WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 203 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 35.5 C 13.7 C Monday, September 14, 2020 | 29-05-2077 Dhangadi Jomsom Thirty months of poor governance and a weak opposition Despite a huge mandate, the ruling Nepal Communist Party has failed to deliver on many fronts and the main opposition Nepali Congress has been a mute spectator. TIKA R PRADHAN In the federal parliament, the KATHMANDU, SEPT 13 Congress party won just 63 seats— against the communists’ 174 seats. When Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli Analysts say democracy and good took reins two and a half years ago, governance function well only if there hopes ran high. He led a powerful gov- is a strong government and an aggres- ernment, courtesy the alliance of his sive opposition. In Nepal’s case, there CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre was a strong government which which had swept the elections. As the lacked vision but was arrogant and a leader of the Nepal Communist Party, weak opposition which could hardly the strongest communist force in the question the government’s actions. country, Oli had the electoral mandate Geja Sharma Wagle, a political com- to run the government for the full five- mentator and columnist for Kantipur, year term, something that had never the Post’s sister paper, said the main happened in the country for more opposition initially gave the ruling than two and a half decades. party the benefit of the doubt, but But the Oli administration failed— later it failed to present itself strongly. almost on all fronts. Despite “Subsequently, it failed to make the “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali” government accountable to its promise, his administration failed to actions,” Wagle told the Post. connect with the people. In the initial days after the govern- Even in the face of growing criti- ment was formed in February 2018, POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI cism, Oli refused to admit that his Oli’s braggadocio had no bounds. The A stretcher isolation chamber built at the Nepal Innovation Centre, Kirtipur that helps health workers safely handle people infected with the coronavirus. According to the centre, it can be used administration was failing, rather he Oli administration started with quite while transferring patients on an ambulance or a helicopter as it filters the air exhaled by a Covid-19 patient. kept on boasting how his government some unusual moves—from banning was performing well. protests in places like Maitighar to As the Nepal Communist Party gov- bringing various agencies like the ernment enters the midway of its ten- Department of Money Laundering ure, disenchantment continues to grow. Investigation under the Prime “Half-way through of the strongest Minister’s Office—in a clear indication Anti-graft body had relied on inconclusive video evidence to government the country ever had, peo- that it was trying to centralise power. ple are now questioning if a two-thirds But as days passed by, there was not majority for a single party is good for much for the Oli administration to file case against a junior civil servant who committed suicide democracy,” said Rajendra Maharjan, show on the governance front. Prime a political analyst. “I don’t see any Minister KP Sharma Oli kept on mak- change and difference in the ways this ing big promises though—from trans- The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority did not produce any witnesses in court though it had stable and previous unstable govern- boundary China-Nepal trains to a ship ments performed.” with Nepali flag on international claimed in the chargesheet that witnesses had vouched Rs 1,000 had changed hands. What again has fuelled poor govern- waters. ance is a weak opposition, many say. At home, criticism grew with peo- PRITHVI MAN SHRESTHA On the third page of the charge- The Nepali Congress, often called ple questioning the Oli administra- KATHMANDU, SEPT 13 sheet, the commission had claimed the country’s grand old party that has tion’s failure to manage city roads and there were witnesses who saw Ghimire ruled the country for a considerable the dust emanating from them. The video image showed Krishna giving the amount to Subedi. share of the last three decades, faced a Unaware of the ground reality, Oli Prasad Ghimire put his hand inside The court verdict, however, said the spectacular loss in the 2017 elections. went on to make a sweeping statement the trouser pocket of Ramhari Subedi, commission failed to produce any wit- The party was relegated to third posi- that Nepalis don’t have to wear masks a non-gazetted officer at the Land nesses who confirmed in writing that tion, as at