K P Oli and his coalition partner Sher Bahadur Deuba have been prime ministers of Nepal a total of nine times between them. This gives them the joint responsibility of allaying widespread public perception that it is time to pass on the baton.
The fact that Nepal’s two biggest parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), are in government together has made some hopeful that this coalition will be more stable.&nbsp;
However, the two have their work cut out to a) prove that it is indeed a more stable partnership, and b) that it will govern better. The sole criteria on which this government and its leaders will be judged before the next election will be if it improves the economy.
During his address to Parliament before his floor test last week, Prime Minister Oli acknowledged that the Nepali people were “in deep despair” about the current direction of the country’s politics and economy.&nbsp;
“Our politics must ensure development and prosperity, which is impossible without a strong government,” Oli said.&nbsp;
However, the circumstances that led to the UML pulling away from its partnership with the Maoist Centre was in part propelled by the two biggest parties trying to thwart investigations of their top leaders in two scandals.&nbsp;
That, and the lack of inclusiveness in the new cabinet populated by tainted public figures hints that it is going to be pretty much business as usual. There are only two women in the Council of Ministers, and no ministers from the Dalit community.&nbsp;
If the NC-UML leaders wanted to show that amending the Constitution (the coalition’s major agenda) would strengthen inclusion in government, they are not off to a very good start.&nbsp;
The Cabinet’s decision this week to override the Nepal Electricity Authority and resume power supply to industries that had not paid their dues just proved everyone’s worst suspicions.
Oli’s Cabinet must heed his own words in Parliament that his government would discontinue the culture of leaving development half-finished, and not dismantle some meaningful work done by previous governments.&nbsp;
And even as Deuba places his trust in Oli for the time being, not everyone within the coalition partnership is in the mood to coddle Oli. Leaders of the rival faction within the Nepali Congress which includes NC General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Shekhar Koirala have made it clear to Oli that their votes of confidence given to Oli does not mean carte blanche support.&nbsp;
But because of its size and influence, this coalition has more responsibility and reason to be stable and deliver the goods in the next three years before elections.&nbsp;
If the biggest two parties coming together cannot successfully address the country’s stagnant economy, kickstart development and create jobs and address widespread public disillusionment and apathy, voters are going to turn to untested populist leaders in 2027.&nbsp;
The Maoists and the RSP are now in the opposition and licking their wounds, and their check and balance role in questioning the NC-UML establishment will be crucial for a functioning democracy in the coming months. &nbsp;
But while a main opposition party with a strong presence is supported by its numbers in Parliament, that is not the case now. The Maoists and the RSP, which are the third and fourth largest parties, together do not have the numbers equal to either the NC or UML in Parliament. Furthermore, both the Maoists and RSP have internal problems of tarnished leadership and disunity.&nbsp;
Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal must now address discontent within his own party and answer criticism about handling things better with the NC to prevent the UML ‘coup’ last month. He must also analyse what his ouster means for his party’s diminishing popularity at the polls.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, the RSP’s reputation, popularity and support which have taken a major hit, mainly because of party leader and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane being embroiled in multiple scandals, is now at the centre of another allegation of corruption and abuse of authority.&nbsp;
The RSP’s Deputy Speaker Indira Rana Magar is facing calls to resign after a letter she allegedly wrote to the US embassy to expedite visa dates for herself and five others earlier this year. Visa-related correspondence for members of the House is usually handled by the Parliament Secretariat, but this instance involved five people who are not MPs and Rana Magar is facing allegations of trafficking.&nbsp;
The RSP was quick to call the letter being made public an attempt by the new governing coalition to tarnish the reputation of the Deputy Speaker and the party. But even though her party is backing her for now, Rana Magar’s changing statements have not helped.&nbsp;
The RSP’s unique selling point to the public is that it is not like the old parties, and given to old practices of corruption and nepotism. Now, the question being asked is: how are the RSP and its leaders any different?
Perhaps it is too early to write the new coalition off, but the signs so far are not encouraging. &nbsp;

Shristi Karki

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

thumbnail

viewImage

Democracy’s sidekicks

At the stroke of the midnight hour, and with the stroke of a pen, Nepal’s government has changed for the third time in a year.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre is out of a job after his coalition partner the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) joined hands with the Nepali Congress (NC) to form a new government.&nbsp;
The NC had previously ditched the UML to join up with the Maoists, and the UML had again defected to join the Maoist-led coalition earlier this year.
According to the deal that will be endorsed by both parties on Tuesday, K P Oli of the UML and Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC will take turns being prime minister for 18 months each till the next election in 2027.
This will be 73-year-old Oli’s fourth time as prime minister, while Deuba, 78, who first became prime minister 30 years ago, will head the government for the sixth time.
Although Oli and Deuba say they want to form a national consensus government, it is not clear if Dahal will agree to bring his Maoist party into the new coalition. The NC is the largest party in Parliament, while the UML is second strongest, and the Maoists are a distant third.
Prime Minister Dahal will now have to prove his majority in Parliament within a month, but he could also resign after which President Ram Chandra Poudel will officially ask the biggest two parties to form a government.
Oli will then become prime minister for the fourth time, although the third time he was prime minister in 2021, he was in office for just one week when the Supreme Court overturned his decision to dissolve Parliament.
NC and UML leaders have said a new national government is necessary because of the need for a majority in the House to pass amendments to the constitutions to possibly dilute provisions for proportional representation in the legislature, which they say has led to instability and frequent changes in government.
However, the UML, NC and to a lesser extent the Maoists appear to be worried about the rise of populist parties and leaders in the last elections cashing in on the popular disillusionment among Nepalis with the three established parties who have ruled Nepal continuously for nearly two decades.
But the two leaders seem not to have realised that it is precisely this kind of political promiscuity that has led to frequent reshuffling of coalitions between the three main parties.
The NC and UML could also be acting to preempt possible investigations into scandals that their leaderships have been implicated in. Top NC leaders have been named in the fake refugee scandal, and the UML has been tainted by allegations of huge land grab of a former government-owned tea estate in Jhapa district.
By being in government, both parties could sideline investigations into scams that their top leaders are allegedly involved in. As per details of the Deuba-Oli nocturnal deal leaked to the press, the NC will get 10 ministries including the powerful Home Ministry and the UML will have nine including the finance portfolio.&nbsp;
The fate of the fourth party in Parliament, the RSP, and its controversial Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane is also unclear at this stage. The RSP is in the present Dahal-led coalition and Lamichhane had bargained as a party with swing votes to insist on having the home minister’s post which he has used in the past year to deflect investigations into his citizenship and cooperatives scandals.
Dahal appears to have had wind of the Deuba-Oli rapprochement and had tried to convince the two leaders that they could join the coalition he led as prime minister. Till Monday, Dahal was trying to prevent a possible NC-UML alliance, giving speeches calling for a unity of left parties.
There could be a geopolitical angle to this, since the Chinese have openly said they favour Nepal’s Communist parties to unite. And because of this, India and the West have worked behind the scenes to prevent left-wing unity.
The UML-NC ‘coup’ would prevent the UML and the Maoists from being in the same government.
There is uncertainty about the abrupt recall of eight NC-appointed ambassadors last month by the UML-Maoist coalition. Now that the NC is back in power, will some of them be reinstated?
Another uncertainty surrounds the seven provincial governments which have risen and fallen in the past year, mostly in relation to which coalition is in power in Kathmandu. The NC-UML deal is also said to include a proportional distribution of provincial governments, even though that goes completely against the spirit of federalism and political devolution as enshrined in the Constitution.

