KATHMANDU, May 15:The opposition political parties have said the policy and programmes the President unveiled on Friday failed to bring forth solid plans to cope up with the COVID-19 crisis. It is against federalism and lacked policy and programmes, they argued.

Major opposition Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba observed, “It is like a short epic, too traditional; and lacks innovative approach.”

Similarly, leader of the Socialist Party, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, said the special schemes were needed to address the economy dented heavily by the COVID-19. “Although it sounds good, it is against the spirit of federalism. It is quite depressing,” he commented.”It has nothing special to combat crisis,” said Rastriya Janata Party leader Rajendra Mahato.
Pradip Giri of the Nepali Congress viewed that the policy and programmes failed to create hope and confidence.
Leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Rajendra Lingden wondered why the policy and programmes failed to bring programmes to create jobs and combat coronavirus infection. RSS

KATHMANDU, May 7: Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) leader Mahendra Raya Yadav has said that unification with the newly formed Samajbadi Party Nepal is the need of the people and country.

Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) led by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Upendra Yadav and Naya Shakti Party Nepal led by former Prime Minister Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai formally united on Monday to form Samajbadi Party, vowing to become an alternate political force in the country.

With the new party taking the agenda of constitution amendment and people’s struggle as their medium to move forward centering their politics in Terai-Madhes, RJPN seems eager to give the stalled month-long merger process another go ahead.

“We want to merge with the Samajbadi party. We did not have enough time for discussion with the FSFN. But informal negotiations are still continuing. RJPN-Samabadi merger is the need of the country and people,” said Yadav talking to Rishi Dhamala at a Nepali Radio Network program Nepali Bahas. The RJPN is currently on homework for holding its first general convention.

“The ruling party Nepal Communist Party and the main opposition party Nepali Congress are trying to force two-party system bringing the provision of five percent threshold. Therefore, unification with Samajbadi is a requisite. Our party has officially decided to merge,” he added.

At present, a party should garner three percent votes under Proportional Representation and at least one seat under the First-Past-the-Post in the elections to gain the status of the national political party.

When asked if RJPN will agree with Samajbadi party’s 11-province model for the federal structure, Yadav said that his party also demands state restructuring.

“We have demanded revision in the constitution because we disagree with the current model of province demarcation,” he said.

Also, if the unification with the Samajbadi materializes, it will put RJPN into a stronger position to bargain with the government its agenda of constitution amendment since the three-party merger will give them 34 seats in the 275-member parliament.

RJPN, in early March, withdrew its support from the government led by Nepali Communist Party Chair K P Sharma Oli, citing the prime minister failed to keep his promise of constitution amendment.

“The clause in disagreement must be amended. Consensus on the political issues we have forwarded is a must,” he said.

He also asked Prime Minister Oli to discard his arrogance of two-third majority he commands in the parliament.

“The arrogance of previous governments led to breaking of 10-yearlong Maoist insurgency. If PM Oli keeps showing his arrogance, more problems will be created. There will be no peace, good governance and stability,” he said.

Also Read: 

Samajbadi Party: A new power on the horizon as merger with RJPN looms

Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) led by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Upendra Yadav and Naya Shakti Party Nepal led by former Prime Minister Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai formally united on Monday forming a new party Samajbadi Party Nepal—vowing to become an alternate political force in the country.

Now, the newly formed party will head for culminating merger with another stronger political force of Terai-Madhes, Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), although previous effort between RJPN and FSFN (now dissolved after merger Naya Shakti) made no progress after Yadav refused to pull out of the government as demanded by the RJPN.

While announcing the merger, both Yadav, who will act as the chair of the 25-member committee of the new party, and Bhattarai, who agreed to head the federal council, have called on the RJPN to come for unification process, promising a collective fight in the cause of the poor and the marginalized.

The unification process with the regional party RJPN–who has long demanded an amendment in the Constitution of Nepal and withdrew its support given to the government on early March citing the ruling Nepal Communist Party failed to keep its promise to amend the constitution–could make a positive headway given that the newly formed party has taken up constitutional amendment and people’s struggle as a tool to move forward in the path of progressive transformation, sustainable development and equitable prosperity.

