Sher was conferred with the Prime Ministerial position using Article 76(5) of the Nepali constitution. He was appointed as PM after Supreme Court’s mandamus secured 165 votes in parliament. Sher needed 138 votes to win the vote of confidence in parliament.

During the vote of confidence, a total of 249 parliament members were present in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday. While 83 parliamentarians vote against Sher, 165 parliamentarians voted in his favor. Only one member stayed neutral during this vote session.

With this victory, Sher will effectively stay as Prime Minister of Nepal until the next general elections are held in 2023. The positive development was taken cognizance by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he took to Twitter to congratulate Sher.

“Congratulations Prime Minister @DeubaSherbdr and best wishes for a successful tenure. I look forward to working with you to further enhance our unique partnership in all sectors, and strengthen our deep-rooted people-to-people ties,” Modi tweeted. The Indian PM is the first leader to congratulate Sher Deuba’s victory.

Congratulations Prime Minister @DeubaSherbdr and best wishes for a successful tenure. I look forward to working with you to further enhance our unique partnership in all sectors, and strengthen our deep-rooted people-to-people ties.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 18, 2021

Stay Tuned to NepaliSansar for Latest Nepal Govt News Updates!

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The post Nepal’s New Prime Minister Wins Vote of Confidence appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The meeting was held at the PM’s residence in Baluwatar on February 4, 2020.

He asserted that the three-member committee will submit a report on the Compact within a week.

Later, when asked about his health, PM Oli said that he will soon undergo kidney transplantation.

“MCC Compact offers a valuable opportunity to Nepal and there is no reason for the country to reject the USD 500 million grant,” PM Oli said.

Chaos Around MCC Compact

There are many speculations and criticism about the Compact among the Nepali citizens and political leaders, saying that the conditions in the Compact are against the spirit of the Nepali Constitution.

They exclaimed that MCC is a part of Indo-Pacific Strategy or linked to a military alliance.

Later, the US Embassy in Nepal has published 10 key facts about MCC Compact to clear the confusion about the Compact on January 17, 2020.

The US Government has committed to invest USD 500 million under MCC Compact to fortify Nepal’s economic growth and stability.

Nepal Government has proposed and decided the Electricity Transmission Project and the Transportation Project for MCC program.

The post Nepali Parliament will Ratify MCC ASAP: PM Oli appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

In a recent update, the international human rights body Human Rights Watch (HRW) and International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) issued a statement asking Nepal to check flaws in its transitional justice commissions: Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIED).

The two bodies urged Nepal Government to ensure that the amendments being made comply with the international standards.

“Nepal authorities should take into account the concerns of all stakeholders, including the groups representing victims of serious crimes by all sides during the civil war, other civil society organizations, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),” HRW said in its official release.

Failing to Meet Int’l Standards

Informing that the Oli-led Nepal Government promised of transitional justice mechanisms that are compliant to international laws, HRW said the current draft law fails to support the prosecution measures against human rights violations pertaining to international crimes.

Meanwhile, victims’ groups say that the process undertaken by the two commissions in conducting country-wide hearings and gathering 60,000 cases has also been arbitrary and confusing.

While Nepal has engaged in a transitional justice process over the last few years, with official commissions collecting complaints, holding meetings and generic consultations throughout the country, this is still without any tangible result, and victims say it has left them confused, says Brad Adams, Director, HRW Asia. 

The transitional justice law under discussion have been failing to meet the country’s Supreme Court recommendations and is currently awaiting new reforms proposed by the new government.

The new reforms are currently underway as per the apex court’s order and are also hopeful to the victims’ groups who termed it compliant with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and human rights organizations recommendations.

While the proposed law authorized the relevant commissions to deal with prosecutions, it fails in:

• Strengthening the commissions for effective operations
• Issuing clear guidelines on impartial investigations, instead proposes a special court
• Permitting non-custodial sentences for the most serious crimes
• Inclusion of specific serious crimes

It is very welcome that the Nepal Government is finally looking to address longstanding demands of war victims and should use this opportunity to abide by its obligations, draw up security sector reforms, and pave the way to end impunity, says Ian Seiderman, Legal and Policy Director, ICJ.

