with promises not kept, and many policy U-turns.The most recent involved plans to promote electric transport. Despite his pledge two years ago to ‘electrify 20% of Kathmandu’s vehicles by 2020’ Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada hiked taxes on e-vehicles and batteries in this year’s budget --  <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-3-steps-back-on-e-cars/&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj3k57Xn6XrAhWTwTgGHQvtBQsQFjACegQICBAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw0VtvaQge0ly9Yx6O3NWMyH" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?client%3Dinternal-element-cse%26cx%3D011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4%26q%3Dhttps://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-3-steps-back-on-e-cars/%26sa%3DU%26ved%3D2ahUKEwj3k57Xn6XrAhWTwTgGHQvtBQsQFjACegQICBAC%26usg%3DAOvVaw0VtvaQge0ly9Yx6O3NWMyH&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEC3aSu9sMZyacz6MUHABjH1f-3ZA">a complete reversal in approach.</a> <figure><img width="1000" height="623" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6899c7e80680e07372ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Prime Minister Oli being sworn in by President Bidya Devi Bhandari in 2017.</figcaption></figure>On the other hand, the government spent Rs19 billion importing fossil fuel-powered cars in the last fiscal year. These actions go against the ‘grave concern’ expressed periodically by the NCP about environmental deterioration. “The party has stepped back from its promises for agriculture, land reform, education and health,” says Shrestha. Self-reliance in agriculture, fisheries poultry and dairy was a key goal of the NCP’s ambitious ‘Strategy for Prosperity’ announced with much fanfare. Instead, Nepal is more dependent than ever before on food and fuel imports. Nepal imported Rs120 billion in petroleum products, Rs56.9 billion worth of foodstuff, Rs2.2 billion worth of dairy products, Rs1.76 billion worth of seafood and Rs1 billion worth of meat in the past fiscal year alone. Food imports are increasing 12% every year. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-lockdown-chance-for-self-sufficiency-in-veggies/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-lockdown-chance-for-self-sufficiency-in-veggies/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEj2xrmQNs6zRROE9G-MvsI4q8sQg">These imports continue to rise even as domestic produce goes to waste during the pandemic.</a>The main reason for stagnant agriculture is that only a third of arable land in Nepal has yearlong irrigation. Of the 2.24 million hectares of arable land in the country, only 1.47 million hectares have any irrigation infrastructure in place. Only 10,000 additional hectares have been newly irrigated in the last two years. The party’s ambitious projects to modernise Nepal’s infrastructure is also moving at a snail’s pace, if it is moving at all. Reconstruction post-2015 earthquake is still incomplete. Of the 832,000 families that lost their homes, only 508,000 have had reconstructed homes -- 190,000 families have still not got the final instalment of their rebuilding grants. There are 170 community schools, 128 health institute facilities, 377 architectural heritage sites that have not been rebuilt. Road upgrading has also not moved ahead as planned, either. Only 1,150 km have been added to Nepal’s road network in the past two-and-half years. Plans to upgrade the East-West and Mid-hill Highways to six and four-lanes are stuck.  <img width="500" height="814" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba68c9c7e80680e07372bjpeg.jpg" alt="">Continuous delays, budget crunch, monsoon flooding and now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-economy-already-weak-takes-direct-hit/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-economy-already-weak-takes-direct-hit/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHhEJPPt34W1UFYW3FoW0hgE_Mm0A">Covid-19 have paralysed ambitious projects</a> to ensure 100% electrification. Only 86.4 percent of households have access to electricity, and only 15 districts have been completely electrified. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-hydroelectricity-sector-gets-covid-19-shock/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-hydroelectricity-sector-gets-covid-19-shock/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGg9_-9w5UxZTKwn952-rJe_l_t2w">hydropower sector’s master plan</a> to generate 15,000MW in 10 years has failed to keep up with targetted progress. Large projects, such as Upper Tamakosi (456MW) remain incomplete 10 years after construction began. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/generating-electricity-and-cash-for-nepalis/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/generating-electricity-and-cash-for-nepalis/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEC_E7cuWJrekWd4X-AQkRNy9DXgg">Covid-19 and monsoon flooding</a> have pushed the finishing dates of 3000MW worth of projects further back by a year. Kali, Gandaki, Kosi Corridor and Mid-Hill Highway transmission lines await completion too. There are no signs of construction for the transmission lines along the Rasuwgadi-Kathmandu-Birgunj route, necessary to evacuate electricity from new hydropower projects.   