|
|
Print-friendly version
Nepal
Area: Approximately 147,000 sq km, stretching 800 km from east to west and from 90 to 230 km north to south.
Population: An estimated 28.2 million (July 2006 est.). Annual rate of growth of 2.5%.
Capital City: Kathmandu. Population of about 800,000 in the city itself.
Believed to be approximately 1.5m in the fertile Kathmandu valley.
Peoples: Tribal groups include Gurung, Limbu, Newar, Rai, Sherpa, Tamang and Tharu with diverse smaller groups. Major caste groups are the Brahmans and Chhetris. Large numbers of Indians and some Tibetans make their home in the country.
Language(s): Nepali 58% (official language), Newari 3%, mainly in Kathmandu. Tibetan languages (20%) mainly in the hill areas and Indian languages (20%) mainly in the Terai areas bordering India. Nepal has over 30 Languages and dozens of dialects.
Religion(s): Officially 90% Hindu, 8% Buddhist and 2% Islamic – but these figures are thought misleading. Hinduism and Buddhism overlap considerably in Nepal. Other estimates also suggest that there are some 400,000 Christians in the country.
Currency: Nepalese Rupee (NPR)
Major political parties: Nepali Congress Party (Girija Prasad Koirala, Party president), Nepali Congress Party Democratic (Sher Bahadur Deuba, Party president), Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML (Party General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal) National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajatantra Party or RPP), now split into RPP (Thapa) and RPP (Rana). Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP, also split into factions Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi Devi) and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP, CPN(Maoists) (Chairman, Prachanda - Pushpa Kamal Dahal).
Government: Constitutionally, Nepal is a parliamentary democracy. A multi-party Parliament was reinstated following the King's handover of executive powers to the political parties on 24 April 2006. An interim Parliament was formed on 15 January 2007. Subsequently an interim government including the CPN(Maoists) was formed on 1 April 2007.
Head of State: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. The King no longer holds any executive powers or ceremonial functions.
Prime Minister: Gigija Prasad Koirala. Sworn into office on 30 April 2006.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs: Sahana Pradhan (CPN - UML Party)
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations, South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), Council of Democracies.
GEOGRAPHY
Nepal covers approximately 147,000 sq km, stretching 800 km from east to west and 90 to 230 km from north to south. Nepal is land-locked between China (including the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet) and India. Nepal has three geographic regions; the mountainous Himalayan belt (including 8 of the 10 highest mountain peaks in the world), the hill region and the plains region. Nepal contains the greatest altitude variation on earth, from the lowland Terai, at almost sea-level to Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) at 8848 metres.
HISTORY & POLITICS
The five city States of the Kathmandu Valley, in which the culture of the Malla Kings flourished from the 14th to the 17th centuries, were vanquished by the ruler of the central hill state of Gorkha in the mid 18th century. Prithvi Narayan Shah is looked upon as founder of the nation. The present King is a direct descendant. Further expansion by the Shahs in the early 19th century brought them into conflict with British India. Following the Anglo-Nepal war of 1816 the Treaty of Sugauli was signed. The first British Resident was posted to Kathmandu in 1816. The British remained the only foreign diplomatic presence in the capital for well over a century. In 1846 the Shah dynasty were deprived of executive rulership by Jung Bahadur Rana, who established a line of hereditary Prime Ministers which ruled until 1951 when King Tribhuvan in a 'Palace revolution' re-established the Shahs as rulers of the country with a cabinet of Ministers drawn from the Nepali Congress Party. In 1960 King Mahendra assumed direct rule and drew up a new Constitution based on the Hindu panchayat (5 man village council) system – providing for locally elected, non political party representation and government at ward, village, district and zone levels as well as the National Council of Ministers appointed by the King.
In early 1990, during King Birendra's reign, following widespread agitation for a multi-party democracy, Nepal experienced a virtually bloodless 'revolution' and a new Constitution was promulgated in November of that year which retained the Monarchy as Head of State but introduced a full parliamentary system of government.