The two organizations made few recommendations in their recent meeting with the Attorney General of Nepal and all the relevant stakeholders in Nepal.

The post Nepal Transitional Justice Law: It’s Time to Review Amendments! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Nepal Federal Budget 2018-19 drew a mixed response from all sections of the society. While some called it ‘unrealistic’, some called it ‘development-friendly’ for the nation.

Let us look some of the responses to Nepal Federal Budget for the Fiscal Year 2018-19 pre and post release:

KP Sharma Oli, Prime Minister of Nepal, CPN-UML

The Prime Minister is very elated and encouraged at the Federal Budget for FY 2018-19 his government presented in the Nepal Parliament on May 29, 2018. In a response, he said the budget has come as a support to the slogan of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’.

“The budget has been introduced keeping with practical measures. It would lay the foundation for prosperous Nepal,” he told the press. He said the tax net would be widened to meet the government’s revenue targets.

Sher Bahadur Deuba, Ex-Prime Minister of Nepal, Nepali Congress

Meanwhile, the prime opposition to the ruling Nepali Government and the ex-PM Sher Bahadur Deuba termed the budget as ‘difficult to implement’. He says tax burden would hamper the growth in productivity.

“Time has come for the government with two-thirds majority to walk the talk,” he adds.

Gagan Thapa, Law Maker, Nepali Congress

NC Lawmaker Thapa takes a neutral stand saying the budget has neither gone against the public expectations nor taken any risk.

The politician and lawmaker of the opposition Nepali Congress party Gagan Thapa says the budget has neither gone against the expectations of Nepali public nor took any risk in the process.

Nara Bahadur Thapa, Executive Director, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)

“The budget needs to introduce new programs to increase employment opportunities by promoting small and medium industries in particular,” Thapa said speaking at a pre-budget session.

According to him, the central bank opines that the budget would add to the country’s growth trajectory facilitating resource availability on a large scale, curtailing widening trade deficit, addressing concerns of tourism sector, among others.

Shekhar Golchha, Senior Vice-President, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry

“Reducing transit costs, developing infrastructure, retaining capable manpower in the country and reviewing the challenges that the country has been facing after joining the World Trade Organization are among other issues, which the government should address through the budget,” Golchha said at a pre-budget session.

Productive sector has been facing threat due to the inefficiency of bank and financial institutions. Hence, the government, through the fiscal budget, and central bank, through monetary policy, must address the problems faced by the industrial sector, he adds.

Govinda Nepal, Former Member, National Planning Commission (NPC)

Govinda wants the government to ensure required financial support and enhanced market access to the country’s agriculture sector, along with a needed boost for the country’s agriculture products to perform well in the international value-chain.

The government to ensure the country’s farming community has timely access to the required agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and seeds, he adds.

Rewat Bahadur Karki, Chairman, Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON)

According to Karki, the government should focus on capital markets to address the growing needs of resources to be invested in the country.

Stating that the government should come up with policies to boost Nepal’s capital markets, Karki said, “As the country has entered a federal system, the initiative could help ease the dearth of capital.”

Gyanendra Prasad Dhungana, President, Nepal Bankers’ Association

Gyanendra Prasad feels that there is a need to address asset-liability mismatch in the country’s financial sector when it comes to long-term funding.

He says, “the problem can be solved to a large extent if the government waives taxes on long-term financing.”

Rameshwore Khanal, Former Finance Secretary

Commenting on the budget, Khanal opined that the Finance Minister might have realized that the distributive and populist programmes similar to that launched by past governments would not add to the country’s prosperity.

Addressing that, the federal budget encouraged investment in the economy considering the factor that low investment’s role as a major constraint for economic growth, he adds.

Let’s hope the new budget will address the existing concerns and add to the nation’s prosperity!

