President Ram Chandra Paudel. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Speaker of the House Dev Raj Ghimire. Army Chief Prabhu Ram Sharma and Police Chief Dhiraj Pratap Singh. Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki. Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari. The most powerful people in Nepal today are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/political-patriarchy">all men</a>, and all from dominant caste groups.&nbsp; Top leaders of all major political parties are also all men: Dahal, K P Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Baburam Bhattarai, Madhav Nepal, Rabi Lamichhane, Rajendra Lingden, Mahanta Thakur, Upendra Yadav.&nbsp; The 2015 Constitution has strict quota provisions for the representation of women, Indigenous people and Dalits in Nepal’s legislature, government and bureaucracy.&nbsp; Prithvi Nayaran Shah called Nepal a ‘garden of diverse ethnicities and castes’ but this is reflected nowhere in the corridors of power today.&nbsp; To be sure, affirmative action and Constitutional provisions for inclusion mean better representation than before of marginalised groups in all sectors. The 2015 Constitution mandated that 33% of MPs had to be women. In the 2017 elections, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/women-leaders-set-example-for-rest-of-nepal">women were elected to every local unit</a> as either a mayor or deputy mayor, or both. The Constitution also has a quota for Dalit representation in every ward. True, many women and minorities tended to be nominal nominations to ceremonial posts just to fulfil quota requirements. But electoral alliances between political parties with diametrically opposing views in the 2022 elections to all three levels of government meant women and minorities did not even get those token positions.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230316110312_df226f81be265abaf121ee43c90aebfe1a54bcfd527488ff43903ef1819613ca.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230316110312_df226f81be265abaf121ee43c90aebfe1a54bcfd527488ff43903ef1819613ca" data-rendition-name="original" width="859" height="766" loading="lazy" alt="under-representation"> </figure>  There is also pushback from dominant caste groups against reservation, arguing that it goes against meritocracy and that more qualified individuals miss out on opportunities to rise up the ranks. But for a country where the scale of social justice is so skewed, historically-excluded groups need to be given a chance to catch up through proportional representation. A quota system gives a much-needed push for the underserved to at least be more visible, even if they do not immediately become decision-makers. Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/political-patriarchy">Political patriarchy</a>, Editorial&nbsp; Yet, reservation laws can be abused. Former president Bidya Devi Bhandari was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/interpreting-article-76-5-of-nepal-s-constitution-52msrghp">openly doing the bidding </a>of UML Chair Oli when he was prime minister. There are many examples of women deputy mayors who are not equipped to fully perform the required roles.&nbsp; Which is why it is crucial that women, Indigenous people, Dalits and other minorities are empowered to function. This can be made to happen through education, training, financial independence and exposure.&nbsp; The very first step will be to recognise just how lopsided the whole process is. As the largest party in Parliament, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the third largest Maoist Centre gave tickets for just one woman candidate each in direct elections last year. In Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provincial Assemblies there is not a single woman elected through direct ballot. Even though women have 20% of jobs in the bureaucracy, they have only 4% of the topmost positions. Brahmins make up only 12.7% of Nepal’s population, but hold 70% of higher jobs in civil service.&nbsp; Janjatis are 32% of the population but have less than 2% of senior positions. Dalits make up 15%, but are even less represented, with only 0.7% of special and gazetted jobs.&nbsp; To solve any problem, we have to first recognise there is a problem. In Nepal, under-representation of the historically-excluded is a problem. Given platforms, women have generally proven to be better at governance. Jumla and Hupsekot of Nawalparasi were two municipalities in which women were voted both chair and deputy in the 2017 local election. They helped improve &nbsp;education, agriculture, conservation, and had effective Covid-19 response in their localities. Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-women-envoys-make-a-mark">female ambassadors</a> have been exemplary in dealing with migrant issues, tourism promotion and economic diplomacy. Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/post-presidential-politics">Post-presidential politics</a>, Shristi Karki Kulman Ghising, Sanduk Ruit and Mahabir Pun are lauded by Nepalis as national heroes. All three belong to Indigenous groups — proof that inclusion is not just morally right, but that there is strength in diversity. &nbsp;&nbsp; Eventually, we have to move beyond quota-enforced inclusion to one that includes and engages all groups by default. Till then, because some are more equal than others, the excluded need that extra weightage. The election for Vice President is slated for Friday 17 March. Two of the three candidates are women: Asta Laxmi Shakya of the UML and Mamta Jha of CK Raut's Janmat Party. But Ram Sahay Yadav of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) is the heavy favourite to win, even though the Constitution recommends that the vice president should be female if the president is male. Need we say more? Sonia Awale

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Editorial

Whose country is it anyway?

