Center for Media Research- Nepal (CMR-Nepal) organized a discussion program on July 29 2022 titled “Situating Civic Space in Nepal.” In the program, two papers were presented.
Media expert Bhuwan K.C. presented the paper on ‘Media Space in Nepal’ that highlighted the formulation of media laws in making in the province and federal level. He pointed out that the media laws hold the provisions that curtailed freedom of press in the country.
He was also of the view that the continuous advocacy against the restrictive provisions in the laws has resulted towards decriminalization of journalist in the laws passed by media in the province.
Presenting the paper ‘Situating CSO’s in Nepal,’ by Assistant Professor of Tribhuvan University Lekhanath Pandey, analyzed the trends towards restricting CSOs in the draft policies introduced by the government.
Reflecting on the draft laws, Pandey outlined the trends towards strong vigilance over NGOs burdensome reporting procedural requirements and I and increased restriction on scope to access funds.
Participants in the discussion also pointed out the overall trend of national, provincial and local government towards closing of the civic space. They were also of the view that continuous advocacy and lobby was necessary to act against such restrictive provisions.
Former President of NGO Federation Nepal shared his experience dealing with the government agency, where they were successful to draft the new bill to improve CSO laws but changes in the government affected in the finalization of the law. He pointed out the gaps of federal and provincial level CSOs and raised the concern over operational problems where the government agencies have asked the CSOs to be registered under Value Added Tax (VAT).
Vice President of Federation of Nepali Journalist (FNJ) pointed out the intention of the state to curb the press, where FNJ has continued to advocate to make the laws media friendly. He also outlined that in many instances the state did not consult the stakeholders in drafting the law.
Media Expert Binod Bhattarai suggested filing a public litigation in the court and challenging the laws and bringing out the legal interpretation to improve press laws. “If it is not done the government will continue to bring the same restrictive laws in the future,” he emphasized.
