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Jagdish Dahal is a member of the Supreme Court Bar and has been practicing corporate law for around three decades. He has a wide experience in insurance, tax, banking, labor and corporate laws. Besides, he has also worked as a legal consultant in various projects of UNDP, USAID, ADB, EU and commercial banks. ApEx talked to Dahal regarding Nepal’s economic and legal situation from a corporate lawyer’s eye. How do you see our banking sector? Nepal has a good banking human resource. Yet, there are a few issues with them. Nepali banks are town-centered, and the state has also not been able to make banks village-centered. Also, banks enjoyed investment in quick profit-oriented ventures like trade, automobiles, real estate, housing, hydro, tourism and other service sectors rather than in production-oriented firms. The states meanwhile failed to regulate these things. The same investors started to invest in both banks and trades which had many conflicts of interest. Due to a lack of direction in political leadership, these problems arose which ultimately impacted the banking sector and national economy. However, their regulator, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), has played a good role in improving the Nepali banking sector. Maybe this is because the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) regularly suggests and supervises NRB’s work. What is the condition of insurance companies? The history of the insurance business is not too old. It was initially started to help and support banks. And till today, things seem the same. Banks and insurance companies have a cordial relation and if banking business gets down, the insurance companies also see a plunge in businesses. Over the time, the insurance business has been expanded and there are over 40 life and general insurance companies in Nepal. But their condition is not exciting. The indexes of the economy show that we are already in a crisis. At this point, I feel that this is the time to downsize banks and insurance companies. And the government should formulate plans to battle the recession so that everyone can sustain the period. Does Nepal have good laws? Not a single law or plans and policies in Nepal has been made by the experts. They are made by bureaucrats. What bureaucrats do is make the laws in their favor so that it will be easy for them to work. No governmental programs and packages help general people because they are not meant for the public, but the bureaucrats. Moreover, the laws in Nepal are copied and translated from the foreign countries. Many of them have no Nepali taste. For instance, the Income Tax Act is so vast and undefined that the act itself hinders revenue generation. For a better revenue collection and involvement of every Nepali to strengthen national treasure, laws, acts and provisions should attract taxpayers. The legislature should work to incorporate public demands in the laws. Similarly, there are also many issues with banking, insurance, security market and corporate acts. Not only with their laws, but many of them need a complete restructuring of the organization. They too need experts in the leadership of the organization. How do you see the labor situation in Nepal? The labor situation is terrible here. Nepal has many daily wage workers, and it is difficult for them to sustain with the wages they get. So, the laborers are not in a good situation in Nepal. There are many issues of overwork and less salary. The state must conduct a study on how much money a person needs to sustain for a month comfortably and the minimum wage cap should be strictly maintained. It must be regulated, and such studies should be conducted regularly as inflation plays a major role in it. The minimum wage cap should be updated regularly. The government should also maintain an updated list of its people, how many of them are employed, how many are unemployed and all. And then, the government should provide them with employment and generate income for the expenses of non-working age groups too. What types of corporate issues are in larger numbers in the court? Banking offenses, issues between banks and loan receivers, revenue issues and trade disputes are the major lawsuits. Lately, these issues have increased because the poor economic situation has vacuumed the gap between banks and customers. There have been issues of loans as the entrepreneurs have not been able to pay back due to lack of business. How do you rate the banking and financial literacy of Nepalis? Financial literacy has grown in Nepal. The Constitution of Nepal 2015 compelled the banks and financial institutions to open its branches in each local government. Hence banks were spread to rural areas of Nepal. The banks have helped people know the importance of saving and have taught how to deposit and withdraw money. However, the banks are yet to help people start their own venture. The banks should help other businesses to flourish so that there will be employment opportunities in every place. It will ultimately help every sector of Nepal. What are your suggestions for all these issues? If the political leadership realizes their responsibility toward the nation, we have issues that could be fixed. But we have not seen the government and concerned parties in a rush even if we are in crisis. So, my suggestion and solution are that the leadership should correct itself and help businesses with better entrepreneurial environments. Experts should be brought to power, and they should be allowed to make plans to fight the crisis. We should also be able to learn from the good deeds of our neighboring countries—the two major economies in the world. Bureaucracy has a similar problem. They have a problem of superiority complex. They believe that their abilities or accomplishments are somehow dramatically better than others and without them, this country would not have existed. They too need a serious correction on their work and behavior.