The candidacy of Ram Chandra Paudel for Nepal’s next presidency backed by eight parties including the Nepali Congress and Maoist Centre this week is the latest proof (if any is still needed) of Nepal’s entrenched political patriarchy.
The series of backroom deals in the run-up to presidential elections on 9 March was meant to stop K P Oli of the UML from being all-too-powerful two-and-a-half years down the line when his party would have president, prime minister and speaker.
In this quagmire, we are losing a chance to elect a non-political president respected by all Nepalis. In the spirit of national unity and inclusiveness, it was the turn of a candidate from an indigenous community or a Dalit to be the third president of Nepal.
But what we are getting instead is another partisan figurehead who will continue the legacy of Bidya Devi Bhandari to do the bidding of a ruling party -- exactly why a ceremonial post has now become a dealmaker (or breaker).
Paudel’s presidency is probably a foregone conclusion and underscores the gerontocratic patriarchy in which a handful of superannuated incompetent and tainted men have been reshuffling the cards for more than two decades. They will not tire of mansplaining to us that they are just defending democracy and stability.
This is in direct contrast to the people’s strong show of support in the 2022 elections for young, independent leaders, the likes of Rabi Lamichhane, Toshima Karki, Balen Shah and Harka Sampang.
This is a sorry state of affairs for a country that at one time had women in the three topmost positions: Bidya Devi Bhandari as the President, Sushila Karki as the Chief Justice and Onsari Gharti Magar as Speaker.
Women also made up 33% of parliamentarians and, in the 2017 elections, women were elected to every local unit as either a mayor or a deputy mayor, or both.
While many argue that women were mostly confined to ceremonial posts or rarely got to contest the direct election, in 2022 they did not even get to be token women. Indigenous people, minorities and Dalits were even more sidelined as politicians used electoral alliances (between parties with diametrically opposing ideologies) to cheat them out of Constitutional provisions.
It is not surprising, therefore, that women are still unable to provide citizenship in their name to children while celebrities accused of rape wangle get-out-of-jail cards, and get back to business as usual.
Ironically, it is rural Nepal with its limited access to resources and low literacy rate where women are truly growing as leaders. With men away working overseas, women have taken a lead in every sector from community forestry and agriculture to school and health post management committees.
Community forestry, which doubled Nepal’s canopy cover in 25 years, is an internationally recognised model, while the Female Health Volunteers (FCHVs) program is the backbone of community healthcare in the country. In many ways, the feminisation of rural Nepal is empowering Nepali women to take charge by default.
Among the most dramatic successes of the last decades is the decline in childhood malnutrition and maternal mortality rate in Nepal, both of which are inversely correlated to increased literacy of girls.
But of late, progress has stagnated. In some areas, incidences of child marriage, malnutrition and maternal mortality are creeping up again. So, what are we missing?
<h2>Explaining to some men</h2>
Women empowerment needs men to not just accept equality, but make up for historical marginalisation. Most Nepali women are now aware of their rights and potential, many have proven themselves. But the attitude of men towards gender equity has not changed at the same rate. This can mean young men and boys unlearning the culture they have grown up with.
Homemakers are not jobless people. If all of their work was monetised, they would be the biggest earners in most families. A girl child, if given the same opportunity, can be at par, if not above her male counterpart. Educated career women have a more difficult life balancing home and work.
Only when men are educated do they respect all individuals, their choices and decisions. International Women’s Day on 8 March should not just be about women: it is about educating men, the men in our families, in our communities, and society. &nbsp;
Only then can we envision a world that is just and fair to everyone. And maybe then we won't need to mark an International Women's Day anymore.
Sonia Awale