Also Read: 

• Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19: Infrastructure Gets Major Push!
• Nepal Federal Budget FY 2019-20: Highlights & Announcements

The post Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19: A Mixed Reaction appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

RJP, a combination of Madhes-based parties, made this announcement on a condition that its demands should be met.

“That will depend upon the structure of the government and which party will lead the government and who will be the Prime Minister because none of the parties have fulfilled the majority (provision). But, yes we can support the government if the Prime Minister and the party, which will lead the government, fulfil our demand of constitution amendment and work upon the Madhesi agendas,” RJP-N Member Anil Kumar Jha said in a statement.

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Alliance (CPN-UML) won the majority of 48 parliamentary seats and RJP won 11 seats in the recently-concluded Nepal general election 2017.

Next Nepali Government

The formation of new Nepal Government has been a matter of discussion since the completion of general election on December 07, 2017.

Besides, the National Assembly election on February 07, 2018 and setting up of capitals for seven provinces are among key issues around the formation of new Nepal Government.

According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) preliminary estimates, Nepal would require a minimum of Rs 820 billion to run the federal administration for the next three years along with the provincial infrastructure development.

According to the Finance Secretary Adhikari, the formation of a new Nepali government with a five-year mandate will bring in a lot of investment into the country along with the promotion of a favorable atmosphere.

The post Nepal Politics: RJP Likely to Join Left for Next Nepal Government appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The FPTP election vote count for 165 House of Representatives (HoR) and 330 Provincial Assembly (PA) seats declared the victory of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) in the recent polls.

With 80 HoR seats & 167 PA seats by UML and 36 HoR & 74 PA seats by its poll partner CPN (Maoist Centre), the left alliance finally emerged as the single largest party as per the FPTP results.

With this, the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) could find its presence only in 23 HoR and 41 PA constituencies, followed by Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-Nepal) that received 11 HoR and 16 PA seats.

While the independents proved their presence in 1 HoR constituency and 3 PA constituencies, 6 women candidates made it to HoR.

According to EC, the vote counting of both HoR and National Assembly has come to final stages with 164 parliamentary and 329 provincial representatives elected so far in the polls held for 165 parliamentary and 330 provincial seats.

PR Counting Underway

Overall, the left alliance won 116 of 165 FPTP seats for HoR and was leading the Proportional Representation (PR) count, held for 60 districts, for 110 seats.

Out of the 7,684,328 PR votes counted so far, “CPN-UML has so far secured 2,631,991 votes followed by NC (2,546,069), CPN-MC (1,045,446), Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (351,525) and the RJP-Nepal (295,448),” informed Nepal Election Commission (EC) Spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal.

The PR vote counting is currently underway in around 17 districts and the final PR result is expected by December 15, 2017 evening.

Once the parties submit their HoR winners under PR category, EC will take the process ahead to President for further approval before making the list public.

Decline in Women Representatives

The number of directly-elected women to the HoR seats under the FPTP category has decreased this time as only 6 women candidates made it to HoR.

This number indicates a gradual decline in women representatives in Nepali elections over a period.

While the first Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2008 saw 30 women representatives, the number declined to 10 in 2013 CA elections, and now it has come down to 6.

This situation lies in contrast to the constitutional rules that recommend 33 percent women representatives in the House.

This time, only three parties including CPN-UML, CPN-MC and Rastriya Janamorcha the winning female candidates.

While UML had only 3 female winners in a total of 80 FPTP seats, CPN-MC also saw a similar number among its 36 total FPTP winners.

Meanwhile, the ruling NC party saw the failure of its 9 female candidates fielded for HoR seats.

Brainstorming Begins

With the results announced, now the winner leftist alliance is brainstorming on the formation of the new Nepali government with key discussions on power-sharing, among others.

According to the senior left leaders, KP Oli, UML Chairman and the next PM of Nepal (likely), and the MC Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also called Prachanda, are likely to hold discussions during December 14-15, 2017 over the formation of new government at the Center.

While some experts feel the formation of central government will be possible only after Assembly results, UML feels that the Assembly (Upper House) election will not be an issue and aims at the formation by the end of December 2017.

