Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala has said that the Maoists’ apathy towards consensus politics is weakening the country’s nationalism.
Girija Prasad Koirala
Speaking a programme organised to release the autobiography of late Matrika Prasad Koirala on Sunday, he stressed that consensus, partnership and unity are pillars of Nepal’s nationalism. He also said that Nepal could gain international support only if there’s political consensus.
“The entire world is watching at Nepal’s peace process as it has stood as an exemplary model for the world,” he said.
Mentioning about his meeting with United Nations’ secretary general Ban Ki Moon on Saturday, the NC president said he had suggested the UNSG to make the role of United Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) more effective.
“I told Ban that the dignity of the UN could be hampered if the Maoist combatants continue to expose the UN tagged guns in public,” he said.
Koirala said he had also reminded Ban that the UN-registered guns used for Maoist leaders’ security] should be confiscated as the Maoists are now leading the government. nepalnews.com ps Nov 02 08
With the issue of army integration becoming all the more trickier, a senior Maoist leader has said referendum could be held to resolve the issue if the parties fail to reach consensus.
Calling it an entirely “personal view”, Maoist leader Dina Nath Sharma, who is also the party’s chief whip in the Constituent Assembly, said while speaking at an interaction held at Reporter’s Club in the capital Sunday that they will move ahead with this [referendum proposal] even if Nepali Congress (NC), the main opposition party in the CA, opts to stay away from the special committee on army integration.
Sharma further said that if NC is indeed accountable to the people then it should participate in the special committee. If not, it would be viewed as “NC trying to complicate the peace process and government will opt for the alternative which is referendum”, he added.
He also said the army integration process would be carried out as per the peace pact signed between then Koirala-led government and the Maoists two years ago.
Speaking at the same programme, NC leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that his party would only be a part of the special committee when the parties participating in it reach an agreement on the rights of the special committee and the number of representation from each party.
Mahat, a former finance minister, also criticised the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) for its ‘failure’ to effectively monitor the Maoist arms and army and its youth wing the Young Communist League, claiming that army integration is not a major issue in the peace process as it is made out to be.
Speaking at the same programme, CPN (UML) leader Bhim Rawal claimed that there had been verbal understanding for equal representation among the political parties in the special committee in the past. nepalnews.com ag Nov 02 08
The two main ruling parties, CPN (Maoist) and Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), on Sunday formed a high-level committee to ensure better coordination between them and advise the government on important issues.
A meeting of senior leaders of the two communist parties decided to form the 12-member committee with senior Maoist leader Mohan Baidya and former UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal as coordinators.
The committee comprises UML leaders K.P Sharma Oli, Bam Dev Gautam, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Bidhya Bhandari and Bhim Rawal while the Maoist representatives include Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Dev Gurung and Dina Nath Sharma.
Prime Minister and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and UML general secretary Jhala Nath Khanal were also present at the meeting held at the UML parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar.
Top leaders of the two parties will again meet tomorrow to further discuss ways to resolve their differences on a number of issues including the tricky issue of army integration, leaders said.
Some UML leaders have voiced dissatisfaction over the formation of the army integration special committee, which they say was formed without consultation between the two parties.
Apart from that, the youth wings of the two parties have engaged in violent clashes in different parts of the country in recent times. In the wake of frequently clashes between the Maoist Young Communist League (YCL) and UML’s Youth Force (YF) Home Minister Gautam recently called for scrapping of both groups. nepalnews.com mk Nov 02 08
Vice-president of Nepal Student Union (NSU), Tanka Bikram Nemwang, died in a tractor accident at Aarubote VDC of Panchthar district Sunday morning.
The tractor carrying a group of NSU and Nepali Congress leaders slipped off the road and fell into a gorge at ward no. 8 of Aarubote VDC. Nemwang died on the spot, reports said.
Nepali Congress central leader Bhisma Raj Aangdambe and NSU leader Dekendra Tamang who were seriously injured in the accident have been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Phidim.
The tractor was heading for Mauwa, Panchthar, where a mass meeting of Nepali Congress was to take place, reports added. nepalnews.com mk Nov 02 08
Sex business, considered as the main contributor to HIV/AIDS spread, is on the rise in South Asia region, the state-owned new agency the RSS reported.
The news agency cited a report prepared by the Commission on AIDS in Asia which found that around 1,000,000 Asian women sell sex for their livelihood. It stated that those sex workers have been serving seven persons a day. The report has put the number of regular male service-takers from sex workers at 7,000,000.
It said male-male sex and drug injecting add another 20 million to the number of men at high risk of HIV infection. A portion of those men, particularly injectors, may also pass HIV on to the women with whom they regularly have sex, putting several million more women at risk.
