Navin Singh Khadka, BBC World Service, 19 November
BIBI FUNYAL
A while ago, former prime minister and UCPN (M) leader Baburam Bhattarai took to Twitter and claimed that hardliners of all persuasion, NGOs benefitting from foreign aid, and donors were colluding to prevent elections in Nepal and push the country into turmoil.
“The fact that international powers are operating against Nepal’s interests is common knowledge to most Nepalis,” says Netra Bikram Chand of CPN-M. “Everyone wants to keep Nepal in transition for as long as it takes to get what they want.”
Another former minister, Kamal Thapa, says of his experience while in charge of the Home Ministry: “If the CIAA or some other body investigates this in the future, perhaps we will know more. But I can say with certainty that protestors were paid huge sums of money by foreign powers during the uprising in 2006 and the government was aware of this.”
There is no proof to Thapa’s accusations, but foreign diplomats in Nepal express worry that Nepal’s transition will never end.
“Despite consistent efforts, there are issues where the political parties have not agreed among themselves. We are worried about this because we want to see Nepal become more stable,” says Alexander Spachis, the European Union’s envoy to Nepal.
When I ask him about why Nepali politicians blame foreign powers for creating instability in the country, Spachis responds: “I don’t think the problems of Nepal are imported from elsewhere. Plenty of Nepalis are educated, they have travelled abroad, even live abroad, so they have different opinions about the type of development they would like to see here. But it seems that the ones who are in power are doing everything they can to stifle this progress.”
When I ask Andrew James Sparks, who was recently appointed the British ambassador to Nepal, what he thought about the frequent accusations of ‘outside interference’ he said: “If the political parties want to move forward in a democratic manner they should focus on how best to represent the people and keep Nepal’s independence intact. This, we feel, is what Nepalis want. Instead of ranting about what big powers do, they must do their best to institutionalise the wish of the people through the constitution.”
However, there are Nepali politicians like Jitendra Dev, leader of Madhes Janadhikar Forum - Loktantrik, who do not believe there is foreign intervention. “Not writing the constitution when we had the chance and still talking about another CA election is solely our fault. In fact, I feel that the international community is concerned about our stability and wants Nepal to do well.”
Norwegian ambassador Alf Arne Ramslien has his own interpretation: “Blaming foreign countries helps certain local actors evade responsibility. Parties and leaders might be making use of such a strategy."
If those within Nepal see a foreign hand everywhere, surely there is competition between them as well, because not all their interests concur. When I ask Ramslien whether or not this makes Nepal more unstable, he replied: “Nepal’s situation cannot be viewed in isolation from regional issues. Its neighbours India and China are the largest countries in terms of population. This is important and you can clearly see competitive interests between the two when it comes to Nepal. But such geo-political rivalry exists elsewhere in the world as well.”
Listen to the original broadcast.