Nepal Elections 2017: Even My Dog Knows Political Stability is No.1 Priority
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| Dogs.Know.Better. Photo by Kat, follow her on insta [HERE]. |
I sometimes look at my dog doing nothing, getting fed, wandering about, owning the streets of Kathmandu and I think to myself, I want that. I want that life of doing nothing, being carefree and the only making an effort when a stranger turns on the gate's knob and scream my lungs out.
Also make sure that I hide among the bushes in the process.
Unlike me though, my dog wasn't there to witness Maoists rebels in Nepal lay down their arms on November 2006, after tearing down and alienating the country for nearly a decade. She wasn't there to see the reign of the great Shah kings end; neither the time when the Constituent Assembly (CA) was dissolved four times in subsequent years. All she knows is that the government has changed hands three times since ex-Prime Minister KP Oli took office on October 2015 after the CA finally, finally decided that this dog and the nation should get it's super overdue Constitution.
"Three times since October 2015," my dog barks. I nod in visceral agreement. This dog is unusually keen on politics I say to myself with a grin on my face. I am just glad she's not thinking about the poop she nearly swallowed on her last unlawful trip outside the bounds.
Quite the rebel she is.
So proud of her.
So proud of her.
Times when I get bored and she sees that, she likes to spark me up by bringing her precious collections of Narendra Modi. She is a quite a fan of the Indian Prime Minister, oh yes she is. She's somehow managed to collect these four photos bring them to me every time I'm down:
My Dog's Photo Album of Narendra Modi
(She's even managed to write down headings in her dog script)
(She's even managed to write down headings in her dog script)
2014: New Nepali PM meets Indian PM
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| Then Prime Minister Late Sushil Koirala meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 |
2015: New Nepali PM meets same Indian PM
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2016: New Nepali PM meets same Indian PM
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2017: New Nepali PM meets same Indian PM
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My dog can only imagine what her favorite character is thinking at the moment. All the fake smiles, fake talks, fake state dinners he has to present year after year for all these Nepalese Prime Ministers knowing all too well that he's going to have to arrange another one in 2018 must be quite daunting for him. Of course, besides having to do the small task of managing one-plus billion population economy.
Not a biggy -she thinks.
Talking about 2018, my dog's been really looking forward for the year. A brand new cozy bedding, a improved bone-to-rice ration and the formation of new centralized and decentralized Nepali governments. I was as surprised as you are you see; she brought out this topic last week when election fever swept past the country on what was the first parliamentary elections since 1999. I told her I was still memorizing multiplication tables then. You should have seen her face.
What she doesn't know (and I thought why complicate things) is that Nepal's been going through some..well..divisions. The country's been divided into 77 districts from seven Provinces to give more power towards the local government aka Provincial Parliament. They make independent decisions, legislation and budget. No more need to get any permission from previously centralized governance system based in Kathmandu. There's also a 275-member House of Representatives voted through a mixed system, a 59-member National Assembly which two form the Federal Parliament.
Aljazeera does a better job of breaking it down:
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| Federal Parliament structuring of Nepal Credits: Aljazeera English [HERE] |
Also better at succinctly explaining:
Source [HERE]
A multi-party, federal democratic republic and parliamentary form of government will be in effect.
Federal parliament (HoR+NA) will elect a prime minister, who is the real executive head. The leader of the party that wins a simple majority is invited to form the government
Members of the HoR are elected for a five-year term
The National Assembly (NA) is a permanent body, with 56 members chosen by an electoral college consisting of PA members and village and municipal executive members. Three members are nominated by the president. It has a term of six years, with one-third of its members retiring every two years on a rotational basis.
The president and vice president are constitutional posts with nominal power. They are elected by an electoral college formed by the HoR, NA and PA members.
The members of the PA choose chief ministers to run the respective provinces.
A total of 753 local units, spread across 77 districts in seven provinces, have been elected to run the village and municipal administration.
...............
Well, you can see why I didn't bother to explain to my dog. The number's might get to her.
All she wants though, is for her favorite go-to-when-I-feel-down Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Modi, to not be such a fake and genuinely host dinner for the upcoming Prime Minister of Nepal. She thinks, in all aspects, the country progresses by having a stable government for an extended period of time regardless of what shite government might come in. Also helps Modi and his taxpayers without having to host expensive state dinners every year.
Stability No.1, Who-leads-the-country No.2. At least for now. She says.
I think my dog get's high every now and then.
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