Most of the op-ed editors of broadsheet dailies published in Kathmandu on Thursday have given a lot of space to issues related to the upcoming elections. Here’s a summary of op-ed pages in Thursday’s newspapers:
Centre’s role in federal setup
The upcoming elections in Nepal are not just for Parliament, but also for the provincial assemblies. The provincial assemblies represent Nepal’s transformation into a federal setup. Chandra Kishore, in his lead article for Kantipur, says that although the federal setup was envisaged to rectify the shortcomings of a centralised political system, the way the elections are being held shows that centralised structures still dominate Nepal’s political landscape.
He argues that federalism is like a ‘dark tunnel’ for Nepal as no one knows what will happen next. The government has not made logistic arrangements for the provincial governments and the parliamentary elections have hijacked the agendas of the provincial elections. As both the elections are taking place simultaneously, the provincial polls have lost their lustre. Chandra Kishore says that although the federal setup is replete with problems, the country does not have an effective alternative to the system.
What kind of change to the system do communists want?
Ever since Nepal’s two main communist parties decided to enter into an electoral alliance, there has been talk about Nepal switching to a presidential system of governance. In this context, Surendra Devkota, in his lead article for Annapurna Post, believes that the communist desire to impose a presidential system in Nepal contradicts many of their stands on the constitution. He says that the same leaders who cannot stop glorifying the constitution feel the need to change it at the earliest to suit their interests. But when the people of Madhesh demanded changes to the constitution, they said the document was perfect, and there was no need to change it.
He says that various interest groups with cash to burn have found their way to Parliament and want to influence policies. They are now dealing with MPs but if the presidential is adopted, they will only have to influence a single person.
Chinese worried about policy inconsistency in Nepal
Bhaskar Koirala, who has carried out extensive research on Nepal-China relations, in his interview with Republica says that it was wrong for the government to scrap the agreement with the Chinese firm Gezhouba to develop the Budhigandaki project. He says that the main worry Chinese have about Nepal is related to the frequent changes in government and policies that make dealing with Kathmandu challenging. He argues that in the past, India used to consider Nepal’s northern frontier as a natural barrier between India and China, but in recent times, the barriers have broken down.
On OBOR, he says that although the project is important for Nepal. it is not the most important. What is more important at this moment in time is preferential access to the Chinese market for Nepali agricultural products.