Nepal government changes again

The two by-elections in Ilam-2 and Bajhang were in effect public opinion polls on the people’s political preferences. Of the people who cast their ballots in the two districts, 40% voted for the UML, while over 30% voted for the Nepali Congress (NC). The Maoist-Centre was nowhere in the picture. The RSP's bubble seems to have burst. The Hindu monarchist RPP was wiped out. If this was a mini-referendum, the results were clear: the legacy parties are still strong, voters rejected both identity politics as well as a return to monarchy and a Hindu state. But it is the sad fate of the Maoists in Bajhang, whose leader is the current Prime Minister, that is most remarkable. Voter turnout was almost 60% in Ilam and 49% in Bajhang, probably more a reflection of anti-establishment absentee voters than a lack of interest in the elections. Traditional vote banks, electoral alliances and ethnic-caste identity played a part. In Ilam-2, UML candidate Suhang Nembang won the seat held by his father Subhas Chandra Nembang, who died last September. He received 27,772 votes, while Dambar Bahadur Khadka of the NC got 21, 942. Independent candidate Dakendra Singh Limbu, who ran an identity-based campaign representing Ilam’s indigenous communities, came third with 11,457 votes. The fact that a candidate with no party affiliation championing the Kirat cause got so many votes shows identity politics is a potent force in Kosi Province. The RSP, which branded itself as an anti-legacy party, fell short of its own expectations. Candidate Milan Limbu received only 5,050 votes to finish fourth in Ilam-2. RSP’s popularity seems to be focused on a few of its personalities, but scandals involving Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane undermined support. Both by-elections showed negligible support for a return to Hindu monarchy. The RPP’s Laxmi Gurung received just 404 votes in Ilam-2, and the party’s candidate in Bajhang got only 242. In the Bajhang 1(A) provincial assembly by-election, UML candidate Daman Bahadur Bhandari defeated his closest rival Abhishek Bahadur Singh of the NC by less than 300 votes. Abhishek Bahadur Singh is the son of Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Sudurpaschim Province’s Home Minister who died in a car accident last June. Bhandari received 11,613 votes, while Singh obtained 11,346. Meanwhile, Maoist Centre candidate Janak Bahadur Budha got just 3,831 votes and Dil Bahadur Singh of the Unified Socialist got 2,514 votes.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240502090544_ed8785bc8dbfa3641e072653962143172e58aff17afb8cc9cbb43a6d94b5d1c6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240502090544_ed8785bc8dbfa3641e072653962143172e58aff17afb8cc9cbb43a6d94b5d1c6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1284" height="657" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal by-election 2024"></figure>  Bhandari’s win has increased the number of UML MPs in the Sudurpaschim parliament by one but has not made a fundamental difference in the provincial government, where the NC still has a majority. In early March, the Maoist Centre broke from its alliance with the NC to once again join hands with the UML in a new coalition. Krishna Pokharel, a professor of political science, says that the new coalition was crucial to the election. “Nepali Congress lost a seat in Bajhang that it had won by a margin of more than 3,000 votes in 2022,” notes Pokharel, “This makes it clear that the NC’s win in 2022 was due to its alliance with the Maoists and the Unified Socialists, and that it is otherwise not the preferred party in the constituency.” In Ilam, Khadka of the NC had previously also run against Subhas Nembang during the 2022 elections in alliance with the Maoists and other parties. He lost that time by just 114 votes. This time, since the NC contested the election alone, the difference of votes was more than five thousand. Alliance with the Maoists has turned out to be crucial to both NC and UML during the election. “The UML must understand that the performance of the party during the election depends upon whether or not it is part of a coalition,” says Pokharel. There is soul searching within the NC about the line taken by party dissidents including Gagan Thapa to go it alone. The Maoists still command the swing votes. Political scientist Krishna Khanal says that the wins of the UML in both districts show that voters have accepted the latest Maoist-UML coalition: “The results show that the majority of voters are still with old, established parties.” While these polls were important to the parties to gauge their popularity, it will not have any earth-shaking consequences on national politics. There is also little public interest among Nepalis bearing the brunt of unemployment, inflation, and pollution. Dhana Kumari Sunar, formerly of the National Women's Commission Nepal, says that the millions spent on elections have not translated into meaningful impact on the lives of constituents. She adds, “What is more important than who won and who lost is keeping track of what difference it will make on the quality of education, health care and employment in these constituencies.”

Old is still gold in Nepali politics

We are now on Season 3 Episode 1 of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/shadow-government-nepal,3838" target="_blank">Nepal’s promiscuous political </a>saga.&nbsp;
The Maoists and the UML have joined hands for the second time in a year to form a new leftist-led coalition. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre has replaced the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deuba-5-qh371fm4" target="_blank">NC </a>with the UML and the United Socialists.
Dahal may say about the NC having double crossed him, but this was all about ensuring that he remains Prime Minister for another year instead of having to rotate it with Deuba and Nepal before the next election in 2027. Now, he just has to hand over to Oli next year.
This is all déjà vu. Dahal and Oli had a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ on rotating premiership after the 2017 election, and the Maoists merged with the UML to form the NCP. But both ended up stabbing each other in the back, and Oli had to step down. Why should it be any different this time?
The more things change in Nepali politics, the more they remain the same. The same three men of the three main parties have been playing musical chairs for most of the 18 years after the end of the conflict.
The cartoon by Diwakar Chhetri (above) was used in Nepali Times in 2020 when K P Oli was being catapulted to Singha Darbar. For this edition, we just exchanged him for Dahal, added Rabi Lamichhane of the RSP and changed the guy playing marbles to Deuba.
On Wednesday, the new coalition included the Maoists, UML, RSP, CPN (US) with the JSP still undecided. But in Nepal’s cybersphere, there is little excitement that this will change anything and the new lineup has been met mostly with ridicule.
Even a new party like the RSP under Lamichhane is behaving like an old party because he is in a tearing hurry to get on the fast-track to Singha Darbar. He angled for and got the Home Minister’s portfolio, while Barsaman Pun of the Maoists is Finance Minister. The JSP's Upendra Yadav is said to have wanted the Foreign Ministry, but the portfolio went to Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
That this is all about getting to power and staying there could not have been clearer because everyone is angling for the powerful ministries with the biggest discretionary funds.
UML Chief Whip Padam Giri has been named Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affiars after serving just 40 days as Health Minister during the previous Maoist-UML coalition. Hit Bahadur Tamang of the Maoists is Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister. The RSP’s Dol Prasad Aryal returns to the Labour Ministry despite conflict of interest allegations during his last stint because of his alleged involvement in recruitment and remittance companies. &nbsp;
The Unified Socialists say they are getting two ministries, including Federal and Social Service. The RSP’s Sumana Shrestha is Education Minister and Biraj Bhakta Shrestha Youth and Sports.&nbsp;
Lamichhane’s insistence on the Home Ministry portfolio is said to stem from a desire to exculpate himself from multiple controversies about citizenship and his investment in a cooperative that cheated depositors.
Monday’s political earthquake in Kathmandu has sent aftershocks to all seven provincial governments. The provinces all have their own party arithmetics in their assemblies, yet they are unduly impacted by what happens to the federal government. This is not how devolution is supposed to work.
Under federalism, Nepali politics is even more centralised than before with province politicians beholden not just to their party in Kathmandu, but to the head honcho in each of them for instructions. Which is why NC ministers have resigned in Karnali, and the NC controlled provincial governments in Gandaki and Sudur Paschim have sacked Maoist ministers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Unlike the previous coalition, the main parties in the current coalition at least have similar sounding names like Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (United Socialists). This could be a formidable leftist front in the 2027 election.
All this must be music to the ears of the Chinese, who have made no secret of their wish that Nepal’s Communists parties should all merge. And if the Chinese want that, then automatically the US-India bloc is not going to be too pleased.
The Maoist-NC coalition was seen to be better suited to India, but while this week’s change would have been a surprise for New Delhi, it may not have been a shock, since it is quite comfortable also with Prime Minister Dahal.