Political patriarchy

After the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 that brought the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nalapani-to-kalapani/" target="_blank">Anglo-Nepal War</a> to an end, Nepal was nominally independent, but was treated by the British as just another Indian princely state.&nbsp; Jang Bahadur Rana took power after the gory Kot coup in 1847, and to gauge if it was wise to go to war with Britain to wrest back territory lost in 1816, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/the-rest-is-history-for-john-whelpton/" target="_blank">got himself invited</a> by Queen Victoria — becoming the first subcontinental royalty to visit England in 1850.&nbsp; After inspecting cannon factories and military installations, Jang was awed by the might of the British Empire. He and his descendants who ruled Nepal for the next 100 years then became so devoted to Britain that they helped quell the Mutiny in 1857, offered troops for the Afghan Campaign and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/gurkhas-versus-turks-gallipoli-campaign,2192" target="_blank">other wars</a>of Empire. An estimated 20,000 Gurkha soldiers died in Flanders Field, Gallipoli and other battlefields of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget/" target="_blank">World War I</a>.&nbsp; Through skilful diplomacy and two years of lobbying in Delhi and London, Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana leveraged the sacrifice of young Nepali warriors to get Britain to sign the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-rana-reign-a-recap-of-history,3751" target="_blank">1923 Treaty of Friendship</a> that formally recognised Nepal as a sovereign country.&nbsp; Chandra Shumsher himself visited London in 1908. Later, to soften the British military and royalty to sign the treaty he hosted Lord Kitchener, and invited King George VI and Prince Edward for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/centennial-of-hunting-diplomacy-in-nepal/" target="_blank">elaborate tiger hunting diplomacy</a> in Chitwan. Prithvi Narayan Shah may have been Nepal’s founding king, but it was Chandra Shumsher who first gave Nepal its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/centennial-of-hunting-diplomacy-in-nepal/" target="_blank">place in the world</a>. In 1937, Nepal established an embassy at <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/FOR-SALE,322" target="_blank">12A Kensington Palace Gardens </a>where it is located to this day. At that time, Nepal was one of only four Asian countries with a mission in London. Things changed after Indian independence in 1947, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5358#.ZARDrS8RqLd" target="_blank">the Ranas</a> were soon out of a job. The rest, as they say, is history.&nbsp; This year marks the centenary of the Nepal-Britain Friendship Treaty signed on 21 December 1923 in Singha Darbar — also called the ‘Treaty of Thapathali’. It went some way to address the historical humiliation for Nepal of the Sugauli Treaty.&nbsp; British envoy to Nepal William O’Connor was taken with a 20-horse escort from Lazimpat to Singha Darbar for the signing ceremony, an honour reserved only for kings. The Rana regime declared two days of national holiday, ordered illumination of buildings at night, lifted the ban on gambling temporarily, and freed prisoners. British envoys in Kathmandu who were earlier referred to as ‘residents’ now became full ambassadors. Although Nepal was never colonised, the Treaty finally helped the country to be accepted on the world stage as an independent nation. The treaty document is archived in Single Darbar and bears the signatures of O’Connor and Chandra Shumsher.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230309060328_7a2489e6e18690249a0bd453acb7059d999e39a9e7409d958a647a92ba606eda.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230309060328_7a2489e6e18690249a0bd453acb7059d999e39a9e7409d958a647a92ba606eda" data-rendition-name="original" width="343" height="480" loading="lazy" alt="Chandra Samsher treaty"> <figcaption>British envoy to Nepal William O’Connor and Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher after signing the treaty on 21 December 1923.</figcaption> </figure>  Among its seven articles, the treaty guaranteed Nepal’s sovereignty, reaffirmed the Sugauli Treaty, addressed security guarantees, opened the door for import of weapons by the Nepal military, and removed tariff barriers for bilateral trade. The treaty was not welcomed by everyone, however. Anti-Rana dissidents and those who were against Gurkha recruitment opposed it. Chandra Shumsher died six years after the treaty signing, and his successors did not fully exploit its potential to, for example, join the League of Nations and push Nepal’s presence more forcefully. Chandra Shumsher even used the security provision of the treaty to get the British in India to suppress activists engaged in anti-Rana and anti-Gurkha recruitment advocacy in India. &nbsp; Nepal is not a member of the Commonwealth, but having 8,000 or so of our <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/More-warlike,1023" target="_blank">nationals in the British Army</a> should have made Nepal-Britain ties much closer to take greater advantage of political, economic and trade cooperation.&nbsp; Nepal has not been able to fully capitalise on the ‘soft power’ of Gurkha recruitment. And adventurers who researched and explored Nepal in the last two centuries are almost unknown in Britain: regent and Nepalophile &nbsp;<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3246#.ZARTpC8RqLc" target="_blank">Brian Houghton Hodgson</a>, botanist <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/years-of-botanical-art,3222" target="_blank">Francis Buchanan-Hamilton</a>, naturalist <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/republic-of-nepals-animal-kingdom/" target="_blank">Joseph Dalton Hooker</a>, Himalayan explorers <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest/" target="_blank">A W Tilman </a>and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest/" target="_blank">Eric Shipton</a>, or the ex-British Gurkhas <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/edinburgh-store-comes-full-circle-to-nepal/" target="_blank">Mike Cheney</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-himalayan-odyssey/" target="_blank">Jimmy Roberts </a>who made Pokhara his home. Much of this is due to Nepal’s own inadequate diplomacy over the years. But while members of the British royal family have made multiple visits to Nepal, starting with Queen Elizabeth’s first tour in 1961, no serving British prime minister has bothered to come to Kathmandu. The 1923 Treaty does not get much attention in Britain and India, and even in Nepal it is overshadowed in political discourse by Sugauli and the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty. There are also those across the border who maintain that the 1950 treaty with India supersedes 1923. History moves on, empires rise and fall. Britain’s glory is now confined to history books. Next door, we have rising China. Nepalis must ponder whether we have lived up to the scope that the 1923 treaty provided us to do business with a country that was then a global superpower. We have not. These days, the two big neighbours and the United States regard Nepal’s leaders with distrust and disdain. Our politicians are not true to their word, and sell themselves to the highest bidders. They are incapable of conducting the geopolitical tight-rope walk that is now necessary to keep Nepal stable and viable. Nepal’s serial leaders either play the victim and grovel, or recklessly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inventing-a-new-enemy/" target="_blank">pit our neighbours against each other</a>. They resort to hollow nationalism, or stoke populism to get to power. Nepal borders two largest emerging economies in the world. The sooner we realise that they are not always fighting over us, the sooner we can take advantage of our location for national advancement.