Uddhab Pyakurel is an associate professor at the Kathmandu University School of Arts. Along with his university job, Pyakurel is also engaged in a research of Nepal’s foreign policy and international relations. ApEx talked to him about the foreign policy challenges of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government and Nepal’s relations with big powers. What are the key foreign policy challenges of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government? Confusion in understanding Nepal’s geo-political reality within the ruling Maoist Party has remained the main challenge for Dahal and his party while being in the government or in the opposition since 2008. His own party is not rational when dealing with Nepal’s immediate and distant neighbors. That is why they use buzzwords like “equi-distance” and “equi-proximity” which doesn’t help a country like Nepal. Our leadership has to deal with many practical things to meet not only the nation’s aspiration but also day-to-day needs of people. For this purpose, a party with ruling ambitions has to go beyond emotional and ideological stands, and revisit those positions in a new context. With all communist parties in Nepal, we often find double standards. Their leaders are actually ready to compromise more than that is expected of them while dealing with external forces, but they put on a strong and unyielding attitude in front of their party cadres. Familiarizing the party cadres through new discourse and discussions in the changed global context will be helpful to both the Maoist party and its leader Dahal. They should revisit their old positions and formulate new ones to show that the party has a clear position. How do you see NP Saud as a foreign minister?  It could be considered as a great relief for Dahal to have Nepali Congress as a coalition partner. The government has a relatively pragmatic stand and attitude on Nepal’s foreign policy because of this. But it must be said that Congress didn’t cooperate with Dahal by appointing NP Saud as a foreign minister. He has in the past shown a lack of interest and engagement on issues to be dealt by a foreign minister. Saud could have been a good education minister, even home minister. But as a foreign minister, his performance has been less than average. I think this is unjust for Saud too. Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Center) have different views on how to deal with major powers. How does this affect our external relations? I don’t think that all the parties and leaders in the government have different views when it comes to dealing with major powers. You are right that some political parties including the Maoists still have a “double stand” in their view of external powers. But as stated earlier, the Nepali Congress, with relatively better understanding, could have played a role to shape a clear view. It seems like a missed opportunity for the Congress, as it could not place the right person in the right place. We have some outstanding issues with India including the border dispute. How can we resolve them? Clarity in issues and art of negotiation with acceptable modus operandi for counterparts are two major factors of a successful negotiation. But Nepal and India have never followed this modus operandi. Weak presentation in issues due to a lack of preparatory work has always remained a big problem for Nepali side while dealing with India. That is why most of the issues have not been resolved. On the issue of our borders, both the countries are missing an opportunity here to sign the protocol to realize the agreement made by ‘Nepal-India Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee’ formed by both the governments in 1981. If it is signed, both the governments will have time to concentrate on major points like Susta and Kalapani. What is happening today is that the media covers the news of border disputes on an almost daily basis when in fact they could have been dealt with by the apex body of the two countries. The border issues are getting more complicated and ruining the environment for negotiations. That is why all negotiations and discussions are more or less the same abstracts i.e. 1950 treaty, security concerns, good relation, etc. The Nepali side has recently added the EPG (Eminent Persons’ Group) report on the menu. Unilateral menu in the bilateral talk is not considered as an art of negotiation. Contemporary issues which have impacted public life can be presented, and if the issue is there with a good preparation, I don’t think that there will be any chance for the two countries to deny it. Even if treaty provisions offer equal treatment to Nepali and Indian citizens if they visit and stay in the neighborhood, many new provisions introduced recently made citizens’ mobility further complicated. Both the governments need to discuss the issues which will eventually strengthen people-to-people relations. This is only the best way for better relations between the two countries. How do you view China’s BRI in Nepal? We need to understand BRI as the concept, and the usefulness of the program for a country like Nepal. The BRI seems to be good for middle income countries with an aspiration to build mega infrastructure projects. Nepal, being dependent on a subsistence economy, has just begun with relatively small scale projects and a moderate amount of expenses. That very amount is managed by it from within its friendly nations, largely in grants and low interest. That is why the Nepal government and BRI authority have so far been unable to negotiate for projects. Kathmandu-Kerung Railway has motivated Nepal to use the BRI, but it seems that they could not agree on a funding model. The hope was also dashed after China itself delayed and put the project of Shigatse-Kerung railway on hold for years.