RJPN—the party was formed after the unification between six of the seven constituents of the Unified Democratic Madhesi Front on 14 April, 2017—and Yadav (FSFN being the other constituent) continues their strong disapproval toward the Constitution of Nepal promulgated in 2015—which backtracked the Interim Constitution 2007, although the first amendment was done. The struggle against the constitution has continued for decades as Madhes Movement, which first broke out in 2007, a day after the announcement of the interim constitution which ignored the concept of federalism, the most desired political agenda of Madhesis and other marginalized communities.

Moreover, merging with Samajbadi would land a strong bargaining position with the government for the long-fought agenda of RJPN since unification would give them 34 seats in the 275-member parliament. RJPN has 17 seats, FSFN has 16 seats and Naya Shakti has one member in the parliament.

Bhattarai formed Naya Shakti on 12, July 2016 determined to establish a new political force. He had announced alliance with the for CPN-UML and his mother party CPN (Maoist Center) (UML and Maoist Center united to form Nepal Communist Party after elections) on the eve of the House of Representatives election held in 2017 and departed from the alliance two weeks later after he was not guaranteed an election ticket in his home town Gorkha. Bhattarai defeated his rival from Maoist Center Narayan Kaji Shrestha by more than 6,500 votes. Bhattarai while announcing merger with FSFN has said that Terai-Madhes would be the center of their politics.

Yadav has also called RJPN and other parties to join forces with them for a decisive socialist movement that would fight for strengthening democracy and bringing real reforms in the country.

Also Read:

RJPN eager to merge with Samajbadi Party: Mahendra Raya Yadav

PARBAT, Feb 16: Naya Shakti Party Nepal Coordinator Dr Baburam Bhattarai has said that prosperity as expected by the people is not possible from the incumbent government.

Speaking at a program in Kushma, Parbat on Saturday, the former prime minister claimed that the government of the two-thirds majority lacks mindset to expedite the works adding that existing model of development cannot yield prosperity.

Claiming that increased level of corruption and commission was deep rooted, he said that Lokpal system should exist instead of Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to control corruption. RSS

POKHARA, Feb 15: Naya Shakti Nepal Coordinator Dr Baburam Bhattarai said tjat the incumbent government has failed to take headways as per the people’s expectations.

At a face-to-face program organized by Parliamentary Reporters’ Forum Gandaki Province on Friday, Dr Bhattarai noted that the public have anticipated much from the government as it was constituted following the establishment of federal democratic republic.

Though the government is much needed to take giant leaps in development to live up to people’s aspirations, its current pace is very generic and sluggish.

He also criticized the government for not doing concrete to consolidate the economy.

Saying that the prevalence of poverty and unemployment is increasing over the time, he pointed out the need to level up the two-digit economic growth rate for two decades so as to reach average per capita income to Rs 10,000.

Attaining prosperity is not possible without attracting investments from private sector, Dr Bhattarai said there is no option but to gradually enable environment for investment.

The former PM also highlighted the importance of road infrastructure development for prosperity and suggested the government to lay emphasis on the construction of Koshi, Kaligandaki and Karnali corridors. RSS

KATHMANDU, Feb 12: Naya Shakti Party Nepal Coordinator Dr Baburam Bhattarai is reaching from village to village taking stock of problems of the people after the formation of elected majority government, leading the party’s campaign ‘Janasambad Yatra’. Reporters’ Club Nepal President Rishi Dhamala talked to Dr Bhattarai about his party’s campaign and the issues related to people and present government. Excerpts:

You are travelling from village to village across the country. What do people say?

The ‘Yatra’ we started on January 29 has arrived in Gorkha now. We have met millions of people. We have found that the country has not taken stride in development as per the hopes and aspiration of the people. The incumbent government is a majority government. Despite this, they have failed to work as per the mandate given by the people during the elections. People are not pleased with this.

What is the purpose of Janasambad Yatra?

I and my wife Hisila Yami visited nine countries in Europe this year. We also visited the largest universities of the United States. During the tour, we took time to study where the world is today. Now, we are taking this campaign across the country to realize the true condition of Nepali people.

What have you found?

We have directly observed the daily life of women, indigenous people and dalits. For example, we recently visited Kami gaun in Dhading district. There are around 200 people living in 20 houses. They neither have land nor jobs. Their living condition is poor in comparison to others. Similar is the condition in other districts as well.

Why would you say Kavrepalanchowk should be the capital of Province 3?

