A Brief History of Democracy in Nepal

An overview of the History of Nepal

From the early twentieth century to 2008, the Nepalese democracy movement fought for the development of representative democracy, a multi-party political system, and the removal of monarchy. The Revolution of 1951, Jana Andolan, and LoktantraAndolan were three important movements that ended the Shah monarchy, transitioned Nepal to a republic, and reintroduced multi-party bicameral democracy. In the mid-20th century, the Rano's longstanding Nepalean royal line, motivated by ethnopolitical growth from the Indian nationalist movement, was the beginning of a national push for democracy in Nepal. But this democracy ended in 1960 and a system of governance was established in Panchayat, eliminating recent democratic institutions, prohibiting political parties, limiting certain forms of freedom of expression.
In 1979, student protests led to a referral on the direction of the political system, which resulted in minimal adjustments to the existing party-less system. The Jana Andolan People's s Movement led to the resurgence of a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy, due to a period of economic tensions with India and increasing persecution in Nepal. Despite corruption, nepotism and the presence of a Maoist uprising that has become a nationwide civil war between the Maoist insurgents and the Government of Nepal, the economic and political situation proceeded until 2001. King Gyanendra gained power and ruled through urgency powers which enforced nationwide repression of the media and civilians until 2006, following the assassination of the royal family in Nepal. The broad-based protests led to the resignation, abolition of the monarchy and a transitional Nepal to a federal republic led to a broad range of Nepalese parties alongside the Maoists. The end of the civil war in Nepal.

Democracy movement of 1951

Due to a growth of the country's educational system that led to a much higher literacy rate and higher education levels, an educated elite emerged in Nepal in the mid-20th century. Following India's freedom, political organizations were formed and an organized struggle was waged in neighboring Nepal against the Rana monarchy. To create a democracy and People's Republic, the Nepal Communist Party was created in 1949. In contrast, in 1947 a Congress Party was created and supported by the Communist Party in Nepal to launch an armed revolution against the Rana monarchy. In the following, it was founded against the Rana monarchy.
The Royal Family and Nepali Congress agreed on a peaceful and steady transition from democracy, which they consider to be the 1951 Delhi commitment under heavy foreign and domestic pressure. In the context of constitutional monarchy, the transitional administration has been established and elections have been won by the congressional Party of Nepal, which has played a role in the abolition and social democratic rule of Rana. In December 1960, the parliament was dissolved by King Mahendra and political parties and police officers imprisoned in prison and national cabinet members were prohibited.

Panchayat Era

The King developed the governance system Panchayat, which rebuilt political authority for the King's elections to hold direct municipal elections. While the Panchayat law nominally guaranteed freedom of speech, it was curtailed by several royal regulations, notable legislation on lèse-majesté that banned royal family commentary. The policy reforms reorganized and limited the autonomy and the power of the parliament, which was held by the King. The political representatives were rigorously watched for their devotion to the king. In 1979, popular discontent sparked student protests that led to a vote on the future of the Panchayat system that saved the Panchayat system from modest institutional adjustments.

Jana Adolan(Peoples movement) of 1990

An alliance of seven political factions and a Nepali Congress led to the reinstatement of democracy in Nepal following a trade dispute with India that resulted in price increases and shortages of consumer goods. The protests that led to the closure of universities and institutions by students, human rights organizations, and professional unions were held in April 1990. The first Jana Andolan or People's Movement to pressure the King to restore democracy to a multi-party system was a culmination of the protests. Despite the multifarious people and the language population of Nepal its constitution recognized Nepal as a Hindu state with Khasa-Nepali as the official language. The restore of democracy in Nepal has strengthened the movement towards neoliberal government policies that have encouraged economic liberalization such as eliminating pricing checks, privatizing them, and implementing domestic currency convertibility.

Nepalese Civil War Era

Delayed peace discussions between the democratic government and the Communist Party's paramilitary arm of Nepal resulted in the Nepalese civil war or the People's War (Maoist) The consequence was an accumulation of over 30,000 fighters and about 13,000 casualties with thousands unknown. The first decade of democracy in Nepal is seen as unstable because of frequent changes in administration, internal struggles, and corruption. Brahmin and Chhetri castes with a lack of ethnic minorities and women continued to dominate politics.

Nepal remained one of the least developed countries, 113 of the 130 countries in the Human Development Index, after the 1991 constitutional monarchy change. For the Nepal Congress, the 1999 general elections led to the win, which induced political stability for four years. A hanging parliament that produces eight unstable coalition governments within five years led to the dissolution of a House of Representatives in the 1994 mid-term vote. After the split in the recognized and unacknowledged side of the United People's Front, led by Puspa Kamal Dahal, there was a boycott of elections and an armed revolt. To institutionalize Nepal as a federal republic, the government was asked to dissolve the monarchy, install an interim administration and create a constitutional assembly.

LoakantraAndolan

In 1996 a violent campaign was started by the Maoist insurgency to destroy the politico-economic status quo, redistribute land and impact the "proletarian revolution." The civil war that followed brought more than 13,000 people breaches of human rights and deaths, as well as a reduction in Nepal's GDP development, driven by a drop in tourism arrivals and infrastructure devastation. After King Birendra and his family were assassinated in 2001 by Maoist insurgents, the previous King put the multi-party democracy under emergency rule, closely controlled the opposition, censored media and news organizations, and stopped telecommunications in sections of the country.
The seven-part alliance created a coalition government, abolition the monarchy, and the Maoist insurgents in 2006 signed a peace deal. This was done by cooperation between the mainstream political parties and the Maoist insurgency, supported by a 12-point accord that described the democratic framework to be established when the monarchy was abolished. The framework established a transitional government internationally monitored, holding free and fair elections in a management system that safeguards both civil, political, human rights, and the rule of law.