How Did the 2015 Political Crisis Affect Nepal in Economic and Social Respects?

Abstract

In 2015, Nepalese people faced two serious problems: a number of massive earthquakes, and a political crisis. After the end of the civil war in 2006, the Nepalese government worked for several years on drafting the new constitution; however, it could not be realized due to political disagreements. Triggered by a massive earthquake in April 2015, the general opinion was to establish the constitution, and it was finally ratified in September, 2015. However, it was not accepted by the Madhesi, one of the communities in Nepal that has its origins in India. As a result, the transportation of supplies from India was blocked at the border between India and Nepal for several months. Nepalese people could not buy gas, oil and other commodities. The media reported that the Nepalese economy was strongly impacted by the chain of these events, as a result of this political crisis. For contributing to the future development of Nepal, it is meaningful to properly evaluate and record the impact of such political turmoil on the economy and the lives of the general public. In this research, we investigate the influence and impacts of this crisis. It was not merely the lack of the new Nepalese Constitution that caused the political crisis, but by the lack of oil which paralyzed economic activities in Nepal. This situation strongly impacted the lives of all Nepalese. Through analysis of data from field interviews, we identify the influences of the political crisis on the daily life of Nepalese people in Kathmandu and Sauraha. Through the field interviews, the influences on the economic and social sectors are clarified. For example, we found that the political crisis made Nepalese feel some inconvenience in their lives, regardless of sex, job, caste, and etc. In addition, it became clear that there was an overall lack of citizens' consciousness of the parties leading up to the political crisis. Adding to these findings, this paper reports the recognition of the situation at the time in Nepal, clarified by the field survey. We discuss and consider the best solution for these problems from several different viewpoints.