The report said few women in Asia have sex with more than one partner. The report said HIV epidemics in Asia are highly unlikely to sustain themselves in the “general population” independently of commercial sex, drug injecting and sex between men.
Low levels of condom use during paid sex, the report said, contribute to increasing HIV infection. Programme for increasing use of condoms with sex workers will do more than any other intervention to control HIV infections in Asia. nepalnews.com Nov 02 08
Two senior government ministers returned from “a secret trip” to Khasa, a frontier town in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China on Friday, reports Kantipur daily.
They were accompanied by two central committee members of the ruling CPN (Maoist).
Reports said Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, Information & Communication Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Deputy Commander of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Netra Bikram Chand and the Maoist lawmaker Jayapuri Gharti, crossed the border at Tatopani in ministerial vehicles, Thursday morning.
They spent that night at an undisclosed location across the border and returned the next day on Friday.
It has also been learnt that top military official at the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu escorted the ministerial convoy.
The daily quoted eyewitnesses as saying that that the Chinese government officials received the Nepali ‘delegation’ upon reaching Tatopani at 12 noon on Thursday and took them to Khasa.
The two Maoist ministers reportedly left their security guards from the Nepal Army and Nepal Police on the Nepali side of the border before entering China.
Reports said that Badal and Chand were accompanied by their spouses and children, Mahara and Gharti, however, were travelling alone.
Minister Mahara has described the visit as “extremely personal”.
“We had gone there on a personal visit during the Tihar holidays,” Mahara told Kantipur daily, “this should not be thought as a political or an official visit.”
The visit comes amidst reports that the Chinese are providing military training to Maoist PLA commanders to ease the integration process of Maoist PLA into Nepal Army. nepalnews.com Nov 02 08
It was a fantastic comeback for Army man Rajendra Bhandari who won the 3rd International Open Kathmandu Marathon Saturday after spending a two-year ban.
Bhandari was banned by IAAF after he was found positive in doping just after winning two gold medals in the 10th SA Games.
Bhandari clocked 2 hrs 22 mins 18 secs to finish the race. Bhandari also grabbed USD 5,000. Second placed Arjun Basnet clocked 2 hrs 24 mins 34 seconds to grab USD 3,000. Arjun Dhakal was 3rd winning USD 2,000.
“I have worked hard for the past two years”, an elated Bhandari said adding, “I have never taken a drug. I will prove to everyone that I am genuine”.
In men’s 5 km race, Deepak Desar clocked 16 mins 30 secs to win the title while Sarita Basi won the title in the ladies category. nepalnews.com Nov 02 08
A senior Nepali Congress (NC) leader has heaped the blame on the Maoists for the delay in the initiation of army integration and constitution making process.
Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat accused the Maoists of flouting the past agreements.
“They are the ones who have flouted the understandings. We have always abided by what have been agreed upon,” he said referring to NC’s position of not joining the special committee formed to initiate the process of army integration.
“We wish that the process of constitution making begins earnestly. But the Maoists have always raised unnecessary debates by talking about people’s republic or by flouting the agreements,” he said. nepalnews.com Nov 02 08
The government is preparing to introduce a new industrial policy within mid-December.
According to Minister for Industry Asta Laxmi Shakya, consultations are being held to finalise the draft policy.
“Problems like wage-fixing of workers will be resolved after this policy comes out,” she said.
Speaking at a function in Banepa, Saturday, Minister Shakya said, “We will change the laws and acts that are blocking the industrial development.”
She promised that development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) will proceed following the policy. nepalnews.com sd Nov 02 08
President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has said that he is playing the role of a coordinator in the dispute over the army integration.
Talking to journalists at his residence in Dhapasi, Saturday, the president said, “I have to play the role of coordinator. I speak when there is the opportunity.”
President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav
He made the comments when a journalist drew his attention to a recent report that the prime minister had urged him to play the role of guardian in resolving the issue.
The president said that the role and political space prescribed to him by the Constituent Assembly will be acceptable. But he disagreed that his role is ‘ceremonial’ as per the present constitution.
“I have the duty to protect the constitution and abide by it. There is no reference about this position being ceremonial,” he said.
At a function organised to mark the festive occasions, the president told the select group of invited journalists that he does not feel inhibited due to his official position to speak his mind in clear manner.
During the interaction, the president reiterated the need to safeguard the national integrity and unity of the country.
“My effort will be to see that there will be a new democratic constitution,” he added.
He said that since the institution of presidency is new to Nepal, there is still much to do to make it systematic.
He also said that he is being regularly briefed by the government. “The prime minister came to me before and after each of his recent foreign visits and briefed about them,” he said. nepalnews.com sd Nov 01 08