My Republica

Mahabir Paudyal

The contributor for Republica.
news@myrepublica.com

Nepal is doomed if the corrupt are allowed to contest elections

Published On: August 31, 2017 12:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Member of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and Nepali Congress Central Committee member Dhan Raj Gurung is a strong voice against corruption. But lawmakers from his own party are looking to amend electoral laws to allow even corruption-convicts to contest elections. What does Gurung make of this? Here are excerpts of his interview with Mahabir Paudyal.

Why amendment failed

Published On: August 29, 2017 01:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

A constitution amendment bill needs to be judged on whether it is welcomed by domestic constituencies, not on whether it gives ‘face saver’ to outsiders.

We sensed Tarai floods three days in advance

Published On: August 17, 2017 12:15 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

When Republica met Rajendra Sharma, Chief of Flood Forecasting Section at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, in his office, he was monitoring water flow in our major rivers on various computer screens. He could not take a break lest he missed an important alert. But if we have such a sophisticated system to monitor floods, what explains such widespread death and destruction witnessed in the past few days in the Tarai? The senior hydrologist shared his insights with Mahabir Paudyal.

Comedy of amendment

Published On: July 26, 2017 01:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

The claim that only Nepali constitution has rigid provisions on federal boundary changes is a big lie. The problem is that we tend to cite only Indian constitution.

Doklam dispute should make us serious about protecting our land at tri-junctions

Published On: July 20, 2017 03:30 PM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Cartographer and scholar on border issues Buddhi Narayan Shrestha brings with him 27 years of experience working in the government’s Department of Survey and 21 years of experience in private land-surveying. Republica’s Mahabir Paudyal caught up with the veteran expert on Nepal’s borders to get his views on the current standoff over Doklam tri-junction between India, China and Bhutan. Are there similar tri-junctions between India, China and Nepal? If yes, how can Nepal forestall a Doklam-like situation?

Politics of hubris

Published On: July 5, 2017 12:35 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

We have a number of politicians who think election is all about money and muscle, and this ails Nepali politics

Our pro-Madhesi credentials will be proven by poll results in Province 2

Published On: June 22, 2017 05:00 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Going into the second round of local election, the protesting Rastriya Janata Party Nepal has been trying to portray CPN-UML as an ‘anti-Madhesi’ party, and the main barrier to constitution amendment. But is the party really anti-Madhesi? What has contributed to this image of UML in Tarai-Madhes? And what is UML’s electoral strategy for the second and third rounds of local election? UML General Secretary Ishwar Pokhrel shared his views with Mahabir Paudyal.

Madhes will rise

Published On: June 22, 2017 12:15 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

When there are elected local governments in other regions, Madhesis in Province 2 will feel bad about being denied a chance to elect their own

Return to pragmatism

Published On: June 12, 2017 01:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

It is hard to believe Upendra Yadav once went to ex-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, bowl in hand, exhorting him to support the blockade.

RJPN is a stranded ship that has lost its compass

Published On: June 8, 2017 04:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Even as the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) sticks to the demand of constitution amendment before it agrees to take part in the second phase of local election, Upendra Yadav’s Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) not only participated in the first phase but is also campaigning for the second phase. This decision has come under withering criticism of the RJPN and some Madhesi intellectuals. But what made Yadav, until recently one of the staunchest hardliners on constitution amendment, suddenly agree to be part of local election even without the desired amendments? Republica’s Mahabir Paudyal tries to find out in this interview.

Changing tunes

Published On: June 1, 2017 12:15 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Delhi-wallas are right that misinformation, miscommunication and misunderstanding have aggravated Nepal-India tensions

Sense and sentiments

Published On: May 24, 2017 12:35 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

When intelligentsia, political class and public intellectuals fail to take clear stands, the whole debate flies into abstractions

Contestations of Nepali history

Published On: April 29, 2017 12:35 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Who wrote our history? How did the West understand Nepal? What shaped that (flawed) understanding? How should we respond?

Make or break

Published On: April 12, 2017 01:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

What if the elected local governments fail to carry out the big tasks assigned to them by the constitution?

Even 744 are too many. Around 300 local units are viable in the long run

Published On: April 6, 2017 12:30 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Shyam Krishna Bhurtel served as a member of Local Level Restructuring Commission and has worked as an expert in Nepal’s recent efforts in decentralization. He was also involved in preparing the Local Self Governance Act (1999). Mahabir Paudyal caught up with veteran local government expert to discuss the prospects and challenges of local governance after the May 14 local election.

Idiocy of Big Three

Published On: March 29, 2017 12:35 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

The Big Three could have gone to Madhesh with Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu and Awadhi translations of constitution for Madheshi views on contested issues

What India should know

Published On: March 6, 2017 10:41 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

These are the times in Nepal when the debate is not whether local level election will take place on May 14, as planned, but whether Madheshi forces will allow it. Election atmosphere is building across the country. People have started to discuss leaders and parties they will vote for, even predict who will win most seats in the polls that are taking place after two decades.

It’s secession, stupid

Published On: February 20, 2017 12:35 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Madheshi Morcha leaders echo CK Raut on several fronts, with only slight variances in their tone and phraseology

Faces of foreign meddling

Published On: February 9, 2017 12:25 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Are critiques against foreign meddling mere stuffs of imagination? Is it that we do not see what others see or others do not see what we see?

Musings on China

Published On: February 1, 2017 12:45 AM NPT By: Mahabir Paudyal

Despite their history of war and retribution, Nepal and China have looked to bury the hatchet after establishing diplomatic ties in 1955