NEPALI POLITICS

The Himalayan Times 28 April 2023 Red signal for Big 3 The desire for change in political leadership was evident in the last May local elections when a moderately known rap musician, Balendra Shah and a social activist, Harka Sampang Rai were elected Kathmandu and Dharan mayors respectively-young blood who were not affiliated to any of the established political parties. Both of them had won with a comfortable majority of votes by defeating well-known political leaders of the big parties. The entry of the youths and new political parties into politics has been an encouraging development in the national political arena when the senior leaders and traditional parties have failed to lead the nation and meet the people’s expectations. Since then, the era of alternative politics has begun, raising an alarming situation for the big three political parties and their so-called senior leaders. However, it remains to be seen and experienced whether these independent young faces and new po...

The Himalayan Times 21 April 2023 Headless apex court TheSupreme Court (SC) has been headless for the last fourteen months following the suspension of Chief Justice (CJ) Cholendra Shumsher Rana. None of the responsible authority seemed to be in a hurry to fill the vacant chair. As per Article 284 (3) of the constitution, the Constitutional Council (CC) should recommend a new CJ a month before the incumbent is to retire. Owing to the November elections, this provision could not be moved forward in the absence of crucial council members including Speaker, Deputy Speaker and leader of the opposition. The CC is now complete; there does not seem any reason why it should not be showing any interest towards recommending a new CJ. Could it be that the senior political leaders were not keen to fill the CJ’s chair for their vested political interests in the judiciary system?  The SC, as the supreme arbitrator of the constitution and a major state organ, should not be allowed to ...

The Himalayan Times 14 April 2023  The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is a high level constitutional body for corruption control whose prime responsibility is to investigate, prosecute and bring actions against officials accused of misuse of authority or involvement in corruption. It will initiate investigations against all public officials if the complaint is made in writing or in the media or through any source related to allegations of abuse of power. Nepal continues to slide down in the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). It ranked Nepal 110th globally with only 34 out of 100 marks in 2022. This indicates that the country has failed to make any headway when it comes to reducing the level of corruption, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the world.   In view of growing irregularities in the country, time has come for the major political parties and their respective governments to be sincere in...