Kunda Dixit

Catapulting to Singha Darbar

Dairy farmers have been dumping milk on the streets because they are owed Rs6 billion by buyers. Victims of loan sharks and cooperatives have stormed Parliament.&nbsp; And that was just this week. Nepalis are increasingly exasperated with a government formed just a year-and-a-half ago, and with three more years to go for the next elections. The problem stems from the third largest party, the Maoist Centre, having the prime ministerial and other powerful posts in government. The Nepali Congress (NC), the biggest party by far in Parliament, is behaving like a minor partner.&nbsp; Last week, there were vociferous demands at the NC General Committee meeting to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/unconventional-convention">abandon the coalition in the next election</a>, and this week the Maoist standing committee also decided to go it alone in the 2027 election. &nbsp; While both parties say they will not leave the current coalition, it is clear that the alliance is fraying at the seams.&nbsp; “The Maoists and Congress threatening to contest elections independently is more an election strategy than a signal that the coalition is falling apart,” says analyst Indra Adhikari.&nbsp; She adds, “It was more a reassurance to party members at a time of dissatisfaction and uncertainty within parties. Forming electoral alliances and forming coalitions are different matters.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240301030312_679e8cb5b9a920810276d7820eb5d11e49d326b1218f39c2ae1e254fc75fb126.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240301030312_679e8cb5b9a920810276d7820eb5d11e49d326b1218f39c2ae1e254fc75fb126" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="1848" loading="lazy" alt="Coalition collision NT"> <figcaption>Victims of loan sharks and cooperatives during a protest Pradarshani Marg. Photo: HARRAM BHETUWAL</figcaption> </figure>  The current coalition of erstwhile extreme Communists with a centre-right Congress could not be more ideologically different. It was cobbled together after the 2022 elections just so that the Maoists would not unite again with the opposition UML to form a powerful leftwing government. The NC, Maoists and the UML’s commitment to contesting the election independently pertain to electoral alliances formed before the polls, not coalitions formed after, Adhikari adds. The Maoist Centre’s two-day standing committee meeting discussed the anti-secular views of some NC members and Deputy Prime Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka's criticism of Maoist guerrilla excesses during the war. &nbsp; There is also mutual suspicion between the Maoists and NC over a deal that fell through involving the NC’s Krishna Prasad Sitaula as National Assembly chair in exchange for a Maoist heading <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/kosi-now-kathmandu-next">Kosi Province</a>. The NC did not back the Maoist candidate, so the Maoists are not supporting Sitaula.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024030103038_f04c9614d05be89a523282bcf253578166a2163880de41c7fe567098dab92702.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024030103038_f04c9614d05be89a523282bcf253578166a2163880de41c7fe567098dab92702" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1199" loading="lazy" alt="Coalition collision NT"> <figcaption>Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitauls spoke at the NC Mahasamiti meeting last week. Photo: MADHV PRASAD GHIMIRE / RSS</figcaption> </figure>  According to a coalition power-sharing pact, Prime Minister Dahal is supposed to hand over the premiership to Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC and Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Unified Socialists later this year. &nbsp; “Coalitions in countries like ours are at risk of falling apart from the moment they are formed, they do not work without compromise between parties that have different ideologies,” explains Adhikari.&nbsp; UML chair K P Oli is already campaigning for 2027 with a ‘Mission-84’ slogan and likened the coalition to “a lump of ash that will crumble whether it is dry or wet”. Prime Minister Dahal appears to be mulling a Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to keep the coalition together. But his attempt to replace Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat of the NC is getting no support from Deuba.&nbsp; The opposition UML, RSP, and the RPP have all demanded the resignation of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Prakash Jwala of the Unified Socialist, Health and Population Minister Mohan Basnet of the NC, as well as the Maoist Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati. Minister Jwala was caught up in a riot on the Ring Road in December in which protesters set fire to his car, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/karnali-to-korea-dream-dashed-in-kathmandu">and two people were killed </a>when the police fired at the crowd. An investigation found he disregarded security concerns. Health Minister Basnet is being probed by the anti-corruption bureau over a 2021 procurement of surveillance equipment for the Nepal Telecommunications Authority. And Kirati is implicated in a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lharkyal-lama-s-lumbini-inc">scandal involving a private contract in Lumbini</a>.&nbsp; There were heated exchanges in Parliament this week as coalition MPs accused the opposition of the pot calling the kettle black. The UML has skeletons in its closet too, and the RSP’s Rabi Lamichhane is embroiled in controversies involving a cooperative and his citizenship. Says Indra Adhikari: “There is absolutely a need for leaders to reflect, take responsibility for the consequences of their actions, and be held accountable. The country's crises are too important.”

Coalition collision

Sabir Khan was riding his motorbike in Parsa on Tuesday when he was stopped by several men and boys wielding sticks and saffron flags.&nbsp;
The encounter was captured on video. The men are heard forcing &nbsp;Khan to venerate the Hindu god Ram, to which he replies that he has an urgent errand up the road.&nbsp;
“I don’t care how important your errand is, you don’t get to leave without saying Jai Shri Ram,” one of the men says. Another man smacks Khan on the head.&nbsp;
The audio cuts off at this point, but Khan must have eventually agreed to the threats, because he is allowed to ride away and the men begin to chant "Jai Shri Ram" around a burning tyre on the road.&nbsp;
Such video clips have become commonplace across the border in India, but that it is happening in Nepal confirms what many had warned about: that India’s Hindutva ideology would spread to Nepal. &nbsp;
This week, there were communal clashes at Ishnath Municipality in Rautahat over a procession to immerse the idol of goddess Saraswati. The tensions spread to Birganj, where groups staged demonstrations, prompting authorities to enforce curfews. &nbsp;
Social media is awash with posts by sympathisers from across the border, many with sentiments like ‘Nepal was much more beautiful when it was not secular’, and praising Nepali activists for backing restoration of Hindu state.
“In Nepal, Hindutva as a political ideology is still nascent. Its seeds have been planted on a soil fertilised by democratic decay,” wrote Birganj-based media commentator Chandra Kishore recently in his column, Borderlines, in this paper.&nbsp;
India’s shift to far-right Hindu nationalism under Prime Minister Modi has emboldened those with a similar ideology in Nepal, and this is mixed up with a call also for the restoration of the monarchy.&nbsp;
India’s opposition parties have tried but failed to stop the juggernaut of political Hindutva. And here in Nepal, leaders across the political spectrum have done little to quell the rise of religious intolerance and extremism.&nbsp;
Instead, some parties are pushing faith-based politics to endear themselves to capitalise on what they see as an anti-secular vote bank during the next election.&nbsp;
Nepal’s avowed Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal sought photo-ops clad in saffron in temples in Nepal and India. Former communist Prime Minister K P Oli attempted to provoke Hindus in Nepal and India by claiming that Lord Ram was actually born in Nepal. Nepali Congress (NC) leader Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed support for removing secularism from the Constitution during an all-party meeting last year.&nbsp;
The call to restore a Hindu nation loomed large at the NC party convention in Godavari this week (pictured). This appears to be driven by Deuba’s need to pull the rug from underneath anti-secularist forces in his own party, as well as the growing popularity of the Hindu monarchist RPP.
NC lawmaker and central committee member Shankar Bhandari used the party’s convention to launch a campaign to include the restoration of a Hindu state at the party convention.&nbsp;
In response, NC vice chair Purna Bahadur Khadka wrote in his policy proposal presented to a closed meeting of the NC: ‘The people seem to be delirious with the need to adopt populism and regress to authoritarianism.’&nbsp;
Bhandari’s proposal was rejected by the party leadership. But the NC in general and Deuba in particular have bigger fish to fry. Deuba is being challenged by not-so-young Turks like NC General Secretary Gagan Thapa, who is pushing the party to abandon its alliance with the Maoists in the next election.
Growing calls in the NC to go it alone have sent shock waves in the Maoist Centre, which is the third largest party in Parliament by a wide margin after the NC and opposition UML.
Prime Minister Dahal also faces calls from within his party about the partnership with the NC, and has been hinting that all is not well within the coalition, and that he may reshuffle the Cabinet.&nbsp;
“The Nepali Congress had no choice but to form an electoral alliance with the Maoists due to special political circumstances. But upset voters see it as an ideological contamination of our party,” Gagan Thapa told the convention. &nbsp;
For now, both Dahal and Deuba &nbsp;maintain their commitment to the coalition because a breakup would mean that the premiership-sharing deal between Dahal, Deuba, and CPN-Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal would no longer stand, preventing Deuba from being prime minister for a sixth time.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, NC General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma, who has been an ally of Gagan Thapa, differed about going it alone in the next election. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Said Sharma: “Our future electoral alliance or the lack thereof is a bridge we will cross when we get to it four years from now.”

