The first 100 days of the KP Sharma Oli-led government were marked by hopes among the people of prosperity, development and good governance even as many goals set out in the annual policies and programmes appear to be too ambitious to achieve.

The Oli government completed 100 days in office on Friday, raising more hope in citizens than making concrete achievements. The government’s bold move to crush syndicates in the public transport sector has cheered the public. In its next move, the government seems to be working to break the nexus of gold smugglers.

Enjoying full support of Parliament, with the two Madhes-based parties also standing on the government’s side, the ruling party has embarked on its journey with confidence even though there are challenges in implementing federalism.

Ruling party leaders said the government has started service delivery and has left some prints on good governance. “The beginning looks promising but we need

to wait and see how things unfold in the coming days,” Dev Gurung, a leader of the newly announced Nepal Communist Party, said. Crippling power outages have vanished from the country.

The recent unification of PM Oli’s party with the third largest force in Parliament is perceived to have made his government stronger, as it focuses on its prosperity and development goals.

However, drafting of laws necessary for implementing the constitution adopted three years ago has not made much headway. The government claims to be improving relations with the southern neighbour, particularly after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal. The two prime ministers have signed agreements on Kathmandu-Raxaul electric rail project and Nepal-India waterways.

Besides, the government also prioritises relations with another immediate neighbour—China. The prime minister will visit China next month.

The PM has adopted zero tolerance against corruption and vowed to maintain good governance. Watchers view his picks of Lalbabu Pandit, Yubaraj Khatiwada and Gokarna Bista, among others, as ministers as signs of a change.

The opposition Nepali Congress has come up with a dozen complaints against the Oli government. NC Spokesman Bishwa Prakash Sharma pointed out the flaws of the communist government in its honeymoon period, beginning with Oli’s oath of prime minister before he was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives.

Concentrating power at the Prime Minister’s Office and issuing an “elusive” white paper on the economy blaming the previous Congress government wholly for its flaws were among the Oli government’s flaws that Sharma pointed out.

The Congress has criticised the government for failing to appoint chief justice of the Supreme Court, demoralising civil servants, and not recognising the NC as the main opposition and failing to curb rising prices.

Oli has also been criticised for failing to address the issue of exchanging banned Indian currency notes held by individuals and financial institutions in Nepal.

Major achievements

Ban of transport syndicatesn Closing of India’s Biratnagar field office

Crushing gold smugglers

Unification of two communist parties

Agreement on Kathmandu-Raxaul electric train project and Nepal-India waterways