Conflict between the ruling party’s president and prime minister has reached a point of no return. In a programme organised by Nepal Farmers’ Association in Chitwan last Wednesday, party president Girija Prasad Koirala called the party workers for a nation-wide agitation against ‘Bhattarai’s almost dead government.’

Last Friday too, at the inauguration of the Kathmandu Utsav, the former prime minister criticised the government and said if the government’s does only patch-work jobs, it may invite disaster in the country. Koirala’s utterance in Chitwan and in Kathmandu show that he is committed to topple the present government.

As the party president has expressed his anger, some MPs have met with the prime minister and have demanded the sacking of some of his cabinet colleagues Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress has gathered its MPs at Godavari in the name of giving them training.

But, it is assumed that the Godavari gathering may prepare a plan to topple the present government.

(Saptahik Janasatta, Saturday, Sept. 18)

The central committee meeting of the CPN-UML scheduled for Oct. 1-3, 1999 has been postponed for a week.

Party sources say that the forthcoming central committee meeting will bring a massive change in party’s internal structure and activities.

The meeting may create the post of deputy-general secretary of the party and K.P. Oli may be appointed to the post.

(Gatibidhi, Saturday, Sept. 18)

uman Right Activists from 16 non-governmental organisations, demanding for Human Right Commission, reached Baluwatar at 8:15 to stage dharna there.

After one hour’s waiting, Prime Minister Bhattarai came out. He laughed and shook hands with them. He also read the pamphlet given to him. But he did not talk with anybody.

It is said that the palace has not accepted the nomination of former Chief Justice Bishwo Nath Upadhyaya as the chairman of the proposed Human Rights Commission.

Upadhyaya’s name was proposed by the then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Meanwhile, a committee has been formed under the prime minister to recommend the name of the chairman of the Human Rights Commission.

However, the committee has not yet found any body who is likely to become the chairman of the commission. It shows that either the government has not given priority in forming Commission or the government does not have will power.

(Gatibidhi, Saturday, Sept. 18)

Activists of the Bhutan Gorkha National Liberation Front (BGNLF) staged a protest programme at Funsoling, at the Bhutan-India border, calling the 8th round of talks between Nepal and Bhutan to solve the refugee problem a failure. They say the talks have failed because of the Bhutanese non-cooperation.

More than 100 protesters, led by BGNLF’s central members Aaiman Rai and Bom Bahadur Ghale, chanted slogans calling the stoppage of the bilateral talks and for repatriation of the refugees.

According to the general secretary of the Front, most of the protesters were arrested by the Bhutanese police and some were arrested by the Indian police on the Indian side of the border at Hashimara.

(Nepal Samacharpatra, September 18, Saturday)

Prime Minister K. P. Bhattarai has reminded the Nepali Congress of the incident of 1961 (2017) B.S. after some NC leaders and some MPs began criticising some members of the government. At an interaction programme on Friday at the Godavari Resort, the place where NC president Koirala and Bhattarai had entered into an agreement, Bhattarai said that in 1961 also the reactionaries had also said the government had not worked.

(Then the Nepali Congress government led-by B.P. Koirala was ousted after one and half year of its formation and the panchayat system was ushered in the country). Somebody is trying to invite a similar situation, he said. The programme entitled ‘Parliamentary norm and values and the role of the parliamentarians’ was organised by Nepal Law Society.

Inaugurating the programme, the prime minister said even a 10-year period is not that long, and it is wrong to say this government has done nothing in such a short period. Saying the feud between the two leaders (himself and Koirala) led to the fall of the Nepali Congress majority government (in 1994), Bhattarai said the Nepali Congress must not let go this opportunity and the government should get a chance to work without hindrances.

Speaking at the same programme, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the government has taken the parliament as a government department, a party with only five MPs can disrupt the whole parliamentary proceeding and the big parties become mute spectators.

Recently, the Nepal Sadhvabana Party with its five MPs, had stalled the House proceeding demanding the tabling of their bill on citizenship issue. “The government has not cooperated at all to run the parliament smoothly,” he said. (Nepal Samacharpatra, September 18, Saturday).

Preparation is underway to bring out a ‘black act’ targeted in controlling the Maoists. During the tenure of Bam Dev Gautam as home minister, the government then had  tried to bring out the act. But, it was because of the strong opposition from within the parliament and outside, the effort was suspended.

Again, it was because of the strong opposition from the CPN-UML, the then Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka also did not bring the act. But present Home Minister has been trying to bring out the act. The people fear such an act.

Meanwhile UML leaders have said they are trying to make all the parties united against the black act.

(Sambodhan, Friday, Sept. 17)

According to a high ranking official in the Palace, separate files of all the political parties have been kept, in which activities of main leaders of the political parties are mentioned.

In a file dated August 31, 1999, some highly criticial matters of the Nepal Communist Party (UML) is also mentioned. As informed by the source, there was a secret meeting of NC President Girija Prasad Koirala, NC’s Khum Bahadur Khadka and UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and Khadga Prasad Oli on August 28, 1999 to find a way out to the stalemate in the parliamentary proceedings after the UML-led opposition parties demanded a parliamentary committee to look into the frauds in the general election.

Koirala, who was against accepting the demands of UML, said that look after their own faces before raising the issue of ‘rigging’ in election. In response, Madhav Nepal asked, “Why do to reject the matter already accepted by prime minister?”

According to the matters mentioned in the file, it was agreed to set up committee. However, UML leaders asked for a big amount with Koirala. According to source, three major business houses were called there and Koirala instructed them to provide the money, but without increasing the price of the goods.

However, the price of goods has been increased. The palace has taken this as a very serious matter.

(Janata, Friday, Sept. 17)

One Albert of the American Embassy, who has come to Nepal in place of First Secretary Bernstin, has handed over Rs. 1.5 million this week to ATC of Nepal Police Amod Gurung as the 47th installment of funds to control the Maoists.

(Janata, Friday, Sept. 17)

People are asking what was the purpose of the Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh recent visit to Nepal? Immediately after Jaswant’s visit, the visit made by Bhutanese Foreign Ministers for talks on the Bhutanese refugee issue clearly indicates the way Bhutanese being used by India. As India has become unable to make Nepal a puppet like Bhutan, it has been encroaching Nepalese territory and intervening in Nepalese politics.

The black bill being presented in the parliament and there are increasing activities of ‘RAW’ immediately after the Indian Foreign Minister’s visit to Nepal.

(Jana Dharana, Thursday, Sept. 16)

Nepal’s communist movement has gradually been turning to ethnic and linguistic movement to gain support. In a valley bandh programme organised on Wednesday, a slogan was chanted against Khas, which include mainly the Chhetriyas. The bandh was supported by all left parties including the Maoists and ML but UML remained quiet.

Meanwhile, the underground Maoist party has adopted the strategy of supporting ethnic, linguistic and diversionary forces. The Karnali Liberation Front run by Yogi Narahari Nath, movement of Tej Bikram Shah in mid-western hill region, Kathmandu Newa Khala, Khumbuwan and Limbuwan Liberation Front in east and Terai Front in Terai are being thus supported.

Human rights activists like Rhisikesh Shah has supported the ethnic disturbance and Padma Ratna Tuladhar has joined in the movement. It can not be an accident only that Rhisikesh Shah, Marichman, Narahari Nath and Maoists are the same.

(Nepal Bani, Thursday, Sept. 16)