Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has offered to reappoint RSP President Rabi Lamichhane As Home Minister By Removing Incumbent Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha
Fact
PM Dahal has not made such assurance and the video purporting to show Dahal making such promise actually show him assuring to get the Transitional Justice Bill endorsed from the parliament
A video allegedly showing Prime Minister and Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal giving his word that he would reappoint Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane as the Home Minister by replacing his party leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha is going viral on TikTok. Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
TikTok user @dirghakhadka187 posted a video showing Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is still known by his nom de guerre ‘Prachanda’, addressing a programme. Text superimposed on the video reads, “Prachanda has assured to reappoint Rabi Lamichhane as the Home Minister by removing the incumbent Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha. ” The 7.50-minute clip shows PM Dahal addressing a programme in which he is heard speaking about transitional justice and the persons who went missing during the conflict. In his speech, Dahal also praises the role of the Nepal Communist Party leader Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplov’, his ally during the conflict from 1996 to 2006, in addressing the issues of persons who disappeared during the conflict. The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
The video posted on May 27 has garnered 24.6k likes, 105 people have shared it and 354 users have commented on it until the time of publishing this article.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker took several keyframes from the viral video and conducted reverse searches on them. The results pointed us towards the 14th National Disappeared Fighters Memorial Day programme organised at Rastriya NaachGhar in Jamal, Kathmandu on 21 May, 2023. We found several articles and videos indicating that PM Dahal, speaking at the event, assured to ensure the endorsement of the Transitional Justice Bill from the parliament.
On checking a video published on the YouTube channel of National News Agency (RSS), we found that the video frame closely matched the viral video including the dress worn by Dahal and the microphone in front of him. In the video from the memorial programme organised by the society of families whose members had disappeared during the decade-long armed conflict, Dahal speaks about the transitional justice bill and the concerns of his party regarding the reparations to the conflict victims.
A bill to amend the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act has been stuck in the House of Representatives owing to objections from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (NMKP).
Further, we found a video of the programme posted on the YouTube channel of Dainik Khabar Nepal on 22 May. On listening to the video, we found that PM Dahal’s speech from 1.50-minute onwards exactly matched the viral video. However, we didn’t find any footage or news of Rabi Lamichhane attending the event as shown in the viral video. Neither did we find any reports or speech of Dahal saying that he would re-appoint Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane as the Home Minister by removing the incumbent Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is also from Dahal’s Maoists party. Moreover, the Rastriya Swatantra Party had decided to pull its support to the current coalition led by CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
Conclusion
The viral post claiming to show Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Pushpa Kamal Dahal promising to re-appoint RSP President Lamichhane as the Home Minister by removing Narayan Kaji Shrestha is misleading.
Result: False
Sources
National News Agency (RSS)/YouTube, 24 May, 2023
Dainik Khabar Nepal /YouTube, 22 May, 2023
The Rising Nepal Online, 21 May, 2023
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
