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The rabble-rousing press conference by Rabi Lamichhane earlier this week has created a schism in Nepali society regarding its perception of the media. On one side are those who are lapping up Lamichhane’s claim that mainstream media is the enemy of the state, that publishers, editors and journalists are guided by corporate greed and are deep in corruption. And then there are others who see his boisterous condemnation of the press as a mere temper tantrum. It was clear that the leader of Rastriya Swatantra Party was angry at the media for covering the story about the validity of the citizenship he furnished to contest the election of Nov 20 last year. The case landed in the Supreme Court and Lamichhane went on to lose his status as Home Minister and Member of Parliament. It was also clear that his ad hominem diatribe filled with personal gripes and insults was aimed at pandering to his supporters. In doing so, he has sown a seed of distrust against the press. This could have a far-reaching impact on democracy, giving rise to politics of populism, where serious journalism is supplanted by misinformation and disinformation, which is taking hold in different parts of the world. In the age of social media, it is far too easy to distort the truth and bend the narrative. The role of traditional media is to bring out the truth, to report and to scrutinize those in power. Nepali mainstream media has been doing just that, and ever so proudly. If anyone, Lamichhane should know this better as a former member of the media fraternity. His TV show was based on the very concept of scrutinizing the powers that be. He should also know that the very media houses, publishers and journalists that he tried to discredit have always played a role of a bulwark to defend democracy and the rule of law. By delegitimizing the press in a Trumpian fashion, Lamichhane has put democracy in peril. He has also betrayed his own supporters, who, disenchanted by old political parties, voted him to power. People who voted for Lamichhane certainly did not want him to act in such a vindictive and bitter manner. That he had presented invalid citizenship to contest the election is true, and the Supreme Court passed down its judgment accordingly. Meanwhile, the media simply did its job and reported the story. Losing the home ministry and parliament seat should have been least of his concern, what with his widespread support base. But his anger and ego got in the way. Rather than fessing up to his transgression, he went on to play the victim card and portrayed the press as his cruel persecutor. Lamichhane’s attempt at incitement and intimidation is thoroughly condemnable. When a leader tries to undermine the credibility of the press, it creates space for propagandists and authoritarians.

A little over a month since its formation, and the potpourri coalition government of Prime Minister Puspha Kamal Dahal is already hobbling. Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has resigned over a citizenship controversy, Rastriya Prajatantra Party is talking about Hindu state revival and doing away with federalism, and the coalition linchpin, CPN-UML, is suspicious that Dahal might not support its presidential candidate. Truth be told, there was little expectation from this incongruous coalition. To win public confidence, Dahal and his ministers tried to appear proactive and on the ball soon after taking charge of their respective ministries. The prime minister famously chided the government secretaries for sluggish service delivery and issued a slew of instructions to improve the bureaucracy. Now, here we are. Service delivery in government offices is still the same, mind-numbingly slow, full of red-tape and rigmarole. Meanwhile, the prime minister and his Cabinet members are preoccupied with intra-party and inter-party issues—good governance and progress be damned. Mistrust is growing between Prime Minister Dahal and UML leader KP Sharma Oli over the presidential candidate. Oli wants a UML pick for the job, but Dahal appears disinclined to grant the former’s wish. Then there is a dispute with the RSP, which is insisting that the party has the right to retain the Home Ministry portfolio even after Lamichhane’s departure. This government has lost its bearings, and there are doubts about its longevity. There are also murmurs about the formation of a new coalition between Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center) and the main opposition, the Nepali Congress. Conflicting messages from the Maoist party regarding the continuation of the current coalition clearly show that Prime Minister Dahal and his party are mired in uncertainty. The prime minister appears uncomfortable about working with Oli in the long run. When the government’s lifespan is in question, no wonder the bureaucracy will brush off its directives. A vacillating prime minister is not helping anyone, certainly not the country and its people. It’s about time Prime Minister Dahal made his position clear about the type of coalition he wants to lead well before the public gives up on him.  

On Jan 24, Prem Prasad Acharya, a youth entrepreneur, immolated himself in front of the Federal Parliament at New Baneshwar even as a motorcade carrying Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal sped past. Acharya set himself on fire in broad daylight, when people were milling around and police personnel were very much there on duty. But neither these personnel nor the people present at the scene seem to have any idea on what to do in such situations. It seemed as if our security personnel are not trained to act as first responders in emergencies. This begs the question: Who then will act as first responders? The tale of the state’s lack of preparedness in dealing with such cases and insensitivity toward the victim does not end there. The visit of Dr Toshima Karki, minister of state for health and population, to the ICU ward of the hospital where Acharya was receiving treatment has not gone well. She has come under fire in social media for using her visit as some kind of publicity stunt. Dr Karki enquiring about the youth’s condition with himself, while he was battling between life and death, has drawn criticism. Was Dr Karki’s conduct in keeping with medical ethics? Does the Hippocratic oath allow all this? Our umbrella medical organizations like the Nepal Medical Council know better. Before taking the extreme post, Acharya had posted a long Facebook status pointing that he was going to take the extreme step. This should also have alarmed our authorities, but it did not. The loss of youths like Acharya, who stayed on in Nepal despite adversities and tried all his best to help his family, community and the country through entrepreneurship, is a tremendous loss to the country. But even before taking his own life, this young entrepreneur tried to show our political leadership and bureaucrats the way ahead. Acharya has tried to expose systemic diseases that ail the Nepali state. He has talked about corruption and mentioned those, who drove him to despair. The youth has urged the state to promote Nepali entrepreneurship. As per its pledge, the government should conduct a free and fair investigation, make the report public and act on its findings. In a few days, the demonstrations erupting after Acharya’s passing may fizzle out and he may be forgotten. But the three organs of the state—the executive, the legislature and the judiciary—should not just speed past these incidents. They should have a long memory. In hindsight, the executive, on the driving seat of the state, should take concrete steps to root out rampant corruption and mal-governance before the fire burning inside Nepali citizens erupts further and pushes the country into yet another era of turmoil.

The Nepali Congress must come clean about its intention behind giving the vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Dahal already had 169 aye votes in the 275-member parliament to sail through Tuesday’s floor test, and yet, the NC threw its weight behind Dahal, effectively rendering the House without an opposition party. In a functioning parliamentary system, the presence of the opposition is vital. It acts as an alternative government in waiting and holds the government to account. The NC, which takes pride in calling itself a proponent of democratic values and parliamentary practice, has made a mockery of the very things it says it stands for. The NC, despite winning the most number of seats in the Nov 20 parliamentary election, could not be part of a post-poll ruling alliance because NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to concede the prime minister’s office to Dahal as per their previous agreement. But when the third-placed Maoist Center joined forces with the UML and other fringe forces to form a government, the NC was stunned. The party not only lost its primacy at the center, it also lost its prospect of forming governments in the provinces. This is all Deuba’s doing. His desire to become prime minister for the sixth time led the NC to this situation. Now, by giving the trust vote to Dahal, Deuba is trying to dig out of the hole he has created for himself and his party. There are reports that Deuba is planning to reap political benefits by pitting the Maoists and the UML against each other. Deuba’s aversion to sitting on the opposition aisle is not new. In 2018, after the formation of a powerful government led by the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Deuba had faced criticism for trying to align with KP Sharma Oli of the UML to land some constitutional appointments. His decision to vote for the Dahal government in the recent vote of confidence has not sat well with some NC leaders. As Deuba holds sway in the party, he arm-twisted the disagreeing leaders into towing his line. A series of missteps by Deuba has not only created internal rift within the NC, the party is also at the risk of losing its supporters. Deuba would do well to switch to damage control mode before it’s too late.