On February 3, 2011, Nepal finally got a new government. After seven months of chaos and confusion which resulted after then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned on June 30, 2010.
New Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal is from the Nepal Communist Party( United Marxist and Leninist) (UML), the-third largest party in Nepal's Constituent Assembly. Former rebels the Maoists, are the largest party followed by the socialist Nepali Congress.
Bad start
Despite the welcome breakthrough, Mr. Khanal's terms is off to a bad start. He was able to get support from the Maoists in the beginning but now severe disagreement has erupted among party leadership on both sides on the issue of who is going to get the much-coveted Home Ministry.
The Maoists are adamant in their demand that they should get the Ministry which controls the law and order mechanism in the country, but UML is not ready to concede.
Punjita Pradhan at Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on February 14, 2011 that many veteran politicians and journalists are already expressing reservations about the new government lead by Prime Minister Khanal. She quotes Puskar Lal Shrestha, a well known journalist and political analyst as saying that the agreement between the UML and the Maoists is not on an ideological level but on a personal understanding of their top leadership, so it may fail under slight provocation.
Economy takes a hit
With their political scene back on the news, Nepal's economy is suffering heavily under massive power cuts. Capital Kathmandu is now under 14 hour daily power cuts and across the country energy drought is a major issue.
According to a report published by Republica Daily on February 13, 2011, long hours of power cuts have brought the industrial output to a standstill. "About 100,000 of a total of 214,000 small scale industries have already ceased operations. More than 50 percent of those present under operation are financially ailing."
In a country where unemployment is almost 40% and the majority of the people live below the poverty line, massive decline in productivity and loss of job opportunity is a serious challenge.
Need for unity
If the disagreement between UML and Maoists drags on, it will surely hurt Nepal- especially now that the country is facing serious economic and social challenges. The Prime Minister needs to be able to focus on pressing issues and not waste his time playing games with his rivals and other political parties.
Maoists and the UML need to work on forming a unity government quickly. Prolonged power cuts,chronic unemployment and a deteriorating law and order situation in the country are adding to the public's frustration. If the government does not act in a timely manner, looking at changing global events, Nepal could be the stage for the next round of upheavals.
Bhumika Ghimire - Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance writer and reporter. She is a content producer for Associated Content and writes for OhMyNews.com and News ...
