Chinese Whispers, Sheetal Niwas and Wrangling in Nepal Communist Party
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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 261 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 29.5 C -2.1 C Thursday, November 19, 2020 | 04-08-2077 Janakpur Jumla Chinese whispers, Sheetal Niwas and wrangling in Nepal Communist Party Just as conflict was escalating in ruling party, the President intervened and China’s ambassador called on Oli. Despite reservations, Oli then attended the Secretariat meeting. TIKA R PRADHAN KATHMANDU, NOV 18 Until Tuesday night, ruling Nepal Communist Party chairmen KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal were baying for each other’s blood. They refused to see each other eye to eye. But on Wednesday, the party held its Secretariat meeting, the major bone of contention between them, and both of them were present in the meet- ing. The meeting ended with a decision PHOTO COURTESY: PM’S SECRETARIAT that the next meeting will be held on Oli and Dahal at Wednesday’s Secretariat meet. November 28. Not just observers and analysts but even This, however, is not the first time the some party members were baffled—as to Chinese ambassador has met with ruling how things changed overnight. party leaders including Oli. Multiple factors worked, say party insid- In the first week of July, Hou had held a RSS ers. However, multiple leaders the Post series of meetings with several ruling Birds fly over Taudaha in Chobhar on Wednesday morning. As winter advances, mornings are getting foggy and days colder in Kathmandu Valley. spoke with said they were not in a position party leaders. At that time also, the Nepal to say how long such a tense situation in Communist Party (NCP) was in a deep cri- the party will continue. A series of events sis, as 30 of the 44 Standing Committee took place since Tuesday morning and at members were demanding Oli’s resigna- least three stand out. tion. While the party looked headed for a After Dahal refused Oli’s call to post- split, the Oli government was staring at its In ruling party one-upmanship Can surgical pone Wednesday’s meeting and withdraw fall. Hou had then met with President his political document, President Bidya Bhandari also. Devi Bhandari invited Dahal to Sheetal Though some media suggested Hou’s masks be reused? Niwas on Tuesday evening. The same meeting with President Bhandari over the game, the only loser is general public evening, Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi last few days, Tika Dhakal, senior media met with Oli, who is also the prime minis- expert for the Office of the President, As masks become ubiquitous, ter. On Wednesday morning, Bhandari refuted such reports. As the Oli government has failed to fight the pandemic and ensure governance invited Oli to Sheetal Niwas. Nonetheless, Hou’s active engagement cost has been an issue with The party’s Secretariat meeting was then has once again raised questions if the rul- amid party infighting, experts say there’s a danger of systemic failure. held at 1pm, the time it was scheduled for, ing party indeed is functioning on its own. so many of them ending up in and concluded in about an hour, deciding The Chinese ambassador’s meeting with that Oli will present his own political docu- Oli, later in the night on Tuesday, follows waterways and the oceans. ment during the next meeting 10 days later. Oli’s October 21 meeting with the chief of The roles played by Bhandari and Hou India’s foreign spy agency—Research & AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in the ruling party’s internal affairs have Analysis Wing. PARIS, NOV 18 now become a talking point. Oli has already faced a lot of criticism Even some ruling party leaders have for holding such a meeting with R&AW Health authorities say the most wide- taken exception to such a meeting between chief Samant Goel at Baluwatar. spread anti-Covid weapon—surgical Oli and the Chinese ambassador, especial- Nepali Congress leader Prakash Sharan masks—must be thrown away after a ly in such crucial times. Mahat, who is a former foreign minister, single use, but environmental concerns “This is not an appropriate time for both said such open meetings not only under- are pushing some scientists to question sides to meet,” said Raghuji Pant, a mine national sovereignty but also invite this recommendation. Standing Committee member. “[After all], competition among major powers. As the coronavirus continues to our party has its way of functioning.” >> Continued on page 2 spread, masks have in many places become mandatory on public transport, in shops and at work. But cost has become an issue, as has the fact so many disposable plastic masks wind up in waterways and the