1923 - 2023

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150240/63fe12469c7e80680e0da514jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1142" height="580"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Besides a viral video of hysterical female fans at an Eleena Chauhan concert, the other trending clip on YouTube in Nepal this week is of women pilgrims hurling expletives at President Bidya Devi Bhandari for being driven right to the gate of Pashupati on Shivaratri on 18 February, making everyone wait.The most important role of Nepal’s Constitutional President is to be a symbol of national unity. The persona of the head of state therefore should command widespread respect. It would be fair to say that aside from partisan support of the UML that elevated her to the ceremonial post in 2018, President Bhandari is not held in very high regard by the public.As the widow of the charismatic and popular UML leader Madan Bhandari who was killed in a car crash in 1993, President Bhandari had a lot going for her. Nepal’s second president and the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/10/28/the-first-woman-president/&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiM5oOzzqP9AhUvslYBHXGxDlIQFnoECAcQAg&amp;usg=AOvVaw17xfzh3t_IWyUni-JsxNMz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first woman to hold the post</a> could have built on those plus points.Instead, President Bhandari has been ridiculed as a political sidekick to K P Oli of the UML when he was prime minister. Oli did use President Bhandari’s power when faced with a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-oli-goes-it-alone/">challenge from Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2021-2</a>.Lately, the criticism has swirled around how <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2793&amp;fbclid=IwAR3E3ubfLGmVi6wJLcwACFkFf4jmyL_5CC-2zyM7aupgQfjtoHu5l79vGnk&amp;v=2v28GEneQVM&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">her motorcade creates monstrous traffic jams</a> everywhere she goes, inconveniencing the public.Posts on social media poke fun at her inability or unwillingness to get the Nepal Army, of which she is titular supreme commander, to relax the protocol for presidential convoys. The tacky and ostentatious of the hall where she regally receives dignitaries is the subject of much mockery on social media.Why does all traffic have to come to a halt when the President is driven to address Parliament? A National Trauma Centre surgeon was beaten up by police for daring to walk on the sidewalk on 10 February as the presidential convoy approached.President Bhandari must be aware of this rising public anger, but what is puzzling is why she has not used her powers to get the security apparatus to go easy on the bandobast. The government says it is revising the protocols, but the damage has been done.Inconvenience to the public from blocked roads is symptomatic of a larger national malaise since 2017 of lack of accountability, erosion of rule of law, impunity and abuse of the Constitution. All political forces are guilty, they have all meddled with constitutional norms for personal or partisan benefit, have pardoned criminals for political expediency, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/uproar-over-maoist-war-anniversary-holiday/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">declared a ‘people’s war’ day to appease cadre</a>, passed ordinances to bypass legal hurdles to get what they want.Even the new RSP, came out of nowhere to become the fourth largest party, behaved in the same roughshod manner by putting forward <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-rise-and-fall-of-rabi-lamichhane/">Rabi Lamichhane</a> as Home Minister (and another minister) despite clear conflicts of interest.Nepal’s 2015 Constitution envisions the president as the head of state, a guardian of national unity, defender of the Constitution and the ceremonial head of the Army. In this respect, the president’s role is no different than that of the king after 1990 – the only difference being that the monarchy was hereditary.The President and Prime Minister should therefore be meeting every week. The head of government briefs the head of state on the matters at hand, and if needed, the president offers non-binding suggestions to the prime minister which should not be made public. That is the way it is supposed to work.President Ram Baran Yadav fulfilled his role to the letter, even though he had to make a move in 2008 against Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s removal of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/rookmangud-katawal-memoir,1567">Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal</a> and replacing him with a Maoist nominee.President Bhandari’s immediate support for K P Oli’s dissolution of Parliament, while she dilly-dallied on the Nepali Congress-Maoist ordinance on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/coalition-set-to-snub-president-bhandari/">Citizenship Bill in 2022</a> was widely criticised as partisan double-standard.A ceremonial president is not weak, the post has residual powers that are quite critical in times of crisis. Which is why the prime minister and president should be on the same side – on the side of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-political-economy/">national interest</a>.The next president need not be regarded with reverence, just respect. It would help if we <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/an-unceremonious-president/">elect a non-political president on 9 March</a>, someone who is held in high esteem by all Nepalis. As symbol of national unity and inclusiveness, it is turn of a candidate from the indigenous community or a Dalit.May better sense prevail so that coalitions are not made or broken depending on who gets to be a Constitutional President.

