Narayan Upadhyay

A handful of accomplishments come to mind as the current government completes its 100 days in office. Formed following an unfavourable political situation, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led coalition government has succeeded in bringing the 'wrecked' federal constitution back on track and steadying vaccination campaigns against the dreaded coronavirus pandemic.

In addition, it has made a strong stride towards realising the goal of good governance by stabilising politics and giving a necessary push to the beleaguered economy.

Political Stability

The five-party coalition government, formed on July 13, 2021, came into existence by dislodging former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from power when he grossly violated the charter by dismissing the House of Representatives twice with a vicious design to remain in power.

Oli exhibited an authoritarian penchant for harming the constitution and nascent federal framework, spurring opposition forces to form a government under Nepali Congress leadership that has given much-needed stability to politics and facilitating the new government to perform effectively. During this period, the coalition partners have engaged in discussions and parleys to decide on matters pertaining to the government and nation's well being.

Just before completing 100 days in office, the government was successful in giving full shape to the 25-member cabinet. Initially, it was unable to expand the Council of Ministers as various constraints stemming out of coalition politics compelled PM Deuba to wait for almost three months to give his cabinet a complete shape.

The government is now expected to take full swing following the expansion of the cabinet. Despite the delay, the alliance partners have vowed to work for the betterment of the people and the nation by maintaining the sanctity of the constitution in letter and spirit, besides strengthening the federal and secular structure of the state.

For safeguarding the constitution and to facilitate coalition collaborators handling government affairs, the Deuba dispensation revoked various 'unconstitutional decisions' by Oli. One of such revocations was the scrapping of the ordinance on the Constitutional Council.

After revoking the ordinance, it also tried scrapping appointments made by the Oli government by disregarding constitutional procedures. Also, the government called back Nepali ambassadors from Nepal's various missions abroad. The government will soon replace these ambassadors with fresh faces through consensus among five parties following due constitutional process. 

Significantly, the Deuba-led government also saw changes in provincial governments where chief ministers representing coalition parties have taken to the helm. Gandaki and Lumbini provinces found new chief ministers as Nepali Congress leader Krishna Chandra Nepali and Maoist Centre's Kul Prasad KC were appointed chief ministers. Both have replaced UML's Prithvi Subba Gurung and Shankar Pokhrel.

While Karnali, Sudurpaschim province and Province 2 witnessed the continuation of the incumbent chief ministers, who hail from the five-party alliance, the shape of cabinet in the aforementioned provinces has been altered as they have included members of the alliance partners in their respective cabinet sidelining almost all UML functionaries in the respective cabinet.

Within the same period, government partners have mulled to replace the chief ministers of Province 1 and Bagmati with the leaders representing the newly formed CPN (Unified-Socialist).
The changes in provincial governments and cabinets have facilitated the government and its partners in carrying out development and other works in the provinces.

Steady Vaccination

Unlike the former UML government that came under fire for mismanaging vaccination campaigns and involvement in corruption while procuring vaccines, the government has brought cheers to people by conducting the immunisation drive effectively by transparently procuring shots.

So far, over 20 million doses of Covid shots have already been secured and administered to people, while over 33 per cent of the entire population has received jabs. Similarly, more than 75 per cent of the residents in the Kathmandu Valley population, a hotbed of the virus, have received the two shots while over 85 per cent of valley citizens have got at least one shot, which has helped in containing the virus.

Infection and death rates throughout the nation have come down, thanks to the rapid vaccination drive, which has made Nepal the first country in the region to reach such a breakthrough in the fight against the pandemic.  

PM Deuba, soon after assuming office, had guaranteed that his government had accorded top priority to a rapid vaccination campaign to combat the pernicious virus. To deliver on his commitment, the authority has imported more vaccines than targeted by the earlier administration and has increased the number of vaccination centres across the nation.

A few days ago, the erstwhile health minister declared it would import vaccines for children below 18 who will start receiving them by the December end. It declared that all Nepalis would get the required doses of jabs within the end of the current Nepali year (or by mid-April 2022).

Reinforcing the economy is another key task for this government during its 100 days in office. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma tabled a revised federal budget for the current fiscal year in the House, replacing the earlier budget presented by the Oli administration through an ordinance. Though UML lawmakers have tried their best to halt the modified budget in the House, many have admired the financial allocation. It has repealed some irrational programmes of the Oli government, including 1,400 road projects brought in without doing proper preliminary work. 

Minister Sharma tabled Rs. 1.63 trillion budget by reducing nearly Rs 15 billion from the earlier budget, putting the national revised growth rate at 7 per cent. The government hopes to achieve targeted economic growth amid the target of vaccinating the entire population by mid-April next year, which is expected to give a great push to economic activities. 

Besides these significant strides, a fair share of trouble has also perturbed the government during the same period. The drowning of a Nepali national in the Mahakali River, issues pertaining to the endorsement of the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) compact, the introduction of the Ordinance on Political Parties, and the inclusion of a non-parliamentarian in the recent cabinet expansion caused an unnecessary aberration. The disruption of the parliamentary proceedings by the UML is another problem that requires to be settled through dialogue sooner rather than later.

Delivering On Promises

Though the Deuba-headed coalition dispensation passed through testing time during its honeymoon period, it has gained marked success in delivering on its promises of setting the derailed constitution on the right path, taking ahead vaccination campaigns successfully and improving economic indicators with an eye on giving a fillip to the economy in the days ahead.

Everything considered, the current government has utilised its 100 days in office to set the tone and tenor for its programmes and in bringing reforms through good governance in the nation, besides obtaining all the aforementioned achievements.

Coalition partners have contributed to realising much-needed stability and good governance and have provided an edge to coalition politics that will certainly guide the nation towards achieving development and prosperity as it heads towards the polls in about 13 months. 

(Upadhyay is managing editor at this daily. nara.upadhyay@gmail.com)