Yearbook 1996
Nepal. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba made major changes to the coalition government during the year.
In June, one government-appointed committee accused 175 business companies and banks of contributing to a $ 36 million toll on fake import invoices, which had caused major losses to the Nepalese state. In September, Parliament approved a cooperation agreement with India, which was opposed by the Left Opposition, on the extraction of hydropower from the Mahakali river. In August, the Government of India admitted that Nepal had to use a 60 km long road through northeast India for transport to ports in Bangladesh.
According to figures from the World Bank, the country was the world’s 8th poorest. Annual income per year In 1995, the population was $ 180, the infant mortality rate reached 10%, and 71% of the population lived below the poverty line. Living conditions in the capital of Kathmandu and in the province were very different. While the life expectancy of the capital was 71 years, it was out in the countryside 34 years.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG: What does NP stand for? In the field of geography, this two letter acronym means Nepal. Check this to see its other meanings in English and other 35 languages.
When it was not possible to obtain a parliamentary majority for its politics, in September 1995, the communist prime minister left the post to the Congress party leader, Sher Bahadur Deuba.
In early 1996, guerrilla groups calling themselves Maoists began to take action to “eradicate feudalism.” In its 1997 report, Amnesty International condemned the abuses – predominantly by government forces – in their armed clashes with the guerrillas.
Bahadur Deuba resigned from the Prime Minister’s post in March 1997. He was replaced by Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who had the backing of a coalition comprising of the Monarchist Nepal’s Sadbhavana Party and the United Communist Party. In October, he was replaced by Surya Bahadur Thapa, who had the support of a fragile coalition, similar to the one that had appointed his predecessor. In April 1998, the Congress Party withdrew its support. It forced him to step down and he was replaced by Koirala.
In January 1999, King Birendra dissolved the parliament at the invitation of Koirala and printed a new election for May. The Prime Minister declared that the new government would be responsible for the proper conduct of the elections and it would not make any more important decisions until the new parliament was in place.
After two electoral rounds in May, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai of the Congress party was appointed new prime minister – as the head of the country’s first one-party government in 4 years. Yet, from the outset, Bhattarai was challenged internally in his party, where he was accused of favoring those who supported him directly.
The pressure from members of the Congress party led Bhattarai to resign as prime minister in March 2000. The king now appointed Koirala as new prime minister. When he took over the post for the third time, he declared that the government’s main goal would be to end the Maoist insurgency in the country, improve its security, fight corruption and implement reforms in the state administration.
On June 1, 2001, King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and other members of the royal family were killed by shots fired by the heir to the throne, the 29-year-old Prince Dipendra, who was drunk and subsequently tried to take his own life but went into a coma. The government appointed Dipendra (the killer) as king of Nepal and the brother of the dead king, Prince Gyanendra as acting regent. On June 4, Dipendra died and Gyanendra was crowned king. The people were walking in the street in protest of not being properly informed about the events and circumstances.
Koirala left the post of prime minister as a result of the rising violence between Maoist rebels and security forces. He was followed in July by the post of Sher Bahadur Deuba, who declared a ceasefire. In the ensuing negotiations, the Maoists compiled a list of 31 requirements, including the repeal of the 1990 Constitution, the formation of a transitional government and the election of a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution, abolish the monarchy and declare Nepal a republic. The government rejected the claims and the violence escalated again. The king declared “state of emergency” in November and characterized the rebels as “terrorists”.
Population 1996
According to Countryaah.com, the population of Nepal in 1996 was 21,575,960, ranking number 43 in the world. The population growth rate was 2.680% yearly, and the population density was 150.5132 people per km2.