Constitutional President

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11a89c7e80680e0da4eejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1703"/><figcaption>Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal with Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra during a meeting in Kathmandu on Monday. Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>In the same week that Maoist chieftain and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal declared 13 February ‘People’s War Day’, he will take the salute at Tundikhel on Nepal Army Day on Saturday, 18 February.It is one of the successes of Nepal’s peace process that the two militaries that clashed during the second half of the Maoist conflict from 2001-2006 have now buried the hatchet. More than 1,500 former Maoist guerrillas were inducted into the Nepal Army, one of the few instances in recent history that warring sides have come together so effectively.However, this reconciliation has come at a cost. Tens of thousands of conflict survivors, victims of torture, those maimed for life, and relatives of civilians murdered or disappeared still have no closure.It is no coincidence that the Nepal Army Day military parade and fusillade has historically been timed for Shivaratri, when tens of thousands of Indian pilgrims throng to Kathmandu. Nepal’s rulers have historically used this occasion as an opportunity to wage psywar, and let Indians take back with them stories of Gorkha military might.Then in October, the Nepal Army has another show of force on Tundikhel at Phulpati — traditionally the time Tibetans would be in town to barter mountain goats and wool during the Dasain festival. They were supposed to be so awed by the warlike Gorkha Kingdom, that they would spread the word when they returned to Lhasa.For the past half-century or so, there has been less need for Nepal to put the fear of god on visitors from the neighbourhood. The Tundikhel military display during the Panchayat was directed more at Nepalis themselves, with the not so subtle message to behave themselves.A fly past by six transport helicopters, all different models and pre-World War I brass cannons firing blanks, are not likely to impress the Defence Attaches of our northern and southern neighbours — especially since Nepali nationals fight in one army against the other. Why the Nepal Army continues to conduct this wasteful and utterly futile exercise twice a year is unfathomable.Nepal was always squeezed in the geopolitical fault line between India and China. But now with intensifying Sino-US rivalry, the country is not just a yam between two boulders, but three. And to update Prithvi Narayan Shah’s analogy, the tuber has gone all squishy with political decay.The three powers appear worried about Nepal’s wobbly politics, which is why we are witnessing increased frequency of diplomatic comings and goings. Indian Foreign Secretary and former ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, air dashed to Kathmandu this week, the visit overlapping with the arrival of US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Afreen Akhter.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11ac9c7e80680e0da4efjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2038"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Akhter herself was preceded by USAID Administrator Samantha Power and US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. Power announced a $58.5 million grant (“subject to availability”, what does that even mean?) to shore up Nepal’s democracy, civil society and free press.And the Chinese are coming in March, with a slew of visits by senior officials to make up for a two-year Covid hiatus. Details about the visits are sparse, but it can only mean that the Sino-US Cold War is entering a new freeze.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11b09c7e80680e0da4f0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="672"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>New Delhi’s tacit policy towards Nepal has reportedly been to maintain ‘controlled instability’, and if true, it seems to be getting its wish. Insiders say Kwatra was mainly interested in the condition of the coalition and the election of president on 9 March.Beijing has never hidden its effort to unite Nepal’s Communist parties. And Washington’s strategy is exactly the opposite: to turn the Maoists and UML away from China, and prevent them from getting together.In this new Great Game, the West is willing to overlook India’s rulers systematically muzzling the media and persecuting religious minorities. Interestingly, the raid on the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday happened on the day Air India announced it was buying 470 Airbus and Boeing aircraft — one of the biggest orders in aviation history.The US and European governments do not react to anti-Western verbal vitriol spouted in international fora by Indian Foreign Minister S Jaisankhar. And there is enigmatic silence about India’s dealings with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, even as New Delhi prepares to host the G20 summit in September.The New York Times has belatedly woken up to what is happening in India with an editorial on 14 February that said in part: ‘… American and European leaders should remember that it is only as a democracy, with a free and vibrant press, that India can fulfil its global role.’