that time the UML and the to protect themselves from the plumes Revenue Office, Kalanki, Kathmandu. there had in fact been an exchange of Maoist Centre had fought the elec- of dust, inviting censure from the That was all the evidence that the money between the two. tions by forging an alliance but they members of the public. Commission for Investigation of The Special Court ruled that there were yet to merge. >> Continued on page 2 Abuse of Authority produced in court appeared to be some “give and take”, in a corruption case filed against the according to the CCTV footage, but it two claiming that Ghimire had put all was inconclusive if Ghimire had of Rs1,000 in Subedi’s pocket. given Rs1,000 to Subedi. Ghimire had According to the charge-sheet filed told the court he had given Subedi just on September 16, 2019, Ghimire, a POST PHOTO Rs500 to get documents photocopied. The commission charges lower level officials while sparing those with political connections. Ghimire even produced a witness— Tanka Raj Sapkota—who said Ghimire paralegal who prepares docu- the non-gazetted civil servant. didn’t give any bribe to Subedi. ments during land deals, had He committed suicide on September “Therefore, based on Ghimire’s gone to the Land Revenue Office 23, 2019, a week after the case was filed. statement that he had given Rs500 to with regard to some work related The commission had filed the case, Subedi for the purpose of photocopy- to his own property, and to expe- more than 40 days after Subedi had ing documents, the defendants cannot dite the work he had given been taken into custody on charges of be convicted for a serious crime like Subedi Rs1,000. corruption. corruption,” the court verdict says. Ten months after the case was The anti-corruption watchdog had The Special Court has also referred filed, the Special Court on July 14 produced statements from Subedi and to the principle the Supreme Court ruled that the evidence was insuf- Ghimire admitting that money had established to convict somebody for ficient to convict either of them. A exchanged hands but in court the two corruption. POST FILE PHOTO full-text verdict was too late for defendants denied this charge. >> Continued on page 2 An arrogant government and a weak opposition is a deadly mix for democracy, analysts say. C M Y K MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Massive landslide in Sindhupalchok kills at least 11 people Twenty villagers have gone missing in Sunday morning’s disaster that injured six people and displaced around 58 families, police say. ANISH TIWARI is often flooded during the rainy season and SINDHUPALCHOK, SEPT 13 is prone to dry landslides during winter. “The debris from a dry landslide last year At least 11 people died and 20 others have had accumulated in the rivulet which was gone missing when a landslide caused by swept into the settlements by the heavy rain- heavy rainfall struck Ghumthang in fall last night,” said Khadka of Ghumthang. Bahrabise Municipality Ward No 7, There are around 200 houses at Bhirkharka, Sindhupalchok, on Sunday. Nagpure and Newar Tol settlements in The massive landslide erupted from a frag- Ghumthang village. The locals had sensed ile landmass—weakened by the 2015 earth- the risk of landslide at Nagpuje settlement quake and its powerful aftershocks—above and had informed the people’s representa- Ghumthang village and swept away tives about it. Bhirkharka, Nagpuje and Dandagaun settle- “The villagers had informed the people’s ments at around 3:30 am. The landslide swept representatives but they didn’t do anything away 22 houses and emptied in the Bhotekoshi about it. The tragedy could have been avert- river some three kilometres below. The area ed if they had paid attention to the locals,” had been witnessing incessant rainfall since said Sun Kumari Tamang, who was prepar- Saturday evening. ing to shift to a safe location after she lost her “We never thought such a massive land- house to the landslide on Sunday. slide would occur,” said Surya Bahadur According to Min Bahadur Shrestha, the Khadka, 70, of Ghumthang. “We knew the chairman of Ward No. 7 of the local unit, the landmass had weakened after the people’s representatives had held a discus- earthquakes in 2015 but neither the local gov- sion a week ago about a possible landslide ernment nor the villagers took the threat threat in the Nagpuje area and had informed POST PHOTO: KESHAV THAPA seriously. ” the district administration office and the Farmers are seen walking to their fields at Shera Phant in Bungamati, Lalitpur, on Sunday. The Kathmandu-Nijgadh expressway, which is being built by the Nepal Army, is set Security personnel from the Area Police district office of National Reconstruction to pass through the area.