Federalism should be structured paying close attention to culture and geography of the country. Nepal’s federal structure should have addressed the multi-language and multi-ethnicity. If the layout of federalism and the capital of a province is fixed based on the population, it will fail. We should have formed 10 provinces instead of 7, based on language and majority ethnic groups. For example, Gandaki Province should have been named Tamuwan.

Have you reached Budi Gandaki area? Will Budi Gandaki Hydroelectricity Project complete in time?

The government announced infrastructure tax on petroleum products to build the 1200 MW hydel project, and thus have collected 30 billion rupees so far. We could have developed the project with domestic investment in seven years. But they have made this project a source a commission. The compensation distribution program has not completed yet. I am not sure if this project completes in time.

Do you think Oli government will not be able to complete the project?

I don’t blame anybody. But one of the major problems is that many political leaders hurl into commission game when they reach the power. Not only Budi Gandaki, but it is also the tragedy Nepal Airlines Corporation’s wide-body plane purchase and Ncell scam. Unless the institutionalized corruption is eradicated to the root, nothing will be achieved. For that, Judiciary and CIAA should be made powerful.

How do you view the works done by the Oli government?

Even though the incumbent government is an elected majority government, their performance is not different than the previous governments. The government has failed to bring rapid economic development, rule of law and prosperity during their one-year period. They have failed to score pass marks. Their performance is dismal.

MELAMCHI, Feb 8: Naya Shakti Party Nepal Coordinator Dr Baburam Bhattarai has argued that positive change in the country is possible within five years if better economic growth rate is gained followed by clean political system.

“The root cause of Nepal’s underdevelopment is the rampant corruption laced with political backing,” said Dr Bhattarai addressing the party’s event ‘Janasambad Yatra 2075’.

On the occasion, Sindhupalchowk district coordinator of the Naya Shakti Party Bharat Adhikari shared that the political journey was organized to conduct programs on potentials and challenges of local levels; roadmap of development; features of good politicians; challenges in implementation of federalism and other topics.

During the program, politicians from different parties, entrepreneurs and social workers were present.

BANEPA, Feb 7: Naya Shakti Party Coordinator Dr Baburam Bhattarai has stressed on the need to democratize the structure of political parties active in the country.

Speaking at an interaction program ‘Federalism implementation, naming of province 3 and capital’ in Kaverpalanchowk on Thursday, Dr Bhattarai argued that reforms would not be possible without democratizing parties.

He also criticized the current model of federalism. “The federalism of the country has been designed with preparing concrete bases.”

“Province 3 should be named in a way that would keep ethno-cultural identity of Tamangs and Newars who have majority in the region,” he added.

Also speaking on the occasion, Nepali Congress district secretary Dinesh Lama underlined the need to properly implement constitutionally guaranteed rights of all three tiers of governments to enable local level.

KATHMANDU, Aug 26: Member in the House of Representatives (HoR), Dr Baburam Bhattarai, has drawn the government’s attention towards making correction in the weaknesses in the Penal and Civil Codes that came into effect from August 17.

Taking a time in the special hour of the lower house on Sunday, he stressed the need of addressing dissenting voices relating to the Code.

In his comment on the bill to amend the Citizenship Act, he said seeking the identity of a father in the citizenship was itself a discriminatory. He was of the view of recognizing an independent presence of women.

He drew the government’s attention towards listing Nepal as the 27th country in regard with guaranteeing equal rights to sexual minorities and other minorities.
He called for amending the provision in Civil Code that puts restriction on free press.

He demanded the government bring control over land to the State and provide only tenancy rights to the people. Free and compulsory education up to Grade 12 and free healthcare facilities to indigent are necessary, according to him. RSS

KATHMANDU, May 24: Naya Shakti Party Coordinator Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai Thursday said that the government brought the policies and programs against the spirit of constitution and federalism.

“The government has claimed its policies and programs as diverse. But ironically, words such as multi-ethnic, multi-language and multi-cultural have not been used there,” Bhattarai told Reporters Club.

“Neither the government has included the word ‘federal democratic republic there,” added Bhattarai who also participated in the deliberation of policies and programs on Thursday.

“The government is trying to step aside from implementation of federalism,” he accused the government adding, “I don’t understand if the prime minister failed to pay attention to these issues or intentionally brought the policies and programs going against the spirit of constitution,” he added.

“This policies and programs is against the spirit of constitution and federalism,” he said.

Bhattarai also expressed his dissatisfaction that the policies and programs has rule out the issue of constitution amendment.