UML lawmaker ‘snatches’ oxygen cylinders donated by China ‘for her district’
A lawmaker of the ruling CPN-UML has been accused of 'snatching' five oxygen cylinders donated by the Chinese government to Nepal, claiming she would provide them to an isolation centre in her home district.
KATHMANDU, May 13: The CPN (UML) has delegated all the authority to take necessary decisions regarding the party to party Chairperson and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
CPN (UML) Standing Committee that met at the Prime Minister's residence at Baluwatar today has delegated to the party Chair Oli the right to take the required decision in the context of the new situation that has unfolded within the party and the national politics, party spokesman Pradeep Kumar Gyawali informed through a press release today.
According to the party spokesman, the meeting of the Standing Committee has decided to lift the suspension from the party of leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal, Bhim Bahadur Rawal, Ghanashyam Bhusal and Surendra Prasad Pandey.
Gyawali said the meeting decided to revoke the action taken against the four party leaders for the purpose of moving ahead by forgetting all the past bitterness in the party for protecting the party unity after reviewing the recent developments within the party.
According to him, necessary steps would be taken keeping the larger interests of the party in mind and talks would be held with the disgruntled side.
"Every one has been called upon to not become a means for the formation of new government by the opposition by pulling down the government led by own party," he said.
The meeting has expressed sorrow over the demise of party's central committee member and Bagmati Province Assembly member, Pashupati Chaulagain due to Covid-19. Spokesman Gyawali said the party has lost a decent leader while the Dolakha people a capable people's representative in Chaulagain's death. The meeting also extended condolence to the bereaved family and decided to lower the party flag at half mast for three days to mourn the demise.
Likewise, Prime Minister Oli had briefed the meeting about the latest complex situation from pandemic of coronavirus and the steps taken by the government in facing it up.
The party spokesman said the meeting suggested to the government to make arrangements for the adequate and regular supply of oxygen cylinders and life-saving medicines including vaccines in an effective manner, to mobilise all the strength of the state for works including expanding the hospital infrastructures and to pursue additional diplomatic initiatives for mobilising the required assistance from friendly countries.
He shared that the meeting suggested to the government to use the entire state mechanism for the supply of essential medical supplies including oxygen and to further prepare for containing the Covid-19 pandemic.
The second wave of coronavirus that started in Nepal around April has devastated the country with significantly high numbers of infections and deaths per day. In the span of 5 weeks between April 1and May 7, 2021, there have been over one lakh known new cases. The daily cases soared from under 200 cases per day in the beginning of April to approximately 9000 cases per day at the end of the first week in May. Similarly, over 500 people have lost their lives since the first week of April (Source: Worldometer, JHU CSSE data).
A Deliberate off-priority is a crime against humanity
The government of Nepal under Prime Minister K.P. Oli has failed its citizens due to its lack of priority. While the government’s 100% focus should have been on fighting the coronavirus, the internal conflict within the majority Communist Party of Nepal led to the diversion of focus onto power-politics. The hypocritical government initially put out restrictions on publically organized health advocacy, but later the factions within the ruling party (Prachanda faction and Oli faction) rallied thousands of their supporters in different parts of the country displaying their power in an attempt to harass the other side. The two major factions, which after the controversial Supreme Court ruling at back to being CPN-UML and CPN-Maoists parties, are still fighting over power and survival while Nepalis are dying amidst the second wave crisis. This is a serious crime against humanity by the Communist government.
Failure to manage critical resources
Despite substantial indicators on a second wave from around the world, the government failed to prepare for it. The recent loss of lives is primarily due to lack of availability and access to ICUs, ventilators and oxygen cylinders. All the efforts are now down to humane individuals and organizations who have taken over ad-hoc management of resources into their own hands responding to social media outcry. The government’s COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) has been largely reactive. Among many things, it could have continued the southern border management work which would have helped during the second wave, but no! It has failed to assess the COVID-19 risk factors and proactively manage them-the basic task for which it was formed.
Sabotaged vaccine diplomacy and the way forward
Recent events have indicated that an influential business group Hukam, which is allegedly close to the government, sabotaged the vaccine purchase process for commission’s sake which delayed the delivery of previously agreed upon vaccines by months. Here too, elements of, and those close to, the government have committed a serious crime against humanity. A timely transaction would have certainly made it possible for hundreds of thousands of Nepali citizens to be vaccinated making the fight against the second wave a bit less chaotic. Currently, thousands awaiting the second dose are in threat of time expiration, which would not only put those people in jeopardy but also further waste the country’s resources.
Our vaccine diplomacy has become a failure. The virus is here to stay for a long time whether we like it or not. While begging diplomacy may be the only way for a year or two, a future diplomatic approach requires thinking in terms of purchasing the patents to generic versions and slowly building the capacity to produce and update vaccines for Nepal-specific strains. Unlike a polio-vaccine, which is a one-time shot, people would have to get updated COVID-19 vaccines at least once a year for several years from now. The government announced the formation of Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-Nepal in its last year’s budget. Therefore, such an approach would be a relevant base for a prospective CDC-Nepal too. On May 5th, the United States surprisingly backed the waiving of patents on COVID-19 vaccines brought about by India and South Africa that they previously blocked together with European Union, U.K, and Japan. Ultimately, when the world governments join hands on this pro public health matter, those who have the capacity to build will be on the winning side of the human-COVID-19 battle sooner.
The government displayed immense pride in having invested its time and resources on the reconstruction of Dharahara tower among many other symbolic things. The major question from the public is, “Were those the current priority?” Oli’s hunger for self-glorification including prescribing unscientific/ unproven spices and fruits-based remedies to the general public against COVID -19 also shows how off the head of the government is from COVID-19 priorities. No wonder securing critical resources was nowhere in the priority. Systemic corruption has prevailed throughout the pandemic and no effort has been made to hold the concerned accountable. These are clear indicators of an unfit government under an unfit leader. It will be interesting to see if the prioritization of the erection of Dharahara over COVID-19 management is going to bring desired votes to CPN-UML in the next election.
Dr. Rana is Conflict Analyst and Public-Health Advocate
Prime Minister and Chairperson of the CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli has directed the entire party committee to unite against Covid-19. "The Prime Minister has directed a unity and mobilisation of party committee at local and district levels to fight against the virus," said party spokesperson Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. PM Oli issued this directive at the third meeting of the 10th UML National General Convention organising committee in Baluwatar today.
The PM directed preparedness against the deadly virus variants at district level while the government itself was at its maximum efforts in this regard, said Gyawali, also Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The meeting was apprised of the conclusion taken by the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center's extended meeting held on Saturday evening in the presence of PM Oli. Issues discussed in the meeting were management of oxygen cylinders required for infected and expansion of Covid-19 vaccination among others. "There are not any preparations to impose lockdown that will affect lives of people. Lockdown itself is not a solution. So the government is at work to deal with the infection by making people follow the health safety protocols," said minister Gyawali.
