In his fourth tenure as Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba has a chance to end what started when he first was in that post 20 years ago.
In his fourth tenure as Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba has a chance to end what started when he first was in that post 20 years ago.
The seven priorities that Deuba listed on Wednesday for his new government largely deal with a crisis that began in his first stint and worsened during the other two times he was prime minister: the conflict. He has to deal with its legacy. If he succeeds, Nepal will enter a new era of stability and prosperity. If he fails, the rocky political transition will continue to impact on the economy.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic, but Deuba’s aides claim that he is now a man with a mission with a keen sense of how history will judge him. The signs are not encouraging: his choice of cabinet of cronies looks like old wine in an old bottle.
Deuba’s first order of business is to complete the process of reviving grassroots democracy by holding the second phase of local elections on 28 June. Holding provincial and parliamentary elections later this year will be more knotty. Madhesi parties will insist on a constitutional amendment beforehand.
The mandate of the two transitional justice bodies will expire in nine months. Deuba must deliver justice to conflict victims. The government is meeting nearly half the post-earthquake reconstruction budget from its own coffers. Nepal achieved an economic growth rate of 7% this past year. Deuba’s coalition needs to sustain it.
Source: nepalitimes.com