Geopolitical tectonics

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10e59c7e80680e0da4b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"/><figcaption>Photo: RSP</figcaption></figure>This week marks 27 years since the Maoists launched their armed struggle. Three decades later, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/20-years-wasted-in-war,2850">17 years after the war ended</a>, the leader of the revolution is prime minister of Nepal for the third time.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-frontlines-of-nepals-war/">Maoists waged war</a> to end the monarchy, and turn Nepal into a federal, secular republic. But Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pushpa-kamal-dahal-is-still-prachanda/">Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> (aka Prachanda) shares power in a coalition with openly anti-secular, royalist and anti-federal parties.Former enemies are now the state. And while this may be a model for post-conflict reconciliation, it also means that neither the security forces and their civilian leaders, nor the Maoist leadership and their guerrilla commanders, have had to answer for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/">heinous crimes</a> committed during the insurgency.The former antagonists have made sure that the two commissions mandated to deliver transitional justice remain toothless. Social science and history text books make no mention of the violent conflict that left 17,000 Nepalis dead. A whole generation of Nepalis has grown up with no knowledge of what happened between 1996 and 2006.Many of the survivors and families of victims have lost faith in ever getting justice, and have moved on because of the pressures of day-to-day survival. Time is erasing memories, and that suits the perpetrators of war crimes fine, since they want us to forget what happened.As they watch at the way the country has been run, however, the hundreds of thousands of Nepali civilians and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/ex-guerrillas-regret-the-war/">fighters who suffered</a>, were tortured, wounded, displaced or bereaved, are thinking: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/revisiting-maoist-demands,2860">what was it all for</a>?On 4 February 1996 at Singha Darbar, Maoist ideologue <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-maoist-revolution-from-the-inside/">Baburam Bhattarai</a> presented to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (yes, his first of five tenures in office) 40 demands. His party did not even wait for the government’s response, and on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/13-february/">13 Feburary 1996</a> launched simultaneous attacks on police stations across the country.The conflict was never about a ‘revolution’. The war was just politics by other (violent) means. The behaviour of their leaders in government today probably <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-spark-that-lit-the-Maoist-revolution,2870">gives little comfort</a> to former guerrillas and comrades. In fact, like in any other party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal has purged all potential rivals from the Maoist Centre.Just like K P Oli of the UML, and to a certain extent the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba, Dahal’s conduct is based on the principle of ‘I am the party, the party is me.’The tragedy is that the leader of the brand new alternative party professing integrity and good governance which came out of nowhere to be the fourth largest entity in Parliament after the November election, showed himself this week to be of the same ilk.Having the coalition appoint himself Home Minister, in charge of the very Police that was investigating his citizenship, showed poor judgement and elastic ethics. Lamichhane was behaving like the very politicians he was rebelling against.His RSP won 20 seats in the House because of protest votes – a rejection by many young Nepalis of same old politics by same old politicians. But Rabi Lamichhane’s stream of consciousness rant the other day after he was refused to be reinstated as Home Minister was reminiscent of Trumpian populism – the same ‘drain the swamp’ and anti-media whataboutery.Lamichhane served as tv anchor in the established media after returning from the United States and later renouncing his citizenship, but understood the true power of social media after tens of thousands of followers showed up at a support rally in Chitwan when he was arrested after being accused to abetting the suicide of someone investigated by his tv program.His press conference on 5 February, therefore, was a demonstration of the clash between new and old media, between new and old politics.Of course, Nepal’s media is not spotless. It would be surprising if it was an island of uprightness when there is rot all around. Most tycoons who also own media are in cahoots with politicians and contractors. If we are honest with ourselves, some of Lamichhane’s supporters have a valid reason for calling journalists पत्रुकार, loosely translated as ‘presstitutes’.But it is easy to see why Lamichhane came out with all guns blazing against the media, and not the prime minister who had just refused to hand him back the home ministership. It was to divert attention from the investigation into his dual citizenship that is like a sword hanging over his head.But let who is without sin cast the first stone. Most leaders in the established parties either have dirt, or blood in their hands for which they have never faced justice. Lamichhane’s citizenship transgression was procedural – not murder or corruption which is what many in power have gotten away with.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rsp-quits-nepal-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RSP quits Nepal coalition</a>, Nepali Times