The fall in electricity demand and resulting losses have hit the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) since the lockdown. This is despite the government’s plan to take average electricity consumption per person from 110 kilowatts to 1,500 kilowatt hours. Two so-called ‘projects of national pride’, Bhairawa and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo-RWA9JpjEHFKgdHB1QV-wwKOew">Pokhara</a> international airports, are expected to be delayed by an additional five months to a year. The Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway, Kerung-Kathmandu Highway and the East-West Railway are all receding mirages. Plans to create one industrial centre in each province are also collecting dust. Much was promised from these centres -- employment for a million people and special tax breaks  for investors. The left alliance’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-in-2030/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-in-2030/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHQIQzyaA7lICFEM_EWQnPvIqgKqA">manifesto on socio-economic progress</a> is what had attracted voters to the party in 2017. They were ambitious, but do-able with the strong majority the NCP had in the past two-and-half years. Now, the government can heap all the blame on the Covid-19 crisis, which will only widen inequality and worsen the economic crisis. The lack of progress predates the pandemic.  <img width="561" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba68d9c7e80680e07372cjpeg.jpg" alt="">The manifesto outlined a grand promise to its poorer voters to eradicate absolute poverty. While the share of the population living in absolute poverty did drop from 21.6% to 16.67% in the previous two years, it was mainly due to remittances and not through job creation at home. With remittances likely to take a knock because of Covid-19, absolute poverty is likely to increase.To achieve NCP’s goals, the annual growth rate of average income must be 20%. As things stand, this number has been 10.8% for the past decade. Current annual per capita income of Nepalis is $1,085 dollars, a long way off the $5,000 goal set by the NCP. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898526000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFYwE1VpEFxm7zKE42ZjXhrWxQ8ag">Tourism has also have been badly hit</a> by the pandemic, and may take years to recover.  The coalition’s election-era goal of 5 million tourists in 10 years was questionable given the lack of proper marketing and infrastructure improvements, now it looks even more unrealistic.The government promised to allocate 20% of the budget for education, but this fiscal year saw only 11.68% used. Illiteracy persists, and only 58% of the population above 15 were considered literate in 2018.Government debt has been steadily increasing and is expected to rise further with the pandemic as it l<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-prepares-for-economic-fallout-of-pandemic/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-prepares-for-economic-fallout-of-pandemic/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898527000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEhIx7PsHV6AtKv97Ey4kAvySLWGQ">owers internal revenue generation</a>. A full 20% of this <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-unveils-covid-19-budget/&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi3nNW1n6XrAhWOwzgGHfAjBRsQFjAAegQIARAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw3X2uyIXWZvrl_5d3IzNQOw" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?client%3Dinternal-element-cse%26cx%3D011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4%26q%3Dhttps://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-unveils-covid-19-budget/%26sa%3DU%26ved%3D2ahUKEwi3nNW1n6XrAhWOwzgGHfAjBRsQFjAAegQIARAC%26usg%3DAOvVaw3X2uyIXWZvrl_5d3IzNQOw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597893898527000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF1-ZH8tHbIZ0Qmuch5zqxO9AuMaw">fiscal year’s budget</a> is made up of foreign loans, while Rs10% is in foreign aid and grants.There are some bright spots. Two million people have signed up for a compulsory health insurance program since the government came into power. Its social security package is on course to meet the goal of Rs5,000 per person, currently standing at Rs 3,000 per person. However, a slew of projects remain stuck -- fertiliser factories, independence in perishable goods and health, residential and employment facilities at the local level.   Experts cite a moral failure on part of the government to provide citizens with the most basic facilities such as healthcare, education and security. Despite being a fundamental obligation of a government to its people, the Oli administration has been tied up with inter-party infighting and failed to deliver on its most basic promises. Financial expert Keshav Acharya says people will be ready to form their own judgement on the performance of the government in the next election in 2022. That seems to be the only hope – vote those who do not perform out of office. “Young voters are fully aware of the social and political situation and can make their own informed decisions,” Acharya says. “Mere promises and big speeches will no longer be enough to win their votes.”

