Nepal & Bhutan Brief (21/15)

Political Developments:

Bidya Devi Bhandari Elected First Female President of Nepal:

1. CPN­UML Vice Chairman, Bidya Devi Bhandari was elected the first female and second President of Federal Democratic Republic, defeating Nepali Congress veteran Kul Bahadur Gurung, on October 28. Bhandari garnered 327 votes against Gurung’s 214 votes. Total of 549 members had cast their votes, out of which eight votes were declared invalid. Bhandari was supported by 14 political parties including her own party. Madhes based political parties, which had earlier voted for Sushil Koirala during the prime ministerial election, did not participate in the election. It may be recalled the outgoing Ram Baran Yadav, the then General Secretary of the Nepali Congress, was elected the first President of Nepal on July 21, 2008, breaking the centuries­old tradition which reserved the coveted title of Head of State to the eldest son of the Shah dynasty.

Bhandari Sworn In As President:

2. After resigning from the party’s position, President Bidya Devi Bahaduri took oath of office and secrecy, on October 29. Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha administered oath of office and secrecy to President Bhandari amid a grand function at Shital Niwas in presence of a large number of dignitaries and envoys. The outgoing President Yadav, thanked all those who had helped to conclude the peace process and the constitution drafting process in the country. He said it was a great achievement of the country to have a constitution drafted by the people’s representatives.

India, China, US Congratulated New President:

3. India, China and the United States congratulated the new President. “Hearty congratulations and warm felicitations to Ms. Bidya Devi Bhandari on her election as the President of Nepal,” Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said in a message. He noted that “India attaches the highest priority to further development of its close and multi­faceted relationship with Nepal.” Lu Kang, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said during a regular press briefing in Beijing that the Chinese side congratulated Bhandari on her election as Nepal’s new President. ‘It is hoped that people of Nepal would work in unison under the leadership of Madame President and the Nepali government to make Nepal a peaceful, stable and prosperous nation, China and Nepal are friendly neighbours,” Lu said, while responding a question, on October 29. He added that “the Chinese side supports Nepal’s effort to safeguard national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and will continue to do all it can to help with Nepal development.” In Washington, the White House congratulated Bhandari on her historic election as Nepal’s first female President. The United States looked forward to continuing to partner with the people and government of Nepal as they build a more united, stable and prosperous country and rebuild after the devastating earthquake and its aftershocks earlier this year, it said.

Confusion within NC Helped Bidya Bhandari:

4. Political analysts blame Nepali Congress for its two successive failures. First they committed the mistake of opposing Oli’s candidature for prime minister ship even when it was clear that Oli had locked in a comfortable parliamentary majority for himself. This was against an earlier agreement with the UML If NC had graciously, it is argued, backed Oli as prime minister, it could have possibly secured presidency. Again they decided to field a candidate for president even when it was clear that its candidate could not have won without UML’s support. Due to the confused congress policy, the alliance between the ‘Big Three’, which was so crucial for meaningful implementation of the new constitution, has now been broken. It has also led to potentially dangerous position whereby both the President and Prime Minister belong to same political faction in the same party. The animosity that has been generated between Congress and UML won’t be easy to remove. But the two parties have no option to working together for the foreseeable future if post­2006 achievements are to be secured.

First Female Speaker:

5. Earlier, On October 16, UCPN­Maoist’s Onsari Gharti Magar became the first female speaker of the Parliament. Magar was unanimously elected after her contender Anuradha Thapa of the Nepal Workers’ and Peasants Party (NWPP) withdrew her candidature. A former Maoist guerrilla, Magar was an active frontline cadre in many crucial battles. She was seven months­pregnant when she fought in the battle of Pakhapani in Ropla in 1999. Magar was among the 10 women who secured seats in the previous parliament through direct polls. She also went on to serve as the vice chair of the second Constituent Assembly and as Minister of Youth and Sports in former Prime Minister Jhal Nath Kamal’s cabinet in 2011. Vice Chairperson of CPN­UML Bidhya Bhandari (Now President) had proposed Magar’s name for the post.