Armed Conflict and Conflict of Interest

<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 width="1217" height="626" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140216/63e3a0f09c7e80680e0d705ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Armymen try to pull out the bus that fell into the Madi River in Tanahu in 2013. Photo: PAWAN PAUDEL/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>The question everyone has been asking after the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-bound-flight-crashes-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tragic crash of the Yeti Airlines flight</a> in Pokhara on 15 January is why airline accidents are so frequent in Nepal. 
The answer may lie in the question itself. It is a mistake to call them ‘accidents’ — which are unfortunate incidents that happen unintentionally. The fact is that most deadly air crashes in Nepal over the past 60 years have been found by investigation committees to have been caused by negligence, carelessness, over-confidence, or not following rules. This means they should not have occurred. Lives need not have been lost.
As <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-to-make-nepal-skies-safer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we reported in last week’s edition</a> of this paper, 92% of the fatal crashes since 1962 happened when airworthy planes flew into mountains obscured by clouds. Despite strict rules about flights maintaining visual at all times in the mountains, planes kept being operated in no-go weather en route or at destination airports.
The Pokhara crash did not follow this pattern. Early clues point to possible lapses in the pre-landing cockpit procedure during a checkout flight for the co-pilot. We will have to wait for the investigation report to know what went so horribly wrong in those final moments. 
But that will be too late and of no comfort to the relatives of those who died. Entire families perished in the Seti Gorge that Sunday morning. The dead included promising surgeons, musicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, journalists. Besides the unbearable individual tragedies, this was an incalculable loss to the whole nation. 
There are many factors that contribute to our inability to learn from past mistakes. It may sound deterministic, but at a deeper cultural level there is a tendency to blame ‘accidents’ on ‘fate’ — factors beyond human control. But most crashes could have been avoided if rules were followed.
In many aspects of modern life, Nepalis have not come to terms with the rapid advance of modern technology, and the conventions that must be followed in operating them. It is manifested in the carelessness in handling electric wires, LPG cylinders, and how building codes are flouted. 
Earthquakes in Nepal cannot be called ‘natural’ disasters. As we saw in 2015, it is not earthquakes that kill people, but <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">poorly designed houses</a>, and owners knowingly using sub-standard materials to cut costs.
Also, look at the way we drive. There were more than 4,000 road traffic ‘accidents’ in Nepal last year, resulting in nearly 2,800 fatalities and at least 5,000 people with serious injuries. Ironically, this figure would possibly be much higher if the roads were properly built and maintained, because that would encourage over-speeding.
The Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 paradoxically <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-other-pandemic-road-fatalities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">saved thousands of lives</a> that may have otherwise been lost on roads and highways. There is an <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nation-road-kill,621" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">epidemic of what are called ‘road traffic accidents’</a>, and it has become the number one cause of disease burden among young Nepalis. 
A week after the Pokhara air crash, four people were killed and 15 injured when a jeep plunged into a gorge in Surkhet. On 11 December, 11 died when a bus veered off the road in Jajarkot. On 12 October, a passenger bus plunged down a mountain in Mugu, killing most of the 40 people on board.   
Ninety-four people lost their lives in air crashes in Nepal in the past 12 months, but during that same period the number of people killed on roads was nearly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-deadly-roads-take-their-toll/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30 times higher</a>. Bus and jeep crashes have become so routine that they do not even make it to the front pages of newspapers anymore. Each is reported as a separate event, not as a trend showing the sharp increase in road and highway fatalities in Nepal year-on-year.
News is defined as whatever is negative, or out of the ordinary. It is the nature of the news ‘business’ that aviation disasters get more priority. People who travel by air tend to be better off, there is more international interest because foreigners may be involved, or the aircraft type is in operation all over the world. 
Policy decisions and rules save lives. Proof of this is the dramatic drop in fatalities in Kathmandu Valley after the crackdown on driving under the influence. Time cards to control speeding along highways have also been effective. Better maintenance of roads and their safety features could prevent many road mishaps.
As with other disasters, it is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/cartel-carnage-highway,3233" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the poorest Nepalis who are most vulnerable</a> to dangerous roads, and this is a criminal lack of responsibility on the part of the state. We expect the new coalition government with a crop of young technocrats in the various ministries to swing into action to ensure the safety of the travelling public.

Dying to travel

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0879c7e80680e0d703fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>On 10 January, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal received an almost unanimous vote of confidence in Parliament, including from the Nepali Congress (NC), which is the biggest party in the House and is not part of Dahal’s seven-member coalition.In defence of his decision, Deuba proclaimed that his party had decided to give Dahal vote of confidence to protect the Constitution from the coalition itself -- hinting that he has as coalition partner K P Oli who had dissolved Parliament in 2021 to protect himself. But in doing so, Deuba has made a mockery out of the democratic process, creating a legislature without opposition to hold the government to account.A national consensus on government formation is expected only in situations of common national interest, such as war or disaster, but clearly personal ambition and partisan interest has taken precedence over the national interest in Nepal.Prime Minister Dahal dangled the presidency before the NC and top leadership took the bait, obliterating the opposition and endangering democracy. Deuba made it clear he wants to have his cake and eat it too, stating that his party will remain in the opposition but is “open to accepting” positions of President, Vice President, Speaker or Deputy Speaker. Is that all, Mr Deuba?Even Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa, the leaders of a rival faction within the NC, approved Deuba's platform despite initial criticism. With this, hopes are dashed that NC's 'Young Turks' will ever create an ideological and institutional renaissance within the party.The NC had an opportunity to be a strong opposition, strengthen its organisation without encumbrance from and obligations to other parties, and re-establish itself as the country’s oldest democratic power. As the party with the strongest mandate in Parliament, it could have used public sympathy for being kept out of power due to political manoeuvring to gain back the trust of the people.However, Deuba’s refusal to give up his premiership which consequently cost his party the government, and his inability to be an effective opposition has meant that the NC is now worse off in the eyes of the Nepali people.As it is, people’s trust in the establishment has eroded progressively due to historical political mismanagement and most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic when both the NC and K P Oli’s UML were too busy with their power struggle to much care for public health.Frustrated Nepalis voted in droves for new, young candidates within former tv anchor Rabi Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) especially in the urban centres, and for CK Raut’s Janamat in the Tarai and Nagarik Unmukti in the far west. Meanwhile, the general election also saw a re-emergence of the royalist-right Rastriya Prajatantra Party. All of these parties have now become important players in government.There is still time for the NC to undo the mistake it made by giving the vote of confidence to Dahal. It would do well to remember that Nepali voters trusted the party enough that it is the largest party in Parliament. NC lawmakers can uphold that trust by safeguarding the Constitution and democracy. Instead of being a lapdog of the government, they can be the loyal opposition to make the government accountable.Analysts have also pointed out the possibility of geopolitical manoeuvring and interference preventing NC from becoming a strong opposition. If this is the case and Nepal’s top political leadership has become pawns of neighbouring nations, our democracy is in an even bigger trouble than we thought.A government with unconditional backing makes for an extremist kleptocracy that abuses its power and a kakistocracy that exploits citizens and plunders state resources. And even parties that historically fought for democracy, republic and federalism can drift to extremism.In the absence of a strong opposition, there is a danger that the ruling coalition will call all the shots. This argument has even more basis, given that the government is led by Dahal who is still proud of the 10 years of armed struggle that propelled him to power under a multi-party parliamentary system.Nepal’s mixed electoral system makes it difficult for any one party to establish a majority. And while abolishing Proportional Representation (PR) elections would be a step towards building a stable government, this will not be possible until political parties ensure inclusivity in choosing election candidates, and Nepal has a diverse Parliament without it being a constitutional requirement.Until such a time, Nepal will inevitably (and sadly) go through one shaky coalition government after another.Rabin Giri