Unconventional convention

If the frequent collapse of the provincial coalition in Kosi is any indication, all is not well in the power dynamics in Nepal’s nine-party governing alliance.
This week, Kedar Karki of Nepali Congress (NC) became the fifth Chief Minister of Kosi Province since elections last November. Karki passed the floor test in the provincial assembly, but with help from the opposition UML. The UML had failed to get enough votes for its own chief minister candidate which precipitated the new election.
This was an embarrassment for Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal who had got the coalition at the centre to back fellow comrade Indra Bahadur Angbo. And it was also a blow to NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba.
A dissident faction of the NC not happy with party president Sher Bahadur Debut’s conjugal relationship with the Maoists, got UML backing to support Karki’s chief ministership. Eight NC members from Koirala’s camp and 39 from the UML, which has the majority seats in Kosi provincial assembly, supported Kedar Karki.&nbsp;
What followed was even more intriguing. Prime Minister Dahal and Deuba summoned Shekhar Koirala and tried to convince him to backtrack on Kosi. He refused. But they did manage to convince him not to mess with the coalition setup in return for allowing Karki to be Kosi Chief Minister.
And since Nepali leaders are not best known to keep their word, the three put their deal in writing on a crumpled piece of paper, torn from someone’s copy book, and signed it (pictured).
Kathmandu interfering in Kosi is not new. In fact, the former Kosi Chief Minister Hikmat Karki of the UML was actually backed by the Maoists, despite its alliance with the NC at the centre. Rescinding that support is what led to the current instability.&nbsp;
The background to this back-and-forth is the ethnic debate about whether the province should be called Kosi or Kirat. The matter is such a hot potato that Province 1 was the last of the seven to finally vote on a name (Kosi) last year.&nbsp;
The region’s indigenous groups want a name that reflects their identity, but the various ethnic groups are not united in what that name should be. Prime Minister Dahal made matters more complicated by saying that Kosi should be changed to Kirat.&nbsp;
All this is ammunition for those who want to scrap Nepal’s federalism, saying it is a waste of money, it decentralises corruption and multiplies by seven the disarray at the centre.
However, Nepal’s provinces have never been allowed true autonomy on revenue-raising and decision-making, they have been mere appendages of Kathmandu.
Within the NC, the Kosi debate has brought to the surface the strong feelings about the leadership of the largest party in Parliament shamelessly kowtowing to the third largest party. Leading this dissenting group are Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa, although there is an undercurrent of rivalry to succeed Deuba between them.
So far, the coalition has withstood tensions brought on by controversial provisions in the budget, as well as a series of high profile corruption cases that shook up and implicated the top leadership of all major political parties.&nbsp;
It is clear that Nepal’s governing coalition, especially the alliance between the NC and the Maoists, has remained steadfast because of the sheer opportunism of the leaders in charge of both the parties. (And perhaps a bit of geopolitical goading from the South.)
The aftermath of Dahal’s successful attempt to regain premiership from Deuba last year was a power-sharing deal under which Dahal and Deuba gave each other two years each as PM. As per the deal, Unified Socialist chair Madhav Nepal also gets one year at premiership, which is perhaps why he has gone along with the whims of Dahal and Deuba.
All this horse-trading leaves little time for the coalition to govern. Development is at a standstill, inflation is at an all time high (page 4) and corruption has reached pandemic proportions.&nbsp;
The Dasain mood is subdued. Coalition partners will likely use the holiday to plot, and plot some more. They will face fresh challenges, the biggest being the question whether the alliance will hold together long enough, and if Deuba and Dahal will honour their deal to rotate the prime ministership.
Shristi Karki

Kosi now, Kathmandu next?

<figure><img width="3600" height="1798" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140220/63e3a1989c7e80680e0d708cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A meeting of council of ministers this week. Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s President is a ceremonial post with only residual powers. Why then is there such a tug-o-war going on about who gets to replace President Bidya Devi Bhandari after her five-year term expires on 13 March?
Why are the supreme men of the three main parties acting as if the sky will fall if they do not get their candidate to be elected the next president?
Because they know how much the President’s constitutional power can be abused to do the bidding of the prime minister, as has happened repeatedly in the past four years. Bhandari’s candidacy for president was strongly backed by K P Oli when he was prime minister, and she quickly gave her stamp of approval when Parliament was dissolved <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-oli-goes-it-alone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to stave off a challenge from Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Sher Bahadur Deuba.</a>
The move was stopped by the Supreme Court, and Deuba succeeded Oli as prime minister. But when he <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/coalition-set-to-snub-president-bhandari/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tried to pass ordinances on the citizenship bill</a>, to allow parties to split, or give blanket pardon for war crimes, President Bhandari was not as prompt in signing them.   
After the November election, Oli pulled a fast one and got Dahal to defect from Deuba to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/left-led-coalition-upturns-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">form the 7-party coalition</a> which is currently in power. In return for letting Dahal have a first go at being prime minister, Oli secured a deal to have the posts of President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
But such is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-political-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">level of mistrust between him and Oli</a>, that Dahal soon started having misgivings about letting the UML have so much power. And because of Oli’s past behaviour, Dahal and Deuba feared that giving the UML all three posts of president, prime minister and speaker would make Oli all-powerful after two-and-half years.
As per the agreement with the Maoists, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/conflicting-interests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UML already has its Devraj Ghimire as Speaker</a>, while the RSP got Indira Rana Magar in as Deputy Speaker. Now that a weighted electoral college of federal and provincial assembly members needs to elect a new President, the UML is in a collision course with the Maoists and NC.
The Election Commission has set the date for the election on 9 March, just two days before President Bhandari’s term is over. The NC says the election should be on 11 February, one month before the president steps down, as stipulated by the Constitution.
But more contentious than the date is whether the UML will maintain its support for the 7-party coalition if it does not get its candidate to be president.  
Dahal got Deuba to support the government<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-illiberal-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> despite the NC being in the opposition</a>, reportedly with the assurance that a Congress nominee would get to be president. But Maoists and the NC combined do not have the numbers to do that. Having given his word to both the UML and the NC about the presidentship, Dahal is in a bind, and has said he is seeking “a national consensus” on a candidate.
This is where the high drama surrounding the Supreme Court verdict on 20 January about the RSP’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-rise-and-fall-of-rabi-lamichhane/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rabi Lamichhane’s citizenship</a> becomes critical. Lamichhane was forced to step down as Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, but this week applied and got back his citizenship, and was reinstated as party boss.
There is now a move to file a case against him for breach of the Citizenship Act, and make him ineligible to hold office, while Lamichhane with backing from the UML, is trying to regain his Home Minister post. The UML’s claim for presidentship would be bolstered by Lamichhane continuing to be a powerful member of the Cabinet, and Oli’s game plan is to keep the coalition intact.
The NC is likely to field Krishna Sitaula or Ram C Paudel as president, while <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/baburam-bhattarais-4-point-formula/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Baburam Bhattarai</a> could also be a candidate from the Maoist party when it unites with the Nepal Socialist Party and becomes the CPN-Socialist. Oli appears to want President Bhandari to continue for a second term, and failing that may put forward Subhas Nembang.
The post of president should not involve such political wheeling-dealing. Ideally it is the turn of a Janjati or Dalit candidate to represent the spirit of inclusion enshrined in the Constitution. But more importantly, it should be someone who is a respected a-political person – and there are plenty of  Nepalis to choose from.

