Accountability and Public Voice, Civil Liberties, Rule of Law declines in Nepal: Report
A survey conducted by the Freedom House has said that the situation of Accountability and Public Voice, Civil Liberties, Rule of Law and Anticorruption and Transparency declined in Nepal during the period of royal regime.
The 2006 edition of the survey and thus allows for drawing clear conclusions regarding some of the evaluated countries' progress toward democratic norms and others' growing authoritarian tendencies since 2004.
Nepal received 2.23 points out of seven in the field of Accountability and Public Voice, while it received 2.80 points in the field of Civil Liberties. The scores for Rule of Law and Anticorruption and Transparency stood at 2.73 and 2.30 points respectively. The report said that a score of 5.00 represents the basic standard of democratic performance but Nepal failed to achieve it in all fonts.
However, Nepal stood ahead of the Pakistan, another South Asian Country, whose points are 2.15, 1.76, 1.83 and 2.14 respectively in the four fields.
The report further said that not all countries covered in the survey have demonstrated an improvement. Most countries have maintained the status quo while others, such as Zimbabwe, Nepal, and Nigeria, showed a decline as a result of the growing authoritarian tendencies of their leaders.
The report further said, “Arguably, the case of Nepal has been the most extreme. King Gyanendra has suspended Nepal's entire democracy, dismissed parliament, and appointed a hand-picked prime minister and cabinet. The rule of law has been subverted through the creation of a number of extrajudicial bodies, and human rights have been profoundly compromised."
“In Asia, Nepal, which faced one of the most important political crises in its history, underwent the most precipitous decline, with significant backsliding in the areas of Accountability and Public Voice, Civil Liberties, and Anticorruption and Transparency,” the report said.
The Nepal report notes that during the coverage period, "the rule of law has been subverted through the creation of a number of extrajudicial bodies, and human rights have been profoundly compromised." nepalnews.com pb Aug 15 06