Nepal’s illiberal democracy

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e39fed9c7e80680e0d7013jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/>Bishnu Poudel has inherited the Finance Ministry at a time when the country’s finances are in a shambles because of ill-advised and inept policies of his predecessor.The Nepal government is living beyond its means. Expenses are not in line with revenue. As of 11 January, the total expenditure of the Nepal government in the current fiscal year stands at Rs559 billion against revenue of only Rs398.7 billion. This year’s budget projected a 21% increase in revenue from last year. However, data as of November 2022 shows that revenue collection has actually decreased by 20%.Revenue therefore has not kept pace with increases in government salaries, allowances, and bonuses. If this trend continues, the newly elected 7-party opposition-less coalition government will be in serious trouble.Nepal’s imports decreased by 20.17% in the last five months compared to the same time period last year due to the Nepal Rastra Bank’s ban on luxury items to sustain dwindling foreign exchange reserves.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-political-economy/"> Nepal’s political economy</a>, EditorialWith year-on-year inflation reaching 8.08%, ordinary citizens’ demand for goods and services has fallen sharply. Meanwhile, increased interest on loans to more than 15% as a response to rising inflation has discouraged investment.Nepal’s primary sources of revenue are remittances, tourism, and export. Tourism is still not back on track post-Covid due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the country’s exports in the last five months decreased by 34.61% as compared to the same time during the last fiscal year. This country is running just on remittance money that Nepalis abroad send home — either through official banking channels or hundi.But Nepal cannot depend on remittance forever, especially as we need workers at home to stimulate the agriculture sector, manufacturing, construction and tourism, which in turn will create more domestic jobs.Moreover, in his third term at the finance ministry, doubts as to Bishnu Poudel’s budget discipline are not exactly unfounded. Despite the country’s inability to spend, Poudel during his first term as Finance Minister in 2015 introduced a budget that was 28% larger than the previous fiscal year and passed it through ordinance. And during his second tenure in 2020, he revealed a budget that was 12% bigger than the previous one.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-opposition-less-parliament/">Nepal's opposition-less Parliament</a>, Shristi KarkiAlthough the minister may have inherited a country facing financial ruin from his forerunner, his own record is not particularly stellar. He is also known for recklessly increasing spending by increasing salaries and social security allowances during his terms in office.But the finance ministry and the minister think they are beyond reproach and criticism.It might seem like a given, but the finance ministry needs to take the initiative to reduce the wasteful government expenditure. Minister Poudel must work towards bridging the communication gap formed between his ministry and Nepal Rastra Bank during Janardan Sharma’s tenure. Unlike his predecessor, Poudel cannot interfere with the central bank’s autonomy on monetary policies.Too many parties in this coalition government means that there are too many hands on the budgetary honeypot. This will not make the minister’s job easy— but he will now have to navigate the will of seven political parties and their affiliated special interest groups and not be swayed by unreasonable demands from all sides. In fact, the Minister needs to be prepared to go against the coalition in order to prevent any misuse of the budget.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/prospects-of-nepals-tourism-in-2023/">Peak tourism in 2023</a>, Ramesh KumarAs finance minister, Poudel also bears the responsibility of raising the morale of business institutions and people to encourage investment and stimulate the economy.All of this is not to say that there have not been positives. Nepal’s foreign reserves increased by 2.5% from July 2022 to November 2022, following the embargo on the import of luxury items — even as there had been fears that Nepal would become ‘the next Sri Lanka’.Likewise, Nepal Rastra Bank’s recent amendment of the Working Capital Loans Guideline to increase investment might ease the strain on the economy.But embargoes and directives can only take the economy so far. Now, Poudel needs to work not just towards undoing and repairing the mismanagement of the ministry, but actively work towards policy reforms in order to get Nepal’s economy back on track.The minister must thus focus on good governance, refuse to buy into the demands of special interest groups, and facilitate the protection and appropriate use of state resources.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-year-challenge-to-new-government/"> New year challenge to new government</a>, EditorialRamesh Kumar