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At midpoint, Nepal PM struggles to deliver

<img width="909" height="453" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141136/636bad4e9c7e80680e077f87jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Why Prime Minister K P Oli decided to use the birth anniversary of Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya on Monday to get embroiled in what he should have known would create a huge backlash in India is not known. We can only speculate.Oli put forth the wild theory that the mythical Hindu god Ram was born in Nepal, and that the kingdom of Ayodhya where his family ruled was actually in present day Chitwan district near the Indian border. Never mind that neither Nepal nor India existed at that time.The prime minister may have unintentionally blurted it out because he had a sympathetic physically-distanced and mask-wearing audience that was laughing at all his previous repartees. After all, it was a function celebrating the Nepali language as one of the unifying pillars of nationhood.Either that or the reference to Ayodhya was a trial balloon and an attempt to fall back on ultra-nationalism. This has always been his default button whenever he faces a domestic political crisis, or challenge to his authority from rivals within his own Nepal Communist Party (NCP).Either way, the remarks have been greeted with understandable outrage in India which is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-right BJP that has itself politicised the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi temple at Lord Ram’s nativity site.In Nepal also, the utterance backfired on the prime minister who has been ridiculed non-stop on social media. Even Oli’s own supporters have called the remarks ill-timed and detrimental in getting Nepal-India relations back on track.If it was a calculated move on Oli’s part, it could have been an attempt to get back at Indian television news channels which have been demonising him ever since he confronted India over a sliver of territory on Nepal’s remote northwestern corner that is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHyJ4jL68XvBObXesYf4X6ZJU20Iw">occupied by India</a>.Faced with brewing mutiny led by co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal in May, Oli used the anger in Nepal against the Indian move and defied New Delhi by getting all parties to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-passes-map-bill-india-reacts/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-passes-map-bill-india-reacts/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx4IFCmFjuhHCbbMi1Sskz8PoPAA">amend the constitution</a> and use the new map in Nepal’s national emblem.That bought him some time, but faced with another challenge in the party’s Standing Committee last month, he accused New Delhi of trying to unseat him, and threatened to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ruling-party-on-verge-of-split/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ruling-party-on-verge-of-split/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_-2yLNXXhYKZZ7fcpxjtDnQlu_g">split away from the party</a> by re-registering the old UML at the Election Commission.<a href="https://twitter.com/prcambnepal?lang=en" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/prcambnepal?lang%3Den&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH5In2SuSSwWgVfYZmbsQKHDQqvuw">Chinese Ambassador in Nepal Hou Yanqi</a> then became active, and started a slew of meetings with Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Dahal and NCP comrades opposed to Oli. She carried a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that splitting the part would be a bad idea. Such open involvement by a Chinese ambassador in an internal party power struggle used to be unheard of.Indian tv channels and troll factories on social media then launched an all-out war directed solely at Oli, and calling openly for his ouster. Some tv channels went as far as to insinuate that Prime Minister Oli was dating Ambassador Hou, with graphics showing Valentine’s Day hearts. Nepal’s direct-to-home tv operators then pulled the plug on all Indian news channels.Oli’s off-the-cuff remark about Ayodhya therefore came at a time when Nepal-India relations was already at its worst since the five-month Indian border blockade of Nepal in 2015. It will not help get relations back to an even keel.What has so far been an escalating government-to-government spat has the potential to now turn many Indians against Nepal at the people’s level. Intentional or not, Oli should have known better than to drag an explosive mixture of religion and politics into an already volatile relationship. Oli might have been thinking that Indians do not have a monopoly on arrogance and threatening language, but he seems to have forgotten that size matters. However, Nepal cannot choose its neighbours, we are stuck with the two we have. And they together represent one-third of humanity.Over the past two-and-half centuries, Nepal’s survival strategy has been to keep both neighbours at arms length by maintaining a stable and balanced relationship with them. Oli is upsetting the cart. Remarks supposed to stoke ultra-nationalist (read: anti-Indian) fervour have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-pm-oli-under-pressure-to-resign/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-pm-oli-under-pressure-to-resign/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEB97iqvMxIwt1D0wwMKxS7qTxJEA">worked for him before</a>, and he might have thought it will work again. This time, it will take a lot to undo the damage those ill-chosen words have done. And by making people bring up the issue of side-effects from medications, it may have also raised questions about whether he should step down on health grounds. The Ayodhya reference also came during a tense ceasefire between Oli and Dahal as a result of Ambassador Hou’s meetings last week. Loyalists on both sides now say they do not want to split the party, but the real issue has always been what will be the give-and-take between Oli and Dahal that will keep the party united.At the heart of the dispute is Dahal’s impatience to head the government and/or party. He had banked on Oli’s health deteriorating to such an extent that he would automatically take over. He did not expect it to drag on for so long, and Oli seems to have come out physically stronger after his second kidney transplant in March.It is not in Nepal’s national interest to allow an ego-clash and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bow-out/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bow-out/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFKrED3M6da0visGwFil2WQUzuHlg">power struggle at the top</a> of the ruling party to impact any more on core concerns like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-truth-politics-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-truth-politics-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHFMfskRewlxUW0Nsk2ZGqWAdhfIA">the MCC</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-ruling-party-feud-affecting-covid-19-response/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-ruling-party-feud-affecting-covid-19-response/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594811076993000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzmj10SaKUscjrOK3IlCOOCmPojA">COVID-19 response</a>, or the country’s geo-strategic survival.