The present monarch, King Gyanendra, came to the throne on 4 June 2001 in tragic circumstances, following the murder of King Birendra and other members of the Royal Family on 1 June 2001 by Birendra's son, the then Crown Prince Dipendra, who subsequently shot and killed himself.
After months of infighting between the political parties, Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed Prime Minister on 22 July 2001. The following day he announced a unilateral ceasefire against the Maoists, which they immediately reciprocated.
The Maoists broke the ceasefire in November 2001, in response to which Prime Minister Deuba declared a State of Emergency. The conflict intensified over the following year and drew in the full participation of the Royal Nepal Army (RNA).
On 23 May 2002 Prime Minister Deuba, facing divisions within his own party over extending the State of Emergency in order to combat the Maoist insurgency, dissolved Parliament.
By October 2002 the Maoist insurgents controlled nearly half of Nepal. PM Deuba, unable to guarantee the necessary security for national elections to take place, requested that they be postponed for a further year. On 4 October 2002 the King of Nepal, citing fears over the handling of the insurgency announced that he had requested Deuba's resignation and that he would be appointing a transitional government of his own choosing. Elections were postponed until it was judged the security situation would allow them to be conducted in a peaceful and inclusive manner.
On 11 October 2002 the King announced that former Prime Minister Lokendra Chand was to head a transitional government. Representatives from the main political parties were excluded from the new government and refused to work with it, claiming that the King had acted unconstitutionally. Prime Minister Chand announced his resignation at the end of May 2003 and on 4 June 2003 Surya Bahadur Thapa, another Royalist, was appointed Prime Minister by King Gyanendra.
On 29 January 2003 a cease-fire was once again agreed between the Maoists and the transitional government. However, attempts at peace talks stalled after three rounds of negotiations and the Maoists unilaterally ended the cease-fire on 27 August 2003. Following this, constant clashes took place between the Maoists and the Nepalese Security Forces, with neither side gaining any long term military advantage.
In May 2004, Surya Bahadur Thapa resigned as Prime Minister and a month later the King re-appointed Deuba, who was able to form a coalition in July 2004 which included all the main parties except the Nepali Congress Party.
On 1 February 2005 the King dismissed Prime Minister Deuba and his Government, putatively for failing in its mandate to hold elections by April, and took power directly himself. He immediately imprisoned the top party leaders and many civil society and political activists. The takeover was met with widespread international criticism from India, the US, the EU and the UK. A State of Emergency was imposed, which included a number of measures including censorship of the press and suspension of many fundamental rights. Following condemnation of the King's actions by the international community the State of Emergency was lifted and many detainees were released. On 14 April the King announced his intention to restore democracy by holding municipal elections in February 2006 followed by national elections by April 2007.
In September 2005 the Maoists announced a three-month unilateral ceasefire and in November 2005, the Maoists and seven of the political parties (the Seven Party Alliance - SPA) announced a 12 point understanding aimed at ending the King's autocratic rule and restoring democracy. Despite all the major political parties boycotting the elections and the majority of seats having no candidates, the municipal elections went ahead on 8 February 2006. Voter turnout was low.
With widespread political discontent among the political forces and the population, the SPA and the Maoists announced a programme of nationwide strikes and mass street protests from 6-9 April 2006. The Maoists organised nationwide blockades and announced an indefinite ceasefire in Kathmandu Valley. Despite bans and curfews, mass protests took place throughout the country during most of April 2006. At least 21 people were killed and over 4000 people were injured after violent clashes between protestors and security forces. The international community condemned the excessive use of force by security forces who used live bullets, baton charges, and tear gas on protestors.
Following weeks of nationwide civil unrest in April 2006, the King handed power to the political parties and reinstated Parliament.
The reinstated Parliament convened on 28 April 2006. The new Prime Minister, G P Koirala was sworn in to office on 30 April 2006 and proposals to hold elections to a Constitutional Assembly and hold peace talks with the Maoists were passed.
On 18 May 2006 the Parliament declared itself 'supreme' and voted unanimously to curtail the King's political powers. This included removing his powers as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Nepal was declared a secular state.
