30 Dec 2016 - 5 Jan 2017 #839

Year of lost opportunities

January: The Indian Blockade was into its fourth month at the start of 2016, and Nepalis were still reeling under crippling shortages of fuel, medicines and essential commodities.

February: The Blockade was finally lifted, and Prime Minister KP Oli made a symbolic visit to India.

March: Oli visited Beijing and signed a historic trade and transit treaty with China to reduce landlocked Nepal’s dependence on India.

April: As Nepal marked the first anniversary of the April 2015 earthquake, nearly two million Nepalis were still living under tarps as the National Reconstruction Authority continued to be mired in politics and mismanagement.

May: The NC tried to stage a coup against the UML-Maoist coalition by persuading the Maoists to oust Oli, who survived the coup by striking a new deal with the Maoists.

June: 12 Nepalis hired by a British security firm to guard the Canadian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan were killed in a deadly attack.

July: Govinda KC went on yet another hunger strike, this time demanding the impeachment of the CIAA Chief Lokman Singh Karki, accusing him of abusing his authority.

August: The Maoists finally succeeded in pulling the rug out from under the Oli government, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal became the new Prime Minister.

September: Dahal visited New Delhi, and laid the groundwork for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Nepal.

October: Load-shedding ended in Kathmandu Valley after a decade, as the new management of the Nepal Electricity Authority put an end to blackmarketeering of power.

November: The Dahal government tabled the Second Amendment to the Constitution, prompting the opposition UML to disrupt House proceedings and spearhead street protests.

December: Two of the three sections of the 27 km Melamchi tunnel bringing water to a parched capital were finally completed.