» 01/30/2012 16:16 NEPAL Nepal’s Maoist government to limit right to information by Kalpit Parajuli Recently adopted rules will increase secrecy and limit access to what the government is doing. They will also raise penalties for anyone who breaches them. The number of categories of classified information will go up from five to 140, including parliamentary hearings. Opposition parties and journalists protest, fearing that the country might be drifting towards authoritarian rule.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Nepal’s Maoist government has decided to tighten secrecy rules in the Home, Justice and Information Ministries. Limits to the right to information will be increased and reporting of classified information by media outlets and individuals will be punished. Presented last Friday, the new rules increase the number of classified categories of information from five to 140. However, they would also radically change the 2007 Right to Information Act.
Journalists and human rights activists have demonstrated across the country against the new restrictions. In eastern Neap, protests ended up in clashes with police and 36 arrests.
Experts believe the country’s Maoist leaders want to prevent leaks concerning the constitutional deadlock and foreign policy issues, most notably Nepal’s ties with China.
As of 1 February, journalists will not be allowed to attend certain parliamentary hearings and meetings with foreign leaders and delegations. Cabinet and ministers’ information would also be classified.
Various political leaders have criticised the decision. They accuse Prime Minister Barbhuran Bhattarai of turning Nepal into a totalitarian state along Chinese lines.
For former PM and Nepal Congress leader Sherbahadur Deuba, the new rules are unacceptable. "By curtailing the people's right to information, the government is heading towards Communist dictatorship which is unacceptable to us."
Jhalanath Khanal, a former Communist Prime Minister and head of the United Marxist Leninist Party, also criticised the government decision, saying the new rules “are against the rule of law and democracy” and an attempt to hide unpopular moves and corruption cases.
In the next few days, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and other pro-freedom of information groups plan demonstrations.
Some opposition politicians have turned to the Supreme Court to force the government to drop its new rules.
After a ten-year civil war and centuries of absolute monarchy under a Hindu king, Nepal became a federal state in 2006.
At present, the country is governed by a Maoist party, the political wing of guerrillas that fought in the civil war. The party won the elections in 2008 to form the constituent assembly.
Since then, Nepal has come close to another civil war because of the economic crisis and fights between parties linked to the old regime, Communist and Maoists.
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