Pashupati Shumsher Rana is a senior leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and a member of the House of Representatives (HoR). His party is in opposition with 14 members in the HoR.  Kamal Dev Bhattarai of ApEx talked to Rana on current political developments. Excerpts: How do you see the current state of Nepali politics? The composition of Parliament makes it fragile. Whatever you say about the coalition, the intrinsic fragility of parliamentary parties does not forecast a very stable future. Over the last 30 years, we have seen the same situation, haven’t we? No, there have been some exceptions. The last government led-by CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had nearly a two-thirds majority but that just faded away. So, it is not inherent in the nature of parliamentary journey but it is in the nature of leadership of major parties. What is the major problem with the leadership of major political parties? The two principal things that leadership of major political parties lack is honesty and efficiency. When you are in that state, there is no point talking about the vision. How can you have a vision when you are fundamentally corrupt and you are fundamentally inefficient? You cannot run the country because you have personal interests, not a national interest. So, no matter how large a majority you have, these deep inherent personal problems will not make a good future possible for Nepal. How do you see the emergence of new political parties like Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)? They have risen very fast. During the general elections of 2022, I didn’t even know the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) existed. But it came out of the blue, they overtook us and became the fourth largest party in Parliament. And in the by-election, the votes they got were outstanding. They have extremely talented people. I know a few of them like Swarnim Wagle who is a renowned economist. In the last general elections, we also saw the re-emergence of the RPP, how do you see it? Well, we hoped to be the fourth party but because this RSP came out the blue we came fifth.  Yet, we have 14 members which is an important number in Parliament. It’s much better than the position we got in the previous elections. We have seen very capable leaders in the RPP for a long time, but why is the RPP failing to make a strong party? We started with a few members—with me, Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani and Ram Krishna. In the 1991 election, we got 18 seats, Surya Bahadur Thapa became the prime minister first and thereafter Lokendra Bahadur Chand. These two figures became prime ministers three times. The differences within the party and tendencies of split destroyed our party. At that time, out of 18 members, everyone wanted to become prime minister. Those splits have been bad for the party. Since then, we have come a long journey. Even now, we are a party with differences. But we are only a long-standing party that has handed over leadership to the new generation. Also, RPP is now headed by Ranjendra Lingden who comes from an ethnic group. Now, we have outstanding young leaders like Gyanendra Shahi and Rabindra Mishra. We have some women leaders who are well-educated. We just had a meeting of the Central Committee and our assessment is that we have a good future. Why do you think the Hindu state and return of monarchy in Nepal is important? When we started, if you remember we started with a very simple principle such as nationalism, multi-party democracy and liberal agendas. At that time, there was a constitutional monarchy and Hindu state. Our Hindu identity was very important in the world. Along with this we have the identity of Mt Everest and Gautam Buddha. We just gave up our Hindu identity for nothing. And regarding the head of the state, the glamor and prestige of the crown is necessary. President Ram Chandra Paudel is a nice person and I have huge respect for him. But does he have a crown? No. There is no glory when there is no crown. People used to bow to the crown out of respect, but the present head of state doesn’t equal the glamor, prestige that monarchy had. How are our domestic policies affecting our international relations? Well, think of somebody like Indian Prime Minister Narendrea Modi or Chinese President Xi Jinping. What a poor opinion they must have about our leadership? If they do not respect you even at the level of foreign minister or foreign secretary, their respect for our leadership must be very poor. They are not treating our leadership respectfully. We do not have a good leader who could talk on equal terms with really powerful neighbors. What is your view on the foreign policy of monarchy? King Mahendra was one of the great rulers. And Birendra was there for a very long time. As both kings had fundamental qualities, they earned respect not only from neighbors but from across the world.The standing of Nepal and monarchy was much, much higher. What is your suggestion for the present government regarding foreign relations? We must not limit ourselves to our neighbors. The greatest power of today is the United States. We have to embrace the great power of the world. We have to follow the long-standing principles of balance between the powers to the north and powers to the south. Today, when you talk about the powers of the south, they include the United States, India, Japan, and Australia. When you think of the north, we cannot separate Russia. So with this understanding, this principle of balance must be the basis of Nepal’s geopolitics.