K P Oli rams it home

<figure><img width="800" height="1101" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101128/636a216d9c7e80680e04173djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Cartoon: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>The ruling Nepal Communist Party, formed by the union of the former rebel Maoists and their erstwhile UML enemy, has squandered nine months of its five-year tenure.Prime Minister Oli has publicly blamed his own party for undermining the government. He said recently, “Our party’s leaders and cadre are silent when the government is being criticised.” That barb appeared to be aimed at his co-Chair and prime minister-in-waiting Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his former Maoist comrades, who neither support nor censure the government. It is as if Dahal is letting Oli sink his ship, patiently waiting for his turn at the helm in 2020. Analysts blame the NCP’s debacle largely on Prime Minister Oli for being out of touch with reality, and making wild and hollow promises. But the other reason is that the two constituent parties in the NCP still have not reconciled their widely different political cultures. Says a senior UML leader: “After the unification, we thought we could make the Maoists in our image. But we are now behaving like the Maoists used to.”Indeed, the NCP is now run by the two Chairs who rarely consult each other, or the rank and file. The UML’s tradition of close consultation among the senior leadership is gone, and its strong nationwide cadre network has not been replaced with a new party base.The NCP’s much-delayed Standing Committee meeting this week brought the UML-Maoist fissure into the open, with Oli facing much of the criticism.The meeting acknowledged the delay in truly uniting the two parties, and said it would take steps to correct that. The question is: will it narrow the distance between Capt Oli and his Co-pilot?