Following the formation, the President will call for the first Federal Parliament session under the new government, within 30 days of the declaration of final results of HoR as recommended by the Nepali Constitution.

The post Nepal General Election 2017: Left Alliance Wins FPTP Polls, New Govt Likely by Dec End appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

A total of 4,482 candidates are competing in this phase that is being held at 15,344 polling centers across 45 districts of the country.

The first phase, held on November 26, 2017, was held across 32 districts.

While the first round saw around 65 percent voter participation, the Nepal Election Commission (EC) expects the second phase polls to register more than 70 percent turnout with over 12.2 million voters exercising their vote.

The completion of this First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) election will result in formation of Federal Parliament at the Center and Provincial Assemblies across seven provinces of the country as planned in the new constitution in 2015.

The counting process will also begin the same day in the evening.

A Worth-waiting Election

The world governments, especially the bordering nations, are eagerly watching this landmark election of Nepal.

“I think the party I feel like voting [for] is popular because it strongly claims Nepal as a nation that is capable of bringing those golden days of Nepal back, where Nepal stood economically, socially and politically strong without aid dependency,” says Lawyer Jyoti Singh Bhandari.

“The Election Commission calls on all eligible voters to take part in the elections to convey a strong message to those who are against the implementation of the constitution as well as political stability in the country,” reads a statement by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav.

While Nepal has saw a governmental transition 26 times in the past 28 years, many hope this election would end long-standing political turmoil and open ways for new Nepali constitution, while also bringing in needed development across the country.

The post Nepal General Election 2017: Final Phase of Landmark Polls Across 45 Districts appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

While the three-tier local body polls were held on May 14, June 28 and September 19 of the current year, the most-awaited general elections for electing members for the provincial and parliamentary seats are currently underway in two phases (November 26 and December 7, 2017).

These two elections are important for Nepal for two reasons: One being the socio-political transformation that the Nepali citizens have been waiting for since around two decades and the other being the country witnessing these many number of elections in a single year for the first time in its history.

Local Body Polls

Nepal’s local body polls 2017 drew a huge response from the governments across the world, such as Japan, US, India, among others, which acclaimed that as Nepal’s major step towards its long-awaited development process.

“This is a significant progress towards the implementation of the constitution that was promulgated in 2015,” said the Government of Japan.

“Most importantly, Nepal held the first local elections in 20 years – a significant milestone for your democratic government,” stated the US President Donald Trump.

Upon the completion of local body elections, the United Nations had also hailed Nepal for its efforts towards institutionalizing democratic process through local body polls.

The local body election that concluded with the final phase on September 19, 2017 left its mark registering a record voter turnout.

Provincial and Parliamentary Polls

The intense election heat that began with the local body polls at the start of the Nepal new year 2074 in May continues till date currently in the form of the country’s general provincial and parliamentary polls that are underway.

This legislative election, also termed as the general election, began with the first phase polls that was conducted on November 26, 2017 across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies.

The final phase is slated for December 7, 2017 and will cover 45 districts of the Tarai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Nepal legislative election 2017 is being seen as a game-changer for Nepal as the country is most likely to witness an end to its long political and social turmoil along with the formation of new constitution.

The post 2017, A Game-Changer Year for Nepal appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The first phase of Nepal general elections 2017 was held in 32 hill and mountain districts of six provinces across the country.

According to the Election Commission (EC) of Nepal, the first phase of parliamentary and provincial elections elections saw a 65 percent voter turnout as per the preliminary estimates and the number is expected to be high post the final analysis.

“The voter turnout percentage can rise, as we have yet to include data from some places,” says the Chief Election Commissioner Yadav.

 “Despite the difficult terrain, climatic conditions and sporadic anti-election activities, the first phase of elections has been conducted in a peaceful, free and fair way. This is a major achievement towards institutionalizing federalism,” EC said in a statement.

“Due to effective security arrangements made by the government, the elections were held peacefully,” said the Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav after the conclusion of voting process on the day.