Animals suffer on the streets of Kathmandu every day. People abuse them, they get into accidents, and they have nowhere to go during extreme weather conditions. Some die horrible deaths, and finding food is always a challenge. Anushka Nepal from ApEx talked to Beena Pant, an animal rights activist and a member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Nepal, an organization working for animal welfare, to discuss how street animals can be protected. What poses risks to stray animals? One of the major factors that put most stray animals at risk is road accidents. Every day, we come across several hit-and-run cases and the animals hurt don’t get treated on time. The other one is the abuse they face from people in their locality. People kick or throw stones at them for barking, roaming around shops, and even without reason. Not only are there cases where animals have suffered severe injuries as a result, but they also go through a lot of emotional and mental trauma. They get agitated, become violent, and the cycle of abuse continues. The other issue we see is animals having food that’s not good for their health. They feed on garbage or leftovers from households and shops, which have chicken or fish bones. They often choke on the bones and suffer from internal injuries. Sometimes, they ingest plastics, nails, coins, and metal objects while searching for food in garbage piles. Around five years back, we removed 17 kilograms of these materials from the stomach of a calf. Also, since most of them are exposed to extreme weather conditions, they suffer from many other health complications. How is the state of strays in Kathmandu?  It’s terrible. There are many hit-and-run cases. People leave the animal they hit on the street to suffer. Open wounds often get infected, and many animals don’t survive. The other problem we find in dogs is health issues like scabies and cancer. There are also dogs suffering from distemper and parvovirus. There are some areas near jungles where many dogs suffer from rabies. In city areas, it’s not that common since most of them get vaccinated, although we do come across a few. But the problem with rabies is mostly seen in the outskirts of Kathmandu. Governmental and non-governmental organizations have been neutering dogs. Has that brought about any substantial change in the number of stray dogs found in Kathmandu? To some extent, it has. But when it comes to neutering dogs, a lot of wards in Kathmandu don’t do it regularly. Dogs get neutered for a certain period and then the work stops. The same happened when Kathmandu Metropolitan City started neutering dogs. So the female dogs that haven’t been neutered reproduce and the numbers keep multiplying. Wards that have taken the job of neutering dogs seriously have fewer puppies. But, at the same time, some wards have been neutering dogs just for the sake of showing their work on paper. They don’t follow through and the outcome isn’t as fruitful as it could have been. If we were to neuter dogs systematically in each ward without leaving a single dog behind, the result would be visible within a year or two. I think organizations like ours have to put a little more effort into it. There are laws on animal rights but are they being properly implemented?  There are laws backing up animal rights, but the implementation is quite weak. One of the reasons behind that is even police officers are reluctant to file complaints or take action. There is a lack of sensitivity towards animals. I believe that even animal welfare groups have not put in much effort to change that. We could do so much more in terms of awareness, but I believe that maybe we have been slacking off a little on that front. I think those working for animal welfare should focus a little more on awareness campaigns or any other method/programs that will let people know that there are consequences of harming animals. We need to start from the police station itself since even authorities are unwilling to take action when an animal is hurt. There are only a few who care. What do you think is the reason behind peoples’ insensitivity towards animals? Firstly, people think of animals as more of an object than a living being. They aren’t empathetic of their pain and suffering, which is why many don’t refrain from abusing them time and again. They don’t want to accept the fact that stray animals are also part of a community. For instance, recently in Budhanilkantha-6, where our shelter for animals is located, around 200 hundred people gathered to chase the dogs out. They didn’t want to consider the fact that most of them were sick. They were bothered by the constant barking. Secondly, these people are also not aware of the legal aspect that backs up animal rights. It’s mostly because the laws that exist are barely implemented. Even during the incident I mentioned, it took the police an hour to arrive at the location, and that too after I made some phone calls asking for favors. Before that, no one had come. The public has no fear of any consequences, and that gives them the confidence to do whatever they want.