An unceremonious President

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059449c7e80680e0ce1dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="684"/><figcaption>Photos: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption></figure>As the results of Sunday’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lower-than-usual-turnout-in-nepal-polls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal and provincial elections</a> trickle in, there are signs that Nepal’s voters have made their dissatisfaction with the country’s serial politicians clear.While early results show that the rivalry between the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML that dates back 30 years is still as fierce as ever, Nepal’s politics may be seeing the dawn of a new era.Heavyweights of established parties trail in several important constituencies, the Maoist-Centre and the Unified Socialists have fared poorly everywhere, the royal-right parties have not got the votes they expected, and the five-party governing coalition is in shambles.The reason for this appears to be mainly that many supporters of the NC and Maoist-Centre voted for independents or rebel candidates, rejecting the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/voters-cynical-about-electoral-alliances/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alliance of convenience</a> between the right and left-wing parties. Although the UML is also losing a lot of votes to new and independent candidates, the opposition UML appears to have been able to better ride out the storm.Rabi Lamichanne’s newly-minted independent Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and other independent candidates are also faring well in many constituencies. Even in places where they are not leading, they show that many voters have abandoned the established parties they used to be loyal to. In many ways, election results so far show a rejection by voters of Nepal’s serial politicians.Indeed, many Nepalis did not even bother to vote with Sunday’s polls recording the lowest turnout in recent years at only 61%. In Rolpa where the Maoist insurgency began in 1996, turnout was a mere 40% and it was similar in Gorkha from where Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre is contesting.It may be too early to call this an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/depending-on-independents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘independent wave’</a> in Nepali politics, but the RSP, other independents and younger leaders from the main parties could be the new kingmakers.“From the figures so far, it is clear that the RSP’s strong results show that voters are fed up of the same old faces,” says political analyst Punarjan Acharya.He adds: “It is also clear that the UML has done better than many expected despite internal party strife and having to do battle with the ice-party alliance.”Overnight, Prakash Man Singh of the NC was declared winner in Kathmandu-1, where he narrowly edged our Rabindra Misha by a mere 218 votes. This was a repeat of 2017 when Mishra, who had contested the same constituency from the alternative Bibeksheel Sajha, had lost to Singh by a narrow margin. This is the fourth win for the scion of one of the NC’s founding leaders, Ganesh Man Singh.In Lalitpur-2, UML candidate Prem Bahadur Maharjan received 15,025 votes to beat Sudin Shakya of the new Hamro Nepali Party and Buddha Ratna Maharjan of Rastriya Swatantra Party. Maharjan appears to have benefited from the new smaller parties splitting the votes.Elsewhere in Bhaktapur-2, Durlav Thapa Chettri of NC and Mahesh Basnet of UML are battling it out, but the former is now leading with nearly 1,000 votes more.In one of the earliest outcomes, NC  had a clean sweep in Mustang with Yogesh Gauchan, 29, was elected as the youngest MP so far. The pair of Namdu Gurung and Bikal Sherchan also won provincial seats in Gandaki.The NC  has also managed a provincial seat from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/himalayan-floods-a-sign-of-worse-to-come/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Manang</a> with Munundra Jung Gurung’s win. Independent Rajiv Gurung has locked in another seat from the district having won unopposed earlier.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059469c7e80680e0ce1e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="833" height="589"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059489c7e80680e0ce1e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/6390594d9c7e80680e0ce1e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/6390594f9c7e80680e0ce1e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Till press time on Tuesday morning, the NC had won three provincial seats and was leading in 45 constituencies while UML has one win with its candidates maintaining their lead in 35 others.The Maoist Centre leads in just 11 areas while the Unified Socialists and RSP with leads in 8 constituencies each. The UML is expected to do better than the NC in seats under the Proportional Representation (PR) mechanism.The RSP is also forecast to add many more PR seats, perhaps even as the fourth-largest party in the new federal Parliament. This is a dramatic rise for a party that was formed only six months ago by charismatic former tv anchor Rabi Lamichhane and who was joined by young and forceful candidates campaigning for good governance, accountability, better service delivery and job-creation.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-balen-the-rabi-phenomenon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rabi Lamichhane</a> himself has fallen behind the NC’s Umesh Shrestha in Chitwan-2, but that could be because the votes so far counted are mainly from coalition strongholds.RSP is, however, leading in Chitwan-2 where Hari Dhakal is ahead of NC’s Biswo Paudel and UML’s Surendra Pandey, the MP from the constituency in 2017. Former House Speaker Onsari Gharti of the Maoist Centre is also trailing behind Rastriya Swatantra Party’s Sobita Gautam in Kathmandu-2.The RSP’s Toshima Karki, a physician, is edging past the UML’s Amrit Khadka to lead in Lalitpur-3. Maoist Centre’s Pampha Bhusal who is also Energy Minister is trailing behind the two.The RSP’s, Shishir Khanal, and education reformer, is far ahead of former police chief Sarbendra Khanal of the UML in Kathmandu-6, and is likely to win. The RSP is also leading in constituencies in Kaski, Jhapa and Rupandehi districts.“The coalition votes were split and scattered. The way I see it, losers this time are Maoist Centre, Unified Socialist, and the Mashes-based JSP and LSP,” says analyst Acharya.He adds that this is the direct result of the Maoist Centre and Unified Socialists (US) seeking more constituencies than their ability. “If the NC had a candidate in 25 more constituencies instead of distributing it to the Maoists and US, it would have ensured a bigger victory for the party,” explains Acharya. “Except now, they have pretty much gifted many of seats to the UML.”Elsewhere, the NC’s General Secretary <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/young-turks-not-getting-their-turn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gagan Thapa</a> looks set to win Kathmandu-4 with UML’s Rajan Bhattarai trailing. Thapa has publicly declared that he would like to be the next prime minister and replace those “who have had many chances in the past to serve the country”.In Kathmandu-7, it looks like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-daughter-also-rises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Manushi Bhattarai</a> will have a hard time catching up with her rivals — despite support from the coalition. Her father, former Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai had swapped his Gurkha constituency with Pushpa Kamal Dahal to win Maoist support for Manushi.The royal-right Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) chair <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/battle-lines-drawn-for-nepal-elections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rajendra Prasad Lingden</a> has taken an initial lead in Jhapa-3 where the UML-backed leader is up against the coalition’s Krishna Prasad Sitaula of NC.Uday Shumsher Rana of NC has taken a lead in Lalitpur-1 slightly edging past Nawaraj Silwal of UML. In Kathmandu-5, it’s the battle of new faces with Hamro Nepal Party’s Suman Sayami just ahead of Biraj Bhakta Shrestha of Rastriya Swatantra Party in the vote counting.Erstwhile separatist <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/ck-raut-madhes-movement,1677" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CK Raut</a> has also taken an initial lead in Saptari-2 with Jayprakash Thakur of Lokatantrik Samjbadi and Upendra Yadav of Janata Samajbadi trailing behind. Maoist Centre on the other hand has also taken an initial lead in Jajarkot with Shakti Basnet ahead of Niraj Acharya of UML.

Nepal poll results signal upset

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234979c7e80680e0c4940jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1732" height="1016"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>B P Koirala’s famous advice to fellow Nepalis was that they should not necessarily strive to be great. “Just try to be a decent person,” he used to say.Many Nepali Congress (NC) leaders who succeeded B P continue to disregard that dictum, most so his own relatives. But one leader who took the sage advice to heart and lived it was Pradip Giri, who died in Kathmandu on Saturday at age 74.Pradip Giri was an iconoclast, and a gentle giant of Nepali politics. He never craved power and position, preferring to remain behind the scenes to be the conscience of his party and nation. He was elected member of parliament several times, and always spoke up for those left behind by the Nepali state, refusing repeatedly to serve in government.While in exile in Banaras during the Panchayat years, Giri fell out with the Koirala clan. And after B P’s death in 1982, he became closer to another Congress leader with whom he shared traits of austerity, humility and honesty: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18007#.YwLeKC0RpCA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18007%23.YwLeKC0RpCA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1661220010522000&amp;usg=AOvVaw29GBx2s_nk1w4UjFROx_zz">Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.</a>Ironically, it was throat cancer that prematurely claimed the lives of both Koirala and Giri -- 40 years apart. And just as he struggled for democracy, struggled to keep the Nepali Congress true to its social democratic roots, he struggled against the malignancy in Nepal’s body politic, and in his own body.Pradip Giri is the last of a generation of Nepali politicians who witnessed India’s freedom struggle, and knew many of its post-independence leaders. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to lead a frugal and honest life, and to adopt satyagraha as a strategy of nonviolent civil disobedience to confront the structural violence of the state.When B P was imprisoned in 1960 and Nepal’s first democratically elected government was driven underground, Giri was arrested several times and cumulatively spent more than four years in detention.After the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990, Giri was elected member of parliament from his home district of Siraha, although he lost the seat in 1999. He drifted away from Girija Koirala, and joined the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5303#.YwLfNy0RpCA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5303%23.YwLfNy0RpCA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1661220010523000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0e9OsRQzJkjgCU_ww9EOhp">Nepali Congress (Democratic)</a> of Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002.He was nominated to the Constituent Assembly, but disagreed on a matter of principle with the 2015 Constitution for not meeting the aspirations of the people of the Madhes.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/6372349a9c7e80680e0c4941jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><figcaption>Photos: SUMAN NEPALI/NEPALI TIMES</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/6372349d9c7e80680e0c4942jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234a09c7e80680e0c4943jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1366"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Deuba is currently prime minister of Nepal for the fifth time, and Giri has never served even once as minister in any NC government. In that respect, the two could not be more different.But some of Pradip Giri's efforts to make the party more inclusive and responsive to the country’s needs did see results. He pressured the party to induct members from neglected regions like the Karnali and Tarai, as well as to bring in more Dalit, women and indigenous members.Pradip Giri did not just talk about socialism, he practiced it. He tried to redress the inequity and imbalance in Nepali society by always speaking up for those historically left out by Kathmandu, and keeping them at the centre of his focus.Even so, successive NC governments practised politics of patronage, coddled corporate interests, got mired in corruption, as the party's ideology shifted rightwards. Throughout it all, Giri called it like he saw it. His dialogue spanned party lines at times of deep polarisation, and it must have frustrated him no end that national leaders showed such utter disregard for the national interest.They don’t make political leaders like Pradip Giri anymore. There is no one that even comes close to having the knowledge base and experience, and the confidence to engage across the political spectrum. He was not a communist, but his belief in socialism was purer and more genuine than all of Nepal’s leftists put together.We will miss his deep baritone, holding forth on the meaning of democracy, and telling us to rise above the kickboxing of day-to-day politics and see it as a process to serve a deeply unequal society.Although respected within the Nepali Congress, the cadre did not follow Pradip Giri because he was never in a position to dole out perks and positions.In a <a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pradip-giri-the-passing-of-an-iconoclast/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali Times tribute</a>, Raghu Panta, the UML MP who engaged with Giri in Parliament in the 1990s, wrote: ‘The more distorted Nepali politics became, and as the NC distanced itself from its founding principles, Pradip Giri’s puritanical belief in socialism with a human face became more and more a cry in the wilderness.’