On 26 May 2006 the Government and Maoist rebels began peace talks, the first in nearly three years. They agreed a 25-point Code of Conduct to govern the ceasefire and prepare the way for elections to a Constituent Assembly.
In August 2006 the Government of Nepal and the Maoists requested UN assistance in support of the peace process, including management of arms. In response, the UN Secretary-General appointed Ian Martin as his Personal Representative for Nepal in August 2006.
RECENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
A peace agreement between the Government of Nepal and the Maoists was signed in Kathmandu on 21 November 2006 thereby ending 11 years of conflict in Nepal. Under the terms of the agreement the Nepali Army and Maoist cadres will be confined to barracks and cantonments. Both sides agreed a permanent ceasefire and an arms management arrangement, to be monitored by the UN. The agreement provided for elections to a Constituent Assembly and for the Maoists to become part of the political mainstream as a legitimate political party. Subsequently an arms management agreement was signed on 28 November 2006 between the Maoists and the government under the auspices of the UN. Following, these achievements the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1740 which mandated a UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) to provide election assistance and arms monitors. The UN Mission completed its registration of Maoists’ weapons and cadres in February 2007. The UN submitted a report to the Government of Nepal. Over 30 thousand combatants and over 3000 arms were registered in the seven major camps.
Formation of Interim Government
On 15 January 2007 the House of Representatives was dissolved and the interim parliament was formed, promulgating the interim constitution. The Maoists hold 83 of the 330 seats in the interim Parliament. On 1 April 2007, the interim government was formed which for the first time includes Maoist Ministers.
Terai unrest
From December 2006 protests and rioting have taken place in the southern region (Terai) over the failure of the interim constitution to address the long-standing discrimination faced by the Madhesis (the people from the plains of Nepal) at the hands of the Pahadis (those originally based in the hill regions).
The civil unrest lasted for several weeks and spread rapidly across the Terai. A number of people were killed during clashes with the Police. Protestors defied curfews, and vandalised government offices.
The protesting groups suspended their protests after the Prime Minister announced that the allocation of seats in the constituent assembly would be proportional to the size of the population in the Terai. On 9 March 2007 the interim parliament amended the interim constitution as promised.
The law and order problems in the Terai continue to worsen, tensions between rival political groups remain high and occasional clashes have broken out. In March 2007 at least 28 Maoists were killed during a clash with the Madhesis People’s Rights Forum (MJF) cadres in Gaur, central Terai.
ElectionsIn May 2007 the Chief of the Election Commission announced that elections to a Constituent Assembly would not be possible for June 2007. The electoral system and necessary legislation has not yet been agreed. On 31 May 2007 the Eight Party Alliance agreed to hold elections in November 2007. ECONOMY
GDP: US$ 8.0 billion (2006)
GDP per head: US$ 260.
Annual Growth: 1.9% (2006 - EIU))
Inflation: 8.3% (2006)
Major Industries: Tourism, carpet, textile, small rice, jute, sugar and oilseed mills; cigarettes; cement and brick production.
Major trading partners: India 63%, US, China & Germany
Real GDP at producer prices grew by 1.9% in fiscal year 2005/06 (July 16th-July 15th) as agricultural output suffered. Rising food and oil prices have kept consumer price inflation high, Nepal’s power shortage is severe. A new stockmarket index has been launched. The Nepal Rastra Bank (the central bank) has assumed control of a private bank, Nepal Bangladesh Bank (NBB), to limit a panic run on NBB’s deposits. China Southern Airlines started two weekly flights from Guangzhou to Kathmandu on in Feb 2007 meaning that 16 foreign carriers now fly to Nepal. Tourist arrivals have improved slightly with a total of 283,516 tourists visited Nepal by air in 2006, a rise of just 2.3% from 2005, 33% of tourists last year were Indians.
The economy is still largely based on agriculture, which employees some 80% of the workforce. The main foreign currency earners are remittances from migrant workers, carpet exports (mostly to Germany), garment exports (to the USA) and tourism.
|
|
