Nepali political parties, their leaders and high-ranking Nepali officials must accept a significant part of the blame too

Again, the move to bring down the K P Sharma Oli-led government is afoot, this time very seriously, two months after the abortive attempt to do so.

Then the junior partner in the Oli-led coalition government and the third largest party in Legislature-Parliament, the CPN-Maoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, had reversed its formal decision to quit the Oli government.

At that time, too, the Maoist Centre’s move was to form a government with (the support of) the Nepali Congress.

This time around, according to the reported understanding between the two parties, Dahal is to hold the post of Prime Minister for nine months and then the Congress will lead the coalition government.

This will be so if both the parties stick to their understanding and if, as is expected, Prime Minister Oli will lose the vote of no confidence.

In a democracy, particularly when there is a hung parliament, a no-trust motion is not an unusual thing. But in Nepal when the wind of a change of government blows there also often come speculation and allegations of a foreign hand, most often of one, sometimes of more, big neighbours, in the process.

Foreign stage-managing had been alleged two months ago. That has been the writing on the wall this time too. In the latest instance, sources inside Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre say persistent attempts are being made to break the two parties.

In almost all the changes of government since the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990 AD, this presence of a foreign hand has been alleged, in some changes more strongly than in the others.

And even before that, less frequently though, speculation about this foreign hand had been made. Nepal, a landlocked country sandwiched between two most populous and very powerful huge nations, has perennially been cursed with this wide public perception.

But often when there is a wind blowing and being felt, it hardly comes without the leaves fluttering. Even in the appointment or firing of some big officials, the role of a foreign hand is alleged from time to time.

The tendency to micro-manage in Nepal does not sit well with the genuine desire to be a true friend of Nepal.

It rather seems to reflect the desire to impose on this small country one’s will and make it dance to one’s tunes as far as possible. Even the activities and speeches of some of the diplomatic representatives have been found, from time to time, to violate the Geneva Convention on diplomatic norms.

For this, our foreign ‘friends’ are not to blame wholly; Nepali political parties, their leaders and high-ranking Nepali officials must accept a significant part of the blame too.

It is their greed for power, for money, for survival, etc. that has made them corrupt, blindly selfish, myopic and even unpatriotic. Our leaders must realize that they will be used for some time and when their utility is finished they will be discarded like sucked oranges.

As for our foreign ‘friends’, they should realize too that trying to micro-manage in Nepal and expecting to win the popular good will of the Nepali people are two mutually exclusive things.

The desire for Nepali people to remain independent and sovereign is indomitable.

Ban on plastic bags

The nationwide ban on the use and sale of plastic bags started from today, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Although time and again appeals to do so continues unabated as a result of which they are still widely distributed, imported and also exported. The Nepal Plastic Manufacturers’ Association says it will continue producing them as the public would continue using them.

In Kathmandu alone 4,700,000 to 4,800,000 pieces of plastic bags are used daily. This association says that they would continue producing the plastic bags until the government provides them with alternatives.

Besides the association says the government has no legal ground regarding the ban and it merely issued a directive that the production and use of plastic bags below 30 microns should not be used.

It is high time there was a new directory that would assist the concerned in enforcing the ban on plastic bags.

The plastic factories, in the meantime, have been given a month’s time by which the ban should be implemented. The ban however looks like it will not be effective as the government would not be taking action at present.

Serious thought should be given to imposing the ban as it is one of the major cause of pollution.