A decent person

Architecture can be a powerful agent of change, shaping not just spaces but the way people live, connect, and experience the world.&nbsp; For Nepal, which is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">gifted by nature</a> and rich in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ambassador-fund-cultural-preservation-nepal,2092">cultural heritage</a>, &nbsp;reviving rural architecture with modern amenities could hold the key to more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">sustainable tourism </a>that benefits local people more. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/bayalpata-hospital-in-nepal-wins-global-design-award">Design and architecture</a> are amazing tools to create a unique experience for visitors,” says Spanish architect Tomeu Esteva of Esteva i Esteva Architecture Studio. “Difficult destinations have beautiful hotels with design and comfort.” Esteva was in Kathmandu with his colleagues at an event organised by the Spanish Honorary Consulate at Dwarika’s Hotel last week to showcase buildings which Nepali architects can adapt with local material and design inputs.&nbsp; Rural architecture holds a unique significance: it is more than a shelter and must reflect <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/inking-an-idenity">local identity, culture</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-humla-from-heritage-loss">heritage</a>. An area’s natural and cultural harmony can be upset by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure?fbclid=IwAR1wK0MDFlFST_2EYb3f54LS4-fPt6rYfLG1DJ1JaQsU3w8-ezyXIxGOqzk">poorly planned development</a>, speakers at the event said, but the environment can be improved and revitalised by well-integrated structures.&nbsp; Another Spanish architect, Belen Moneo, has designed hotels at elevations of 3,700m in her home country Spain that supply natural spring water spas. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/lost-in-reconstruction">Creativity in construction</a> must be encouraged. Rural architecture always shows possibilities of what we can do better,” Moneo explains, adding that designs must enhance <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-healing-power-of-nature">the beauty of nature</a> and give a natural feel at a time when steel, glass and cement dominate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-kathmandu-after-the-1934-quake">urban design</a>.&nbsp; This is why the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/weaving-nature-into-craft">use of natural products</a> such as bamboo, local timber, straw and rammed earth are in demand from customers who want a fresh eco-friendly look encouraged in construction of rural architectural structures. The demand for boutique hotels has increased world over, with &nbsp;more and more tourists favouring aesthetics, experience and comfort over price. While creativity is an important part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/architecture-for-mountains">construction and architecture</a>, incentives to build and use <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Building,370">rural construction materials</a> still remain minimal, and Moneo emphasises the significance of design and execution.&nbsp; Esteva helped design the Vana Retreat in Dehradun that kept the natural environment in focus, with the structure giving an elaborate aesthetic experience to visitors. Another example is Hotel Las Mercedes in the Dominican Republic which was designed and constructed by Moneo and the company she co-founded Moneo Brock, respecting and revaluing the traditional architecture of the area. Hotels providing such experience could attract tourists and revenue. The Spanish ambassador to Nepal Juan Antonio March Pujol said, “The role of architecture and architects in developing tourism is crucial, not only in urban areas but rural settings as well.”&nbsp; The concept of rural boutique hotels gained traction in Spain during the 1990s, particularly in regions like Majorca with economic and environmental sustainability as the main focus. In Nepal <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/guiding-nepal-s-tourism-industry">the tourism industry</a> directly employs about 1 million people, and makes up about 8% of the country’s GDP. In Nepal, the stone homes of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/reviving-himalayan-vulture-and-culture">Mustang and Manang</a>, bamboo and mud structures of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai</a>, and the Kathmandu Valley’s terra cotta tile skylines, graceful temples, and tranquil bahal courtyards are all examples of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs">Nepal’s traditional architecture</a>.&nbsp; Nepali architect Sarosh Pradhan has been working for the past eight years on the Brakka Village project in Manang Valley north of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna">the Annapurnas</a>. Other examples of this kind of rural architecture for high-end tourism are the Shinta Mani Hotel in Mustang and Khumbu Lodge below <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a>. Says Pradhan, “There are places in Nepal that radiate purity and embrace simplicity. Creating projects in such settings require deep reflection and thoughtful planning.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f" data-rendition-name="original" width="4608" height="2184" loading="lazy" alt="A new architecture for Nepal's tourism"> </figure>  Rural architecture is not easy, and sometimes more expensive. Inflation, energy efficiency, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/those-who-stay">the climate crisis</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">increased costs of living</a> pose obstacles to sustainable rural architecture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/forgotten-international-starchitects-in-nepal">Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal</a>, Anne Feenstra and Varun S Bapu Esteva says faith and trust between client and architect is necessary for any project to be successful. He adds that architects must practice being humble, the process of designing always involves learning and not imposing their ideas on clients. Nepal is uniquely positioned for the growth of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hiking-up-the-benefits-of-tourism">rural tourism</a> because of its stunning countryside as well as its internationally renowned traditions in holistic wellness. Creating infrastructure that is small, thoughtfully planned and that respects both tradition and contemporary hospitality standards is crucial. “Projects in Nepal can be made cost effective by using materials from houses that have been brought down,” says Esteva. “Pilot projects involving <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/local-government-by-the-people-for-the-people-of-the-people">local people </a>and simple designing also helps the process.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/vacant-homes-become-homestays-in-nepal">The growth of homestays in Nepal</a> is a step in the right direction, but they are still a bit too rustic for the international traveller who also wants comfort and is willing to pay extra for it. Upgrading the facilities in homestays and ensuring that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-archive-of-nepali-heritage">architectural heritage</a> of the locality is preserved using locally sourced building material could allow owners to charge more. Says Sangita Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotel, “Our effort is to build upon rural architecture by empowering local communities and using what is available locally. We can fine tune and encourage indigenous design and training.” The vision goes beyond just boosting the economy, it is about building a future where tourism helps villages grow in a healthy and lasting way. Instead of using up resources, it gives back to the land and the people. It supports local communities by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/staying-in-nepal-to-create-jobs"> creating jobs</a>, improving infrastructure, and protecting natural beauty. When done right, tourism can be a tool for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/progress-and-or-preservation">preserving culture and nature</a>, not harming them. Architects must therefore see their work as more than just designing buildings, they also need to care deeply about people and places, especially in rural areas that can benefit the most.&nbsp; With global interest in sustainable and off-the-beaten-path travel increasing, Nepal stands at the cusp of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">tourism transformation</a> that values community-driven, eco-conscious hospitality. A mix of modern ideas and traditional knowledge could transform rural tourism in Nepal. Says Shrestha, “Young architects should spend time with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/the-unsung-heroes-of-conservation">local and indigenous communities</a>, listen to their stories, and learn from their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/life-and-livelihood-in-remote-nepal">ways of living</a>. These communities have deep knowledge about the land, materials, and climate. If this wisdom is used in new designs, it can help create tourism spaces that truly benefit everyone.” &nbsp;