Ex­guerrilla Elected Vice President:

6. After a woman Speaker of Parliament and a woman President, Nepal now has a former Maoist guerrilla commander as the new Vice President. Nanda Kishor Pun, 49, became Nepal’s second vice President on October 31. He succeeded Parmanand Jha and is the first Maoist to become Nepal’s Deputy Head of the State. He defeated the NC’s vice presidential candidate, Amiya Kumar Yadav, with 325 votes against only 212 votes polled by Yadav. Pun was backed by the ruling coalition of UML, UCPN(M), RPP(N), and MJF(D). A day before UCPN(M) nominated Pun’s candidacy, some UML leaders belonging to the Madhav Kumar Nepal camp objected to his name and asked Moist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to come up with another name. Dahal threatened to withdraw support to the Oli government if the ruling coalition did not agree on Pun’s name. UML had no option but to back down. Pun was one of the four deputy commanders of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Oli Expands Cabinet Inducting Nine Ministers:

7. Prime Minister Oli, on October 18, expanded his cabinet by inducting nine ministers – seven from United CPN­Maoist and one each from two fringe parties. With this, the Oli cabinet now has 18 cabinet ministers, including three deputy prime ministers – Kamal Thapa, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of UCPN­M. Other ministers from UCPN­M include Rekha Sharma (Minister for General Administration); Giriraj Mani Pokhrel (education); Agni Sapkota (Forest and Oil Conservation); Umesh Yadav (Irrigation); Ganesh Man Pun (Commerce and Supplies) and Shakti Basnet (Home Minister). General Secretary of Gachhadar­led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum­Democratic, Ram Janam Choudhary and Chairman of Bahujan Shakti Party Biswendra Paswan also took oath as ministers without portfolio.

Govt Forms Five­Member Team for Talks with Agitating Parties:

8. The government, on October 19, formed a five­member team to hold talks with the disgruntled political forces which have been carrying out protests against the constitution in various districts of Tarai. The team is headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa and comprises of Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Agni Prasad Kharel; Minister for General Administration Rekha Sharma; and Minister without portfolio Ram Janam Choudhary as members. It was reported that a representative of the main opposition Nepali Congress may also be included in the team.

Govt, UMDF Talks Inclusive:

9. Government negotiators, on October 30, held talks with a team of the United Democratic Front, but these were inclusive. The government negotiators told the UDMF team that they had completed some ground work on the issue of provincial boundaries, but needed time to finalise the issue. The government negotiators expressed commitment to amend the constitution to address the issue of provincial boundaries. The UDMF negotiators told the government side that there was no reason why the conditions set by the front for talks could not be met. Their demands include martyrdom status for those killed during protests; free treatment for injured protesters and withdrawal of cases and release of arrested cadres. As far as political demands are concerned, the major one relates to Madhes region to be carved into only two provinces without the Tarai district being added to any hill province.

Madhes Stir Hits Daily Wage Earners:

10. The two and half months long on going Tarai agitation has hit the daily wage earners hard as there is no work available for them in the markets for the past two and half months. These daily wage earners were eking out a living by working as laborers, painters, construction and transport workers. They demand that the government should hold talks with the agitating parties and meet their demands. They also urge upon the agitating parties to adopt other forms of protest and stop tormenting the poor. The Terai agitation has also affected the working of several welfare agencies including that of Women Rehabilitation Centre.

External Relations:

Nepal Looks for Fuel Import from China:

11. Nepal and China, on October 28, signed an agreement in Beijing for import of petroleum. State­owned fuel monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and China’s state owned company China National United Oil Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding to supply petroleum products from China. Contract was also signed for the expeditious delivery of 1,000 metric ton of petroleum products as grant assistance to Nepal. It was expected that petrol given as grant by China would reach Nepal within a few days.

Protest against China:

12. China’s supply to petroleum products to Nepal was viewed by the cadres of Madhes based political parties as an attempt to weaken their agitation. On October 27, the Madhesi groups organized a rally in Birgunj asking China to stay away from Nepal’s internal affairs. They shouted slogans like ‘back off China’ and ‘avoid confrontations with Madhesis’. The agitationist blamed China of thwarting their campaign by supplying fuel to Nepal. Madhesi dissenters even burnt China’s national flag as a mark of protest.