May 20, 2005

The government’s 100 days in office have attracted mixed assessment from different quarters

By A CORRESPONDENT

The 100 days in the office of the present government has been assessed differently by different quarters. While the government ministers have put forth a series of achievements, the political parties have criticized its each and every effort.

Information Minister and government spokesperson Tanka Dhakal said that the government has been able to take concrete steps towards the restoration of peace and democracy in the first 100 days of its office, which ended on May 10. “The Maoists are thoroughly demoralized. They have been suffering heavy casualties and their leadership has split,” Minister Dhakal said outlining the achievements of the government at a press meet held last week to inform of the 100 days achievements.

He said that 600 Maoists were killed in the last three months while 659 civilians had lost their lives in the last six months. He said 429 personnel of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), 128 of the Armed Police Force (APF) and 354 of Nepal Police died in action during the last six months. He claimed only 48 people were under preventive detention while 13 others who were placed under house arrest had been released. He said that the security personnel had recovered 385 rifles/weapons and 13,702 bombs and bullets during the last three months.

He added that owing to the improved security situation, the government was committed to hold municipal elections within this year. He called for the cooperation from the political parties in the government’s efforts towards restoring peace and democracy. “Corruption control, peace and security situation and good governance are some of the achievements of the 100 days,” he said. Minister Dhakal urged the political parties to refrain from holding any agitation, which he said, would directly bolster the Maoists.

The minister also cited improving image of the country in the international arena following King Gyanendra’s visit to Indonesia and China. He added that both India and China were positive towards Nepal’s proposal of becoming a transit point between them. “The government has been able to convince the international community. Indian understanding is an example, which has given strength to the government,” he said.

“We have been able to maintain fiscal discipline. In the last three months, the government recovered over Rs 5 billion from unsettled accounts. And foreign assistance worth Rs 9 billion were signed in this period,” he said.

In a sharp contrast to his assessment, the political parties have vilified the 100 days of direct rule by the King as being the darkest period for Nepalese democracy. They said that the period marked authoritarian rule. “In the history of the country, the three month period of the King’s rule has been the most unsuccessful and dark,” said Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML). “Terms like peace, democracy, human rights and press freedom are being used just to eyewash the international community,” he said.

Nepali Congress (NC) central leader Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat said the period was ‘disappointing’ Speaking at an interaction program UML leader Subas Nemwang said that though emergency has been lifted, stringent provisions still curtail civil liberties. Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), on the other hand, said that environment was being created for dialogue and understanding among the political parties.