Neel Kantha Uprety, the Chief Election Commissioner during the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013, believes it is possible to hold local elections before monsoon and the two  remaining elections by January, 2018. But how? And how do we make sense of recent proposed electoral reforms? Uprety shared his insights with Republica’s Mahabir Paudyal and Bhadra Sharma. ​

Jared M Koller is a PhD candidate in the Department of Archaeology at Boston University. Prior to joining PhD program, Koller served as a researcher for the Asian Cultural History Program, which is a part of the Smithsonian Institution's Anthropology Department in Washington DC. US Embassy brought Koller in Kathmandu for a series of cultural preservation and museum management seminars in coordination with major Nepali public museums. In addition to the trainings that focus on usage of new media and technology in museum management, he also discussed potential projects collaborations or partnerships with various institutions in Nepal. Koller spoke to Republica on the sidelines of his seminar on Friday. Excerpts:

Ever since the government of Pushpa Kamal Dahal registered a constitution amendment bill in parliament on November 29th, 2016, the main opposition, CPN-UML, has been consistently opposing the rastraghati (anti-national) bill and asking for its withdrawal. But which provisions in the bill are anti-national? And what is the way out of the current political and constitutional deadlock? UML Vice-chairman Bhim Rawal, who has also served as deputy prime minister and home minister in previous governments, shared his insights with Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal.

Huang Youyi serves as an expert at the Charhar Institute, a prominent Chinese think tank that gives the Chinese government inputs on China’s diplomacy and international relations, including in South Asia. A close student of Nepal-China relations, Youyi was recently in Kathmandu to take part in the ‘China Nepal Think Tank Conference’. Biswas Baral, Mahabir Paudyal and Kosh Raj Koirala met him at the sidelines of the conference to discuss Nepal-China relations and the rivalry between India and China in Nepal.  ​

Vice President for Projects and Regional Coordination of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Sungho Choi is currently in Nepal to assess the progress of projects run by KOICA, and forge new strategies for the development cooperation with Nepal. Choi spoke to Republica about KOICA activities and future plan for cooperation in Nepal. Excerpts:

We are hopeful that the conference will be instrumental in crime controlling and a forum for dwelling on crimes and difficulties faced in the course of tackling them.  The central focus of the conference will be to develop a procedure so that criminals will get no space to hide in any corner of the world after they escape their countries.

Kathmandu is nearer to New Delhi than Dhangadi, the far-western city of Nepal, due to lack of proper connectivity. The remoteness has not only created trade and economic bottlenecks, but also created political gap between Kathmandu and the rest of the country which has, in some way, weakened national unity and sovereignty.

The Director of Center for South Asian Studies, Nischalnath Pandey, is a keen student of diplomacy in South Asia and of the strategic rivalry between India and China in Nepal. As Nepal and China prepare for a joint military drill, Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal caught up with him on Wednesday afternoon to get his views on China’s perceived assertiveness in Nepal, on Nepal-India ties and on Nepal’s foreign policy priorities.

What do the Madheshi parties make of the Supreme Court verdict on constitution amendment? Do they in fact even support the amendment bill tabled by the ruling coalition? Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal talked to Sarbendranath Sukla, General Secretary of Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party, a key constituent of Madheshi Morcha.

Chairman of Constitutional Committee of the first Constituent Assembly Nilamber Acharya has been a first-hand witness to the evolution of the constitutional process since the first CA elections in 2008. Biswas Baral and Mahabir Paudyal wanted to know from the veteran constitutional expert what he made of the current disputes over the proposed second amendment of the new constitution. And how does he answer those who have questioned the legitimacy of the constitution?