According to Ila Sharma, a member of the Election Commission, there were some minor issues from a few places.

Even the election observers from the international and national organizations lauded the Nepali Government’s efforts in holding a peaceful electoral process in the first phase.

According to the Nepali Home Ministry, there was an encouraging public participation in the first phase polls.

“I could not just stay back. I want to vote for the candidate who will develop this village and the district – a candidate with wisdom and compassion, a love for the country. Such a candidate can do much when they get to power,” a voter reportedly said.

Meanwhile another woman voter was quoted to have said, “We need roads, water supply, electricity, health care and jobs so our children are not forced to go abroad to work.”

However, the average voter participation in this election was termed lower compared to the Constituent Assembly elections in 2013 and local elections in 2017, which saw 78.74 percent and 74.16 percent turn-outs, respectively.

The first phase of elections was held for 74 provincial assembly and 37 federal parliamentary seats under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system, while the elections for the remaining parliamentary seats were slated to be held across 45 districts on December 7, 2017.

NHRC Concerned Over Deprived Voters

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in its release, raised serious concern that some of the voters were deprived of voting rights because of the long distances they stay at from the poll center.

In this regard, NHRC urged the government to ensure that such situations are addressed and all the voters get a chance of voting.

According to NHRC, voters did not turn up at some places because of the lack of voter education and relevant information.

A Game-changing Election

The result of this general election is expected to be a game-changer for Nepal as the Nepali citizens are foreseeing the new constitution and efficient governance through this election by putting an end to the long-standing social turmoil in the country.

This election is also expected to bring a major transformation in the Nepali political landscape as evident in the broader alliance formed by the two major communist parties of the country.

After 2008, it was in 2013 that Nepal saw its last election for a constituent assembly that eventually doubled up into a parliament.

The post Nepal General Elections 2017: First Phase Polls Conclude with 65% Voter Turnout appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

“We urge everyone to respect the freedoms of peaceful expression and assembly, and individual voters’ rights as laid out in Nepal’s laws and constitution,” read a statement by the US Embassy in Kathmandu.

In its release, the US Diplomatic Mission to Nepal raised concerns and condemned the recent attacks on political candidates contesting in the upcoming elections.

The Embassy informed that US is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure an inclusive, peaceful and credible election process.

PM Deuba Calls for Tight Security

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba directed the security officials to ensure full security to the public in the light of the upcoming general elections.

“The constitution has been promulgated after a long struggle. Election is must for constitution implementation. People should get peaceful environment to cast their votes. Do not leave any stone unturned in security system to save the people’s voting rights,” said Deuba in his address at a security seminar for the upcoming elections in Kathmandu today.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Mohan Krishna Sapkota said, “Security challenges in elections have already been identified. Problems will be resolved after moving ahead with the effective security plans.”

On the occasion, security chiefs of all districts briefed about their strategies and also highlighted security conditions, challenges and measures to be implemented to ensure safe electoral process.

Special Observation Missions on the Other Side

Meanwhile, the European Union and the renowned NGO Carter Center have already launched their international Election Observation Missions (EBO) for the Nepal’s upcoming provincial and parliamentary elections.

“Every election has their own challenges and the authorities that are preparing the elections have been facing lots of challenges and Nepal is not exempted from that. Especially considering the fact that the local elections were held recently in September, I don’t see any problem in the government’s efforts,” says Zeljana Zovko, Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission.

The EU mission is making an estimated spending of EUR 3.5 million for the process and has deployed around 38 Long Term Observers (LTOs) across different parts of Nepal to monitor the ongoing preparations and related logistic issues.

Whereas, Carter Center has deployed 14 LTOs and a core team of five experts led by Field Office Director Carlos Valenzuela. Altogether, Carter Center’s team has observers representing 13 countries.

“The Carter Center has a long history in Nepal and we are honored to be present for the first national-level elections since the adoption of the constitution. We trust the elections will be peaceful and will help consolidate Nepal’s democracy,” says Mary Ann Peters, CEO of Carter Center and the Ambassador (ret.).

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