KATHMANDU, JAN 30 -
Top UML leaders engage in battle of one-upmanship
A tussle for leadership within the CPN- UML has reached boiling point with all four top leaders staking their claim on two executive posts--Parliamentary Party (PP) leader and party chair.

Even as senior leaders intensify backdoor negotiations to settle internal differences, a party row will prove difficult to avoid.

Party Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and senior leader KP Sharma Oli are at the forefront of the wrangling, while senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Vice-chairman Bam Dev Gautam are waiting for their opportunity to act.

Traditionally, the party chairman leads the parliamentary front. Despite this, Oli has publicly staked his claim as PP leader arguing that he commands the largest number of lawmakers in the Constituent Assembly (CA).

To garner support from Vice-chairman Gautam, who had played a crucial role in electing Khanal as party chief at the Butwal General Convention in 2009, Oli has assured Gautam of supporting him in the new government. Encouraged with Oli's assurance, Gautam visited Khanal's residence some weeks ago and asked him not to 'dare to contest for party chief in the upcoming general convention'.

UML leaders say the current tussle is a result of the 'ambitions of all top leaders' in the wake of November 19 election. "The power tussle emerged due to the growing ambition of leaders. It will be settled through an election if they continue to wrangle for power," said UML leader Rajan Bhattarai.

Following advice by leaders loyal to him, Gautam appears to be changing his mind on lending his full support to Oli. Still, his supporters have been exerting pressure on Gautam not to remain unsupportive of Khanal at the critical juncture.

Party insiders said Gautam has changed his mind concerning the post of party chairman, and will take leadership of the party at any cost once Nepal and Khanal are reconciled.

Moreover, some lawmakers supporting Gautam also warned him that they will not follow him unconditionally if he makes an alliance with Oli. "We have already conveyed our position that he will not enjoy our support. This has caused a little bit of trouble to change the previous track," a leader close to Gautam said.

Gautam and incumbent General Secretary Ishwor Pokharel, who had supported Khanal as party chief, are reticent to take a position. While Pokharel has distanced himself from Khanal, Gautam remains indecisive on whom to support if the party goes for polls. Gautam, who commands around 20 lawmakers, has emerged as a decisive force in the internal power balance. Khanal's supporters are also working hard to keep Gautam-Khanal relations intact. They believe the Khanal camp would remain stronger against the Oli faction if the relationship is maintained, with the possibility of senior leader Nepal joining the group. "JN, Bamdev and Madhav all will stay united and Jhalanath will be PP leader by any means, through election or consensus," said Gokarna Bista, a leader close to Khanal.

The UML has failed to appoint a PP leader due to the internal feud. Though the chances of holding an election for PP leader have increased, insiders claim that settling the feud will be easier once a power-sharing deal with the Nepali Congress is cemented.

"Electing a parliamentary leader is not an issue for us. We can resolve it unanimously at any time," said UML secretary Bishnu Poudel adding, "Our core concern is to make an understanding on a power-sharing deal including the election for the post of president and his deputy."

Tuesday's meeting was supposed to resolve the row over the PP leader, though it remains an issue. Nonetheless, party leaders believe internal management will be without friction once the party receives the presidential post in a power-sharing deal. Though all four leaders have expressed disinterest in the presidential post in recent days, party insiders say any offer would be accepted at the last moment.

At least a two-third majority (401 seats) of the CA is required to amend the constitution to pave way for electing a new president and vice-president. Given that the NC is the largest party, holding 196 of a total 601 seats, garnering this vote would be a Herculean task for a UML candidate as the party commands 21 seats less than the NC.

UML leaders involved in the ongoing negotiations said the party will join an NC-led government though would demand the election of a new president (who must be a UML candidate) and vice-president if the NC agrees to promulgate the constitution within a year. "Since NC- UML has no alternative to working together, a meeting point should be explored right now," said UML leader Bhim Rawal.

KATHMANDU, JAN 30 - A special proposal on taking ownership of the progress made by the previous Constituent Assembly hit a roadblock on Wednesday due to opposition by minor parties including Rastriya Prajantantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N).

The Nepali Congress (NC), the CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist) were also to table a resolution motion expressing a commitment to promulgate a new federal democratic constitution within a year.

Both the proposals have been put on hold fearing obstruction in the House session by opposing parties .

As major parties drafted proposals in the all-party meeting chaired by Surya Bahadur Thapa, RPP-N and Rastriya Janamorcha opposed the move saying that such proposals require an endorsement from the all-party meeting first.

They argued that decisions made by the three major parties should not be imposed on the sovereign CA without having the consent of all parties represented in the CA. Provisions stipulate that proposals are to be tabled in the House only after achieving consensus in an all-party meeting.    

A meeting of major parties on Tuesday had agreed to recognise the decisions made by the previous CA and table a special proposal to ensure the writing of a new constitution within a year. The three party meeting had also formed a taskforce to prepare these proposals at the meeting of the CA on Wednesday.

Wednesday's CA meeting was brief as parties failed to forge a consensus on contested agendas. The meeting did however, endorse a proposal concerning the formation of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), an all-party mechanism responsible for running the House.

The CA meeting has been postponed by a week to hold robust cross-party discussions on endorsing such a proposal from the Parliament.

The major parties acknowledged a lack of preparation, and plan to hold talks with all parties in the CA before tabling a series of proposals in the next Parliament meeting, scheduled for February 22. The row has affected the drafting of the CA rules of procedures, which will begin only after finalising the modality of ownership.

"We failed to table the proposal regarding taking ownership of previous CA decisions due to protests by RPP-N and other fringe parties who want to show their existence in the CA," CPN-UML leader Bam Dev Gautam told media persons after the meeting."We will try to forge consensus among the parties but the proposal will be endorsed by the parliament despite the protest from RPP-N because the country has already adopted federalism and republicanism", Gautam added.

RPP-N and other fringe parties maintained that the tabling of a proposal

prepared by three parties out of a total 30 political parties in the CA is a defamation of the sovereign will. Both the RPP-N and the Rastriya Janamorcha demanded the holding of an all-party meeting to finalise the contents of the proposal. "We refused to accept such a proposal in Wednesday's CA meeting because it will invite confrontation among the parties in the CA. Some political parties have again started their old working style which would not work in the new CA," said RPP-N Chairman Kamal