A new architecture for Nepal's tourism

Extract from an addendum to Nepal's Two Wars, Chapter 2 in the updated edition of Essays on Nepal: Past and Present by Sam Cowan, a retired British Army general with a long association with the Gurkhas. The book was first published in 2018, and republished earlier this month by FinePrint exclusively on Amazon. The addendum details a one-to-one conversation the author had in the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8884">Royal Palace </a>with the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">King Gyanendra</a> in November 2002 just after he had taken his initial steps on the road that ultimately led to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14681">the abolition of the monarchy</a> in Nepal in 2008. In the early evening of September 16, 2002, in my role as Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas, I had my second and last official audience with King Gyanendra to give him an update on the Brigade’s activities over the previous 12 months. I had some 6 or 7 such audiences with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home">King Birendra</a>.&nbsp; These were official affairs with the British ambassador of the day present, along with key <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12233">palace officials</a> and a representative from Nepal's Foreign Ministry. The two monarchs were very different in character and temperament, but both treated me with the utmost civility and made the audiences as relaxed and easy for me as possible.&nbsp; It is, however, worth recording that when the official business had been covered, King Birendra, with a twinkle in his eye, often ended by asking, “Now General, what’s the gossip in London?” The second audience with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8026">King Gyanendra </a>was my last official act in uniform. We came back to Kathmandu in the first week of November (after treks) to stay for a few nights with our Defence Attaché before heading back to the UK. Waiting for me was a message from the Palace saying that King Gyanendra would like to meet me informally: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6933">no uniform</a> and no ambassador.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="2406" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra crowned page 1"> <figcaption>Nepali Times Special Edition of 6-14 June 2001 with enthronement of Gyanendra. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1857" loading="lazy" alt="Royal massacre"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 22-29 June 2001 covering the royal massacre after which Gyanendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  Although I had no idea what the purpose of the meeting might be, events in Kathmandu since I last saw the king put me on edge. On October 4, 2002, Gyanendra had dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, allegedly for failing to hold <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-goes-on-in-nepal-s-elections">elections</a>. He had put in place a new prime minister and a cabinet personally selected by him. When I heard the news on my travels, the people I met were generally supportive of the king’s actions. There was a general view that something had to be done, the country was going nowhere, and the king deserved his chance, not least to solve<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/14-years-after-conflict-no-closure-in-nepal"> the Maoist </a>problem. Back in Kathmandu, views were not so sanguine. The chosen prime minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, was a relic from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mob-movement-and-mayhem">the Panchayat period</a> whose party had failed to win a single seat in the last elections held in 1999. Some of the chosen cabinet ministers had, to put it mildly, dubious reputations, and others had no record of proven competence in any field. There was a fear that the king’s real motive in dismissing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement">Deuba</a> was to start to reverse the democratic gains made since 1990. I informed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-britain-mark-centenary-of-1923-treaty">the British ambassador</a> about the invitation. He was strongly against accepting it, which was probably the clinching reason for my decision to do the polite thing and accept it. On the evening of November 7, 2002, I presented myself at the royal palace, alone and in civilian attire.&nbsp; As in the past, the Military Secretary, Major General Vivek Shah, met and escorted me into the presence of the monarch. This time, however, he was politely asked to leave the room and shut the door behind him. King Gyanendra greeted me warmly and invited me to sit down.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal"> The ghost of monarchy returns to haunt Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="993" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra coup"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 4-10 February 2005 after king Gyanendra's coup imposed media censorship. anendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  I had wondered, and to be truthful, had worried, not just about the purpose of the meeting, but about how the conversation might start and develop. I reduced my resolve to two points: be polite but speak candidly. The latter resolve was quickly put to the test with the king’s opening words: “Sam, [in previous meetings it had been ‘General’, you walk the highways and byways of this land more than most, tell me what the common man is thinking?” &nbsp;“Your Majesty, I have no idea what they are thinking, but they are waiting.” “Waiting?” “Yes, Your Majesty, they are waiting to see whether what you did some weeks ago in appointing your own prime minister and cabinet ministers is going to make any difference to their lives or whether it is just going to be more Kathmandu hot air.” “Everything is going to be difficult and is going to take time, a lot of time.” “Your Majesty, time is the one thing you don’t have. You must act quickly and decisively to take advantage of the opportunity you have created. Everyone knows that you have appointed these new ministers. Why don’t you get them in here one by one and tell them that they have three months to deliver a programme in their area of responsibility that is going to make a difference to people’s lives? Most will fail to do so. Sack them! It will be a powerful signal of your strong intent to deliver real change.” I can express the opening of our conversation in this way because just about every word is still etched in my mind. The king’s response to my last quoted words was to challenge me to give an example of something that could be delivered quickly. I can give a verbatim record of what I said in response to this unexpected challenge: “Health posts, Your Majesty, there is no shortage of them throughout the country as building them has been one of the sources of local corruption, but very few have any medicine to issue at present or have skilled people to assess and meet medical needs. Your Majesty, children are dying for lack of a few pills. Given the right priority, over a period, say of six months, every health post could be fully stocked with medicine and manned with trained people. This is something I could help to lead for you as I know it would have strong international backing. At last, people would know that you mean business.” As I warmed to the theme, I could see no sign of the king having any enthusiasm for the idea, and I quickly disengaged as it dawned on me, as it had clearly dawned on the king, that the reason for the deficiencies in health posts was to prevent any Maoist combatant from gaining access to any <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/tech-away/nepal-s-health-tech-industry-is-here-to-stay">medical support</a>, and if this meant people suffering, so be it. The subject of the Maoist insurgency inevitably came up, and I took the opportunity to elaborate on what is written in the final four paragraphs of the article above. I advised King Gyanendra that, self-evidently, since there were three parties in the conflict—him, the Maoists, and the political parties—it was imperative that he form an alliance with one of them, preferably the political parties; otherwise, he would find himself isolated, as the other two parties would inevitably, at some stage, form their own alliance. However, it quickly became apparent that the king’s mind was on a totally different track. On the Maoists, he told me that he had channels open to them, but he was scathing about the political party leaders. He made it clear that they would be waiting for a very long time before he gave any power back to them, and that is a polite way of expressing the actual words he used, but “crawling through the door” is a phrase which has stuck in my mind.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1317" loading="lazy" alt="fall of monarchy"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 28 April-3 May 2005 with cover image by Ajay Joshi of jubilant protesters after street demonstrations sidelined king Gyanendra, paving the way for a ceasfire and restoration of democracy. </figcaption> </figure>  As the conversation developed, it became ever clearer that King Gyanendra had decided to go in alone, relying on the misleading assurances he was constantly receiving from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14954">the army</a>, and no doubt his close advisers, that the Maoists could and would be quickly defeated militarily, and taken out of the equation. This would obviate the need for him to do any deal with the political parties.&nbsp; Thus, the way would be clear for him to establish a version of his father’s Panchayat system, under a constitution that would be granted to the people by him, their sovereign, as his father and brother had done in 1962 and 1990. As in those constitutions, ultimate power would have remained in the sovereign’s hands. This proposed direction of travel was very clear from what the king said to me. In sum, King Gyanendra was motivated by a desire to emulate his immediate predecessors by granting his people a constitution that would restore his father’s Panchayat system in a modern form and give him a central role in decision-making. What was particularly dispiriting was that beyond this single objective he had no plan worthy of the name, nor demonstrably did he have the people with the skills to implement an appropriate plan even if one had existed. Crucially and depressingly, there was little or no indication from the king that he realised that such a course of action could put Nepal’s monarchy into serious jeopardy, as indeed proved to be the case. <h2>King Twice</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="632" loading="lazy" alt="“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”"> </figure>  <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah has been king twice</a>. In 1950 he was enthroned briefly as a child king (left, above) by the Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher when his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, fled to exile in India. In 2001 he was crowned king again after the massacre in the royal palace in which his brother King Birendra and nine other members of his family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra.&nbsp; During his second reign, Gyanendra gradually asserted power by sacking Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002, and then taking full control after the 1 February 2005 coup. He was sidelined after the ceasefire in April 2006, and became a commoner after the Constituent Assembly finally <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Ftnp-abolishing,624">abolished the monarchy in 2008</a>. In the past year, Gyanendra has tried to exploit public dissatisfaction with the political parties to restore the monarchy.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788.jpg" data-media-id="editor_22" data-image-id="20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Essays on Nepal by Sam Cowen"> </figure>

