As the applause in Risley dining hall subsided, Dr. Mohan Man Sainju stood up in front of the red Nepalese national flag and faced the audience. On Saturday, the vice chairperson of the Poverty Alleviation Fund in Nepal and former royal Nepalese ambassador to the U.S. and Canada fixed the audience with a solemn gaze and began his speech on the prospects of Nepal’s development.

Holding true to the values of the newly established republic, Sainju expressed hope and belief in the Nepalese people’s capability to lead the country out of turbulent times and into more auspicious ones.

During his speech, Sainju repeatedly drew the audience’s attention to the central role that the Nepalese people play in the government after the country became the world’s youngest republic last year. “What is important about the transition of the government system is not the change from one system to another. It is not even the removal of the system of monarchy,” Sainju said. “The establishment of the republic is a historic change because for the first time, the Nepalese people can directly participate in the process of constitution-making.”

Following the deposition of the last monarch, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, in 2006, the Constituent Assembly election took place in 2008 to form a body responsible for drafting the constitution for the country. Most of the 601 representatives were age 25 to 40, and one third of the group is comprised of women. The inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups in the assembly, such as the indigenous populations and women, demonstrates the immense success of the elections, according to Sainju.

The election struck the Nepalese as a huge success not only because it maximizes representation of local communities but also because it demonstrated a favorable transition from a centralized political system to a more decentralized one.

Another indication of the Nepalese government’s increasing tolerance of different races was through its condemnation at the 12th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which took place from Sept. 14 to Oct. 2, 2009. “Even India, a country that has practiced democracy for 60 years, still refuses to acknowledge the injustice of the caste system.

“This is a significant change in the Nepalese mindset,” Sainju said.

However, as a republic taking its baby steps, Nepal faces problems left behind by the 10-year Nepal Civil War which preceded the establishment of the republic. Additionally, it is plagued by issues related to the formation of the new pluralistic government.

“We estimated that 16,000 people have died in the civil war. There was destruction of property and we have to take care of the women and children affected by the war. Now, we have to focus on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country,” Sainju said. “But in order to do that, we have to formulate a constitution to foster stability and move forward in socio-economic transformations.”

Mistrust and a lack of consensus among different political parties, mainly between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists), the dominant party in the Constituent Assembly, and other parties on the Constituent Assembly, have hindered the progress of drafting the constitution. This has also slowed the resolution of issues created by the civil war.

“At this moment, two armies – ‘Royal’ Nepal Army and the Maoists’ fighters who were mobilized during the civil war — coexist in Nepal. The question of how we could integrate the two armies or the armies back into the society remains [unanswered],” Sainju said. “This has caused mistrust between the Maoists and the other political parties because the others see reinstating the sacked chief of the army as an attempt to capture the army. This is one of the wranglings that prevents Nepal from engaging in the changes that it is capable of.”

During the vulnerable transition period, the rampant crime rate has remained high. While the government is still adapting to the new model, it is not strong enough to uphold the order of the society. At this stage, representatives are hesitant to try and curb crime in fear of becoming unpopular with their own political interest groups. They fear inciting opposition against them.

“The transformation process will be painful for the people. While the country is in transition, we cannot address the problems that are most pressing to the people,” Sainju said. “For example, in the capital, Kathmandu valley, we are not able to manage the drinking water system, resulting in a critical water shortage. In order to lessen the people’s pains, we have to shorten the transition period. But that highly depends on the collaboration of the political parties.”

Internal struggles for power aside, Nepal also has to deal with increasing influence from the Indian government within Nepal as well as America’s endorsement of that interference. Nepal has always been described as the land-locked country, stuck in between the two emerging giants India and China. Given the current tension that China is experiencing regarding Tibet, the Chinese has become very sensitive to the issues around that region. As a result, Sainju has seen an increase in the delegations sent from China to Nepal in recent years.

India played a part in bringing in the Maoists to Nepal before the civil war so they have very close contacts with the Communist Party in Nepal. The Indian ambassador has very intimate access to the Maoist prime minister of Nepal, said Sainju.

“When the Indians increase their governmental intervention in Nepal, they would like to do so in each and every aspect. It’s hard to tell them to interfere with one thing and not another,” Sainju said.

As India presents itself as a growing market to the U.S., the U.S. has turned from encouraging Nepal to assert her sovereignty to endorsing India’s intervention in Nepalese politics.

“By doing so, the U.S. leaves Nepal completely in the Indians’ hands. But I don’t blame the Indian government or the U.S. government; I blame our own leaders for forgetting the importance of foreign relations,” Sainju said.

Sainju, though, has not lost hope in the future of Nepal in part because of the success that he has witnessed as the vice chairperson of the Poverty Alleviation Fund, the second most powerful position in the new government behind the President. Instead of hiring an NGO or external agency to map out poverty in the country, they decided to let the people identify the poor among themselves and thus take ownership of the program.

“People take responsibility. Thus, it became the people’s program, not some bureaucratic program,” Sainju said.

The money that the Fund obtained from the World Bank for the program was passed directly into the hands of the needy, bypassing the corruption that might have trapped some of the resources. Heartened by the program’s success, the World Bank repeatedly supported the program with more funds. The program benefited from the $150 million funding from the World Bank.

“What’s really encouraging is to see no matter how uneducated or ignorant the Nepalese people are, when they are given the opportunity, they rise up to the challenge. I’m optimistic about the prospects of Nepal. As long as we foster a culture of consensus building, I see a bright future for Nepal,” Sainju said, as he smiled and bowed in a sea of applause.

“The speech definitely reminds me of the vulnerable stage the country’s in,” Sean Farrell ’10 said, “It also reminds me of all the things I like about Nepal, the people and the places.”

Shibani Pandey ’11, vice president of the Nepal Association and a native from Nepal, felt that the talk gave her a sense of hope for the country’s future. “It’s so nice to hear that the optimism is still up even though the civil war really tore apart people’s hope for good times. I have renewed hope for the future of the nation.”