Nepal's political mess got big coverage by The Economist this week. The caretaker government (the Constituent Assembly, CA) granted itself its third term extension last week yet it seems no closer to promulgating a permanent constitution. It appears that the CA met for a total of 95 minutes over the past year. I hesitate to say people on the street are agitating but it seems some are at least considering lighting a fire under the politicians.
The takeaway: progress is elusive but things could be worse. Things could also be better.
Nepal's changing state: Altitude sickness: Nepalis grow impatient, as their leaders fiddle (June 2, 2011)
"A GAGGLE of protesters in Kathmandu, Nepal’s fume-filled capital, want a Himalayan summer to follow the Arab spring. Organised via Facebook, young and dapper professionals meet outside the Magic Beans coffee house to clap, call for a constitution and condemn the wretched performance of their country’s leaders. “Our politics is a kind of a disease,” one of them grumbles."
Aid and corruption in Nepal: Low road through the Himalayas (May 21, 2011)
"THE old Padam Road, on the way from the regional centre of Birgunj, was resurfaced only last year, but you would not know it to look. Rutted and worn away in parts it seems like it has not been maintained in decades. An old man by the roadside, who laboured to build it from scratch during his youth, offered a few choice oaths to describe the resurfacing contractor, who was paid for this mess with funds earmarked for local development."
UN Mission in Nepal: So long, good luck (January 14, 2011)
"FOUR years after it was established to support the country's peace process, the United Nations mission in Nepal, UNMIN, is packing up and shipping out this weekend. From January 15th, it leaves Nepal's deadlocked peace process dangling in a chill breeze."
The takeaway: progress is elusive but things could be worse. Things could also be better.
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| 'The Parliament at work' from The Economist. |
Nepal's changing state: Altitude sickness: Nepalis grow impatient, as their leaders fiddle (June 2, 2011)
"A GAGGLE of protesters in Kathmandu, Nepal’s fume-filled capital, want a Himalayan summer to follow the Arab spring. Organised via Facebook, young and dapper professionals meet outside the Magic Beans coffee house to clap, call for a constitution and condemn the wretched performance of their country’s leaders. “Our politics is a kind of a disease,” one of them grumbles."
Aid and corruption in Nepal: Low road through the Himalayas (May 21, 2011)
"THE old Padam Road, on the way from the regional centre of Birgunj, was resurfaced only last year, but you would not know it to look. Rutted and worn away in parts it seems like it has not been maintained in decades. An old man by the roadside, who laboured to build it from scratch during his youth, offered a few choice oaths to describe the resurfacing contractor, who was paid for this mess with funds earmarked for local development."
UN Mission in Nepal: So long, good luck (January 14, 2011)
"FOUR years after it was established to support the country's peace process, the United Nations mission in Nepal, UNMIN, is packing up and shipping out this weekend. From January 15th, it leaves Nepal's deadlocked peace process dangling in a chill breeze."
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