“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”

“It's Kathmandu.” Just as the family was sitting down for one of its extended lunches, that jubilant cry was from François Driard’s grandfather announcing the next posting for his diplomat parents.&nbsp; Driard (pictured) was 18 in the summer of 1996,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/suburban-tales/chasing-a-nomad"> a bit of a hippie</a> already, and his life was about to change forever with the magical word “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu</a>”. “I was awed with that information from my grandfather, nothing else mattered … In France <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/tales-of-courage-and-suffering-cx95f89e">in the 1990s</a>, Kathmandu had a mythical aura,” Driard recalls. He came to Kathmandu for Christmas that year to visit his stepfather, the French Ambassador Michel Lummaux. It was to be the first of many visits during school holidays, before he decided to permanently settle down in Nepal. “Kathmandu, and Nepal, were very different then, it was magical, I liked the nature, the people, civilisation, temples, trees,” says Driard, who explored the country sitting on the top of buses. “Visitors talk about the crazy <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">urbanisation</a>, traffic jams today, and all that is true. But Kathmandu has not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/loss-of-soul-and-soil">lost its soul</a>.” After his stepfather’s tenure in Nepal ended, Driard worked as a business reporter for international publications but decided he did not want to be anyone’s employee anymore. In 2007 he landed in Kathmandu with €20,000 in savings to invest.&nbsp; He knew a few crucial things about himself: he liked food and nature, which is very much tied up with his upbringing--full of lively conversations during lunch and dinner at the family table between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-yak-cheese-is-on-world-map">abundant cheese, wine and cigars</a>. So he decided it would be cheese, and registered Himalayan French Cheese and went to the French Alps for a month to learn how to make Tomme de Savoie. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-story-of-langtang-cheese">Cheese making is such an ancient craft </a>and so I thought I won’t need much money or studying which I hated and indeed, if you have a tamako bhado and fire you are set,” explains Driard. But Nepal’s temperature and humidity were not ideal, even at higher altitudes. The first customers for his cheese were the Hyatt Regency and Nina and Hager. But he needed to create a market for cheese in a country which only knew hard churpi in the north and soft paneer in the south. He started selling his cheeses at the Summit Hotel weekend market, expanding to his own 1905 Farmer’s Market which later moved to Le Sherpa in Maharajganj, where it is now, and also a market at Labim Mall in Pulchok. He had cow dairies in Nuwakot and Dhulikhel, and finally a yak cheese unit at 3,379m in Ramechhap. It was the yak blue cheese from here that went on to win a Gold Medal in France, putting Nepal’s French cheese on the world map. “People come and try our cheese at the market, they ask questions. There is a lot of education to be done about cheese,” adds Driard, who also has three cheese shops in the Valley. Driard now makes 25 types of cheese. The products are being noticed and every year he has French students coming to Nepal to learn the art of yak cheese making. “In France, one family or company makes one kind of cheese for generations. In that I’m very unique as a cheese artisan,” he says. “The students come in to learn but I tell them to also teach us something too, add another cheese to my collection.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/langtang-after-10-years">Langtang after 10 years</a>, Sonia Awale Being a foodie, Driard is now also dabbling in meat with his own charcuterie at Meatini with bacon, ham, sausage and pâtés. All of this is now served at his Emilio’s Pizza, a leafy hideaway in Lazimpat. His South Side in Moksh is probably the smallest wine bar in the world. “I call the process sublime,” says Driard of his ventures, which have grown organically. “You need the same temperature and humidity of 12°C and 80% for cheese, meat and wine.” Emilio’s speciality is the eight-cheese pizza (which has eight types of cheeses), and a pizza with bhutan topping (not the country but fried intestines and organs Nepali-style). He has opened a small branch at Courtyard in Pokhara.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="8 cheese pizza"> <figcaption>Eight-cheese pizza</figcaption> </figure>  With two artisanal cheese units, two farmers’ markets, a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-meat-of-the-story">meat processing unit</a>, a bakery, and wine bar he now envisions a vineyard so he can add Nepali wine to his repertoire. Another future plan is to start up an agri-tourism business where customers can drink, eat and work in peace. In the past 20 years in Nepal, Driard has not always succeeded in his ventures but this hasn’t curbed his enthusiasm. He is learning as he goes, and like an old wine, Nepal is growing on him. Its slowness suits his French art de vivre with eating slowly outdoors, having conversation, importing less.&nbsp; “I have proven that with even a little money you can do a lot of things in Nepal,” adds Driard. “In the West, they easily invest half a million euros on a cheese factory, I invested 10 times less.”&nbsp;

Fromage, vin et charcuterie Népalais

Bhuthan भुठान starts with Bishnu Bahadur KC played by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/dhuwa-smoke-telefilm,2671">Hari Bansha Acharya</a> on a call, requesting to speak to the visa officer. By this point, he had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-should-now-allow-visa-on-arrival">applied for a visa </a>to Bhutan 10 times, but was denied each time. KC was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-women-excel-in-sports-in-2024-z9ramyct">national football player </a>in Bhutan in 1988 before he and other Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people were forced out of the country in the 1990s as part of the Druk regime’s ‘One Nation One People’ campaign. Over 100,000 Bhutanese Nepalis were forced out, driven across India and dumped in Nepal where they lived in seven<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp"> refugee camps</a> supervised by the United Nations and other charities until they were resettled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries starting in 2007. In the fictional movie with the satirical English title The World’s Happiest Man, KC has resettled in the state of Ohio in the US but wishes to visit his home country once before he dies. Between flashbacks, we learn KC has died without having fulfilled his wish. &nbsp; The drama then focuses on KC’s two families from two marriages as they debate whether to cremate him as per <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/muslim-hindu,2996">Hindu rites </a>or give him a Christian burial. A mediator played by Hollywood actor Bruce Dern urges them to take a firm decision before it is too long.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="945" height="945" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  There are drawn out scenes of KC being baptised and when he is confronted by his first wife from Darjeeling played by Anuradha Majumdar, he says he changed his religion in the hope that he will be <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bhutan-s-refugees-between-hope-and-despair">allowed back in Bhutan</a>.&nbsp; We find out KC has a second wife, a Christian Nepali played by Puja Chand. Dayahang Rai as the younger son doesn’t have much screen time to flex his acting chops. &nbsp; Acharya competently portrays a man that is equal parts haunted by the memories of and longing for his home country. KC’s pain and loss is acute when he is teaching football to Gungun but between mid-scene, he freezes, perhaps lost in memories of being in Bhutan’s national team. &nbsp; In another scene, KC recalls his mother singing a lullaby in Dzongkha. He also has a box filled with medals, photographs and a football which he deflates with a knife in a powerful depiction of his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home?fb_comment_id=1506516030025634">complicated emotions about his homeland</a>. KC keeps checking his mailbox in the hopes that his <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4977">visa application</a> has been accepted. He says in Nepali: “If a tree that has already struck roots in one place is shifted to another, it will not survive.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34" data-rendition-name="original" width="1422" height="2048" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  Dern’s character says that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-s-transitional-justice-and-the-west-s-recalibration">western world</a> has become “lonely in pursuit of happiness”, another reference to Bhutan’s obsession with its Gross National Happiness index. Scenes shift quickly throughout making the story difficult to follow at times. The use of symbolism is a trite overdone. Nonetheless, भुठान is a nuanced depiction of raw pain and agony of losing one’s homeland. But one cannot help but leave the theatre feeling deflated. KC dies without having visited <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-bhutan-dreams-big">Bhutan</a>, but perhaps he does in his afterlife. It is up to the audience to create its own ending to this sad story of exile. भुठान Mad Monkey Films, 2025 Directed by Binod Paudel 102 minutes In cinemas in Nepal

nepali-congress