Politicians Splitting, Parties Uniting

Nepali Times ईspecial 7 - 13 November 2025 #1284

Nepali Times #1284 7 - 13 November 2025

Sewaro,

Some of you have taken me aside at recent soirées to ask if elections will happen. My reply has always been: I am a naysayer not a soothsayer. I have referred all of you to the Astrologer General.

But seeing how politicians are all in a tizzy, it does prove the point that nothing focuses their minds more than the prospect of polls.

There are those who say Nepal’s political parties can’t get along. They are dead wrong. The parties get along like a House on fire. In fact, it has just been one Big Party for the past 30 years.

It is within each of the parties that there are problems between their strongmen — as manifested by their endless, mindless infighting.

The Maoist Permanent Potentate has systematically removed all internal rivals, but last week managed to unite with 7 other leftie parties to form the monolithic Nepal Communist Party. But somewhere along the way, he has quietly dropped the ‘Maoist’ label.

Mao Zedong is embalmed in his Maosoleum in Beijing, and the only political party still (mis)using his name was in Nepal. So this must mean that this episode in our history is done and dusted.

Within the UML, the Oligarchy has absolute power and it is exchanging some of its disgruntled members with the disgruntled from the NCP and US (Unified Socialists, not America).

The Kangresis looked for a moment like they were the only ones that would transition to a new generation of leaders, but now there are indications that the Conjugal Leadership in Singapore has had a change of heart, and would like to rule on with their proxies.

The RSP is in a dilemma, its technocrats want to induct selected charismatic persona, but they are worried the new figures will eclipse the charisma of its jail-breaking leader who is now back in jail.

There is apprehension about which direction the country is going after the GenZ uprising. But the rest of the world seems to be taking its cue from Nepal’s youth. It has now even spread to the US, with Mayor-elect Mamdani sharing chia and momo with AOC at Laliguras Bistro in Jaikishan Heights, Queens. Not to be outdone, America even held a #NoKings protest.

With only 4 months to go for elections in March, Nepali Times Editor Sonia Awale brings readers up to date with goings-on in her page 1 analysis (Election Countdown: 4 More Months). A longer version of the piece is online here.

No one was more surprised by the September Conflagration than Nepal’s neighbours, who would like to think that they have a handle on things here. New Delhi has scrambled to build links to BHU-educated Prime Minister Karki, while Beijing is wary of the suspected free-Tibet personalities among the GenZ. In a first, the Dalai Lama greeted a new Nepal prime minister, and this seems to have rattled the Chinese even more.

Tokyo was miffed by K P Oli attending the military parade of the 80th anniversary of the ‘Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression’, and naturally Japan was among the first to congratulate Karki.

Sudiksha Tuladhar weaves all this together in her report on page 5, Neighbourhood Watch on Nepal.

For the past month, Nepal’s nurses have been on strike for better pay and more respect from private hospitals (Nepal Haemorrhaging Nurses). But there are also success stories of nurses who have built new futures abroad, like Alpana Adhikari in the UK. (“I Felt Like I Was Born to Be a Nurse”) Both articles are on page 10-11.

Dan Edwards is back with a new segment of his series on the historic transportation infrastructure of Nepal, with a nostalgic article laden with archival pictures on the Saga of the Nepal Jaynagar-Janakpur Railway.

With more on politicians splitting and parties uniting next week,

Kunda Dixit