The ship of state

<img width="1400" height="795" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636922149c7e80680e03a10ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/>In a recent meeting with editors of Nepal’s mainstream media, six months after assuming office, Prime Minister K P Oli was grilled about fears the monolithic Nepal Communist Party he leads was drifting towards authoritarianism. Editors listed the government’s recent moves <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gagging-the-press-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">constricting the democratic space</a>.The prime minister assured editors that his party had not deviated from its belief in liberal democracy, and maintained that his party was impatient to bring about an economic and political transformation of the country. Prime Minister Oli appeared worried that Nepalis were apprehensive about the future. He asked the media not to spread hopelessness by harping on the negative, because the resultant instability would once more derail his government’s efforts to steer the country towards prosperity. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inventing-a-new-enemy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inventing a new enemy</a>, Om Astha RaiFor a leader dubbed the most powerful since Jang Bahadur, and a prime minister commanding two-thirds majority, Oli’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/two-thirds-empty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sense of insecurity was puzzling</a>. He hinted at forces intent on destabilising the country, and was reminded that those forces were within his own government.In particular, it has been the Home Ministry, led by former Maoist Commander Ram Bahadur Thapa, that has been at the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/press-freedom-must-be-defended-by-its-maximum-application/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">epicentre of most actions dragging Oli into controversy</a>. A university vice-chancellor was prevented from flying to Canada for a conference, and abducted from the airport for interrogation at Baluwatar. A former child soldier was similarly prevented from boarding a flight to Thailand, on direct orders from Minister Thapa. A doctor who refused to sign a fake report for medical compensation <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/detaining-doctors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was kidnapped by goons</a> hired by the Home Minister’s adviser. And, this week, a journalist was handcuffed and jailed for a report he filed (pictured).Prime Minister Oli was the lightning rod in all these incidents. The way the crises are piling up, thick and fast, it would be logical to assume that someone is deliberately trying to undermine the prime minister. The PMO has taken the flak for the police’s inability to resolve a high profile gold smuggling scandal, even though the investigations come directly under the Home Ministry. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-to-the-ugly-nepali/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No to The Ugly Nepali</a>, Kanak Mani DixitThe <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/republic-of-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kanchanpur rape case</a> has been grossly mishandled by police, who seem complicit in the crime, framing an innocent person and doing everything in order not to catch the culprit. Nepal's police was brazen about killing suspected kidnappers in a broad daylight, encounter-style, recently in the capital. The buck has stopped at Baluwatar.The Oli administration’s backing for provisions in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/strongman-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Criminal Code</a> and the proposed <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/suppressed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Privacy Bill</a>, constricting the space of free media, also casts doubt on the prime minister’s assurances he will protect freedoms. It is surprising that a leader who has been jailed for the defence of democracy should, himself, now go on the offensive against a free press.Let us remind ourselves that the NCP was created following an electoral alliance between the Maoists and the UML. The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-two-party-state,3968" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unification process</a> itself was touch-and-go thanks to fierce bargaining for party leadership and rotational prime ministership.Many in the ranks of both parties were against unity. In fact, the NCP has been described as a political party that was born with KP Oli and Puhspa Kamal Dahal conjoined at the head, but the two torsos are still separate. All is not well in the NCP leadership. Even while Prime Minister Oli has been suffering sustained attacks, and is being blamed for mishaps along the way, Dahal has been strangely silent. Not only has he not supported his colleague, he has publicly announced that the leadership of the NCP has been a failure. Dahal is probably getting his protege and former comrade-at-arms, Ram Bahadur Thapa’s Home Ministry, to undermine and embarrass Oli every step of the way. To be sure, as leader, the PM should know he is ultimately responsible for the conduct of his Cabinet and he has to take the blame. Dahal, on a visit to Delhi this week, received a welcome almost worthy of a prime minister. Baburam Bhattarai asserted at a book launch last week that the real reason for India’s blockade was not support for the Madhesi autonomy demand, but pressure on Nepal to roll back secularism from the new constitution. Is there a connection between that and Dahal meeting a Hindu right RSS think tank in Delhi? Dahal is now off to Beijing and it is clear he is positioning himself for succession by ensuring that North and South are fine with it. Within Nepal, especially within his own party, Dahal’s strategy is to not let Oli leave a successful legacy.The fear is that under Dahal, and given the history and ideology of his Maoist party, the NCP will be even more authoritarian and will consolidate some of the restrictions on Western agencies in Nepal. The only check on this is to strengthen the hand of some those former UML leaders in the NCP who have solid democratic credentials.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/two-thirds-empty/ , Editorial Doublespeak https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/doublespeak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Two-thirds empty</a> , Editorial  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gagging-the-press-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gagging the press in installments</a>, Sewa Bhattarai <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> Prime Minister-in-waiting, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was in New Delhi this week, just as he was in India on a state visit as prime minister ten years ago this week. In a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15202#.W5tihM4zaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Comment</a> in the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/417" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12-18 September edition of this paper</a> (#417) Deb Mukharji, India’s ambassador to Nepal from 2000-2002, had this to say:The proposition of India as a threat to Nepal’s integrity and sovereignty, first elaborated by the palace in the early sixties to justify its absolute rule, was later to be used by all mainstream political parties to a greater or lesser degree. The Maoists are no exception. But a continuation of the same approach, justified at times as reflective of the views of the people, does not lead to constructive engagement. Besides, a democratic framework in India and a vigilant press do tend to ask uncomfortable questions on such issues.Unfortunately, it is likely that elements in Nepali politics as well as in India would look for signs of a cooling in Nepal-India relations during the prime minister’s visit. One would hope that his openness and ability to face with candour the responsibilities of office would silence critics.’ <img width="505" height="795" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636922179c7e80680e03a10bjpeg.jpg" alt="">

ncp-leadership

Civic appeal for stability and governance

Nepal’s communists on verge of split, again

At midpoint, Nepal PM struggles to deliver

K P Oli rams it home

The ship of state

Conjoined twins