oceans. One alternative is reusable cloth masks, but many people prefer single-use surgical masks because they are lighter and individually cheaper. “Medical masks are for single use only,” the World Health Organization has said. “Discard the mask immediately, POST FILE PHOTO preferably into a closed bin.” Public frustration has grown as the government has fumbled in its response to the pandemic. But faced with shortages during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in BINOD GHIMIRE take part in the teaching learning people had hoped that a stable March and April, the WHO allowed in a KATHMANDU, NOV 18 process. There are worrying signs government would result in pros- June report for “exceptional procedures” that the pandemic could take away perity. to disinfect throw-away masks for reuse. The grim reporting continues the gains Nepal has made in the However, the Oli government The US Food and Drug Administration every day. Covid-19 cases continue health sectors all these years. has not even been able to run the (FDA) recommends—in emergency cir- to grow every day. The number of But, proverbially speaking, daily administration efficiently, cumstances—hydrogen peroxide vapour lives the disease claims, similarly, Nero fiddles while Rome burns. making prosperity a far-fetched to decontaminate the N95 masks worn by continues unabated. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli dream. healthcare workers. It is the same story the world and his party show they are least Hari Roka, a political economist Other methods to purify single-use over. But other governments are, concerned about the suffering of and commentator, says there’s masks include exposing them to high at least, making serious efforts to the country and its people. Oli, growing pessimism and frustra- temperatures or ultraviolet radiation. contain the spread, with the war who should be working to formu- tion among the general public due But these methods are inconvenient for against the virus often headed by late a strategy to cope with the to job losses and declining eco- people at home, said French microbiol- the head of the government. crisis, is busy designing one game nomic activities but that hasn’t ogist and member of Adios Corona, Denis On Wednesday, Nepal’s Prime plan after another to tire dissent- affected the Oli government a bit. Corpet. Adios Corona—a group of scien- Minister KP Sharma Oli was ers within his ruling party and “Capital expenditure in the first tists who provide information on Covid- fighting a different war--one to increasing the length of his stay quarter of fiscal year stands at 19 to the public—recommends “placing save his chair fending off accusa- in government, experts say. merely 8 percent,” said Roka. the mask in a paper envelope with the tions by detractors within his own “The real test of leadership is A recent assessment by the date clearly marked, and leaving it for Nepal Communist Party (NCP). during a crisis,” former chief sec- National Planning Commission seven days”. And as if to show that it was retary Bimal Koirala told the Post. showed the country suffered a loss “Several scientific studies show that looking ahead, the Cabinet recom- “Oli has neither succeeded in run- of Rs 198 billion in gross domestic viruses are almost all dead on a mask mended an ordinance to amend an ning the government nor has he product due to Covid-19 in the last after seven days,” said Corpet. Act that would make it easier to been able to manage his party.” fiscal year. The figure is for just A study published in The Lancet found procure the vaccine. Reports how- It was in a generation that over four months—from last week that only 0.1 percent of the virus on the ever say that large scale produc- Nepal had finally seen a govern- of March to mid-July—of this cal- outside surface of the mask was still tion of any vaccine against the ment with a majority in parlia- endar year. detectable after one week. This method, coronavirus--so that Nepal would ment--since the first democratical- The report says at least 1.56 however, is not appropriate for health- be able to procure it--is at least a ly elected government in 1991-- million people lost their jobs dur- care workers exposed to high viral loads. year away. when Oli came to power in 2017. ing the period while an additional Peter Tsai, the inventor of N95 electro- Meanwhile, the country’s econ- Experts on governance and pol- 1.2 million people were pushed statically charged filter material, agrees omy has suffered a loss worth bil- itics say the way the Oli govern- below the poverty line. with the seven-day method. lions. Hundreds of thousands ment is functioning shows that a A separate report by Nepal But he suggests leaving used masks out have lost their jobs.