Off The Record (Spotlight Weekly)

Operation Isolation

Deuba : Isolated

Whenever there is a crisis, Nepalese politicians convene all-party meetings. Interestingly, they always ignore the sitting prime minister, the key constitutional player. Following the Election Commission's interim decision on the dispute in the ruling party, the Nepali Congress, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, CPN-UML and Nepal Sadbhavana Party gathered at the residence of RPP president Surya Bahadur Thapa to draw up a common political strategy. If Girija Prasad Koirala, Thapa, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Badri Prasad Mandal were sincere about forging a consensus, shouldn't they have invited the prime minister who is responsible for implementing the strategy? The motive of the all-party partnership seems to be to isolate whoever is in power. Koirala was treated as an untouchable a year ago, a fate Deuba faces today. If Nepal or Thapa becomes prime minister next, will he be treated any differently?

Sports Diversion

Nepal has finally decided to take part in the Asian Games. It took the country nearly a year to decide how many players it would send. As the government announced the budget for the games at the last minute, the member secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC) has difficult task. NSC member secretary Binod Shankar Palikhe has to take certain harsh decisions, including sending his players from Seoul to Singapore and Singapore to New Delhi before bringing them back to Nepal. The players will have to fly more than five hours, which is itself a record. This is not the first time the sports sector has had to pay the price for ad hocism.

Election Commission : Surrounded by controversies

Commission & Omission

After its interim decision on the dispute within the Nepali Congress, the Election Commission seems to have heaved a sigh of relief. Free from a dispute that took up three months of their time, the commissioners have started to organize regular all-party meetings to decide on arrangements for the elections. Belated preparations for the November polls should have kept political leaders busy, too, since they were the ones criticizing the panel for lack of seriousness. Strangely, though, political leaders are embracing other agendas.

Bending The Rules

Whatever the position a person holds, there is a tendency in Nepal to by-pass rules and regulations. Be it former secretaries, ministers or any other government official, they always put pressure on junior officers to violate procedures. Tribhuvan International Airport is one of the places where one can see such violations by the influential. Unwilling to spend a few more minutes to clear immigration procedures, such officials bend the rule and regulations. Recently, the family of a former finance secretary crossed the immigration desk after handing their passports to junior employees. Why are those who formulate the rules and regulations among the first ones to break them?