Analysing representation and frames of people’s multiparty democracy in Nepali newspapers during the post-1990 general elections

Abstract

People’s Multiparty Democracy (PMPD) propounded by Madan Bhandari in early 1990s is one of the prominent and significant innovations in the ideology of the present Nepali politics. It sought to blend Marxist-Leninist ideology and multiparty opposition, constitutionalism, civil liberty and peaceful democratic change. This article presents an analysis how framing of PMPD was applied in newspapers, what frames the newspapers had used while representing PMPD in their news and other contents and how interpretation was made  in the literatures that contained the frame analysis about PMPD as a political ideology during the parliamentary election post 1990. The framing theory of Entman and observational review of some Nepali newspapers published during the parliamentary election of Nepal 1991 and 1994, scholarly articles, academic literature, historical accounts of political communication, media studies and political write-ups and election-related documents as well as literature on Nepali media, journalism and left ideology politics have formed the basis of the article. Thematic analysis and content analysis are used to discover the predominant patterns of interpretation found in the observed newspapers and literature reviewed. The results indicate that in general, the newspapers in Nepal placed PMPD in one or more of the four frames: ideological innovation, charismatic leadership, electoral competition and democratic legitimacy. The review also mentions that the press tended to individualize PMPD in Madan Bhandari, concentrate on results of elections, and had varying degree of politization. Thus, the conclusion can be drawn that the newspapers made a democratic representation of PMPD in Nepal among public sphere including people, civil society, voters, students, youths and so on, but did not have the detailed analysis of ideologies.