IIDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electroal Assistance)

Nepali expert speaks at IDEA about the state of political parties in Nepal

March 2, 2006

Dr Dwarika Nath Dhungel, executive director of the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), a Kathmandu based think tank, spoke about the state of political parties to an audience of political researchers at IDEA’s headquarters on 2 March. IDEA and Dr Dhungel are about to publish a study on political parties in Nepal on regulatory framework and internal functioning as part of IDEA’s global research on the external regulation of political party conduct and the parties’ own internal functioning.

This study was undertaken at a time when multiparty democracy was under siege in Nepal from two forces – a Maoist insurgency on one hand and an executive-oriented monarchy on the other.

Over the past few years, Dr Dhungel has contributed to national debates on finding a peaceful solution to the decade-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal. He has provided advice on good governance issues in his country as well as on administrative and land reforms. He has also written extensively on issues related to administrative and governance reforms.