The pre-monsoon season of street upheaval is upon us, and as public frustration builds up there is pressure once more on Nepal’s revolving political leadership to switch partners.
There has hardly been a day in the past month when Kathmandu’s main intersections have not been blocked by royal rallies, teacher’s marches, doctors’ demos, sit-ins by victims of cooperatives scams, and even the ruling UML last week staged its own show of youth force.
In the middle of all this is Prime Minister K P Oli, who assures us that all is well. He is sounding more and more like Emperor Nero.
The street demonstrations by various professions are about corruption, bad governance, job insecurity, and unsustainable wages, but the general public finds resonance in the anger.
Teachers had been on warpath for a month, demanding that Parliament pass the School Education Bill for salaries and benefits on par with civil servants and other reforms.
As it stands, Education Minister Bidhya Bhattarai of the UML had resigned last week following disagreements with Oli over meeting teachers’ demands. Earlier, Binda Pandey and Ushakiran Timalsina were suspended for daring to challenge Oli for taking a tycoon’s donation of real estate for the party office.
Read also: Class Act, Shristi Karki
However, on Wednesday, the teachers called off their protest after negotiating a nine-point deal with the government, warning that they would resume demonstrations if the agreements were not implemented.
The Nepal Medical Association has shut down non-essential medical services in solidarity with resident doctors in private hospitals who are demanding stipends on par with government facilities.
For months, victims of cooperatives and loan sharks have come to Kathmandu from all over the country to demand justice and compensation. The government has formed multiple committees, signed many agreements, passed an ordinance to return their money, but relevant laws have languished.
All agitating groups have been given the runaround by successive governments led by the three main parties. Indeed, Oli, the NC’s Sher Bahadur Dueba, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre have reached multi-point agreements with teachers, doctors, and victims of fraud to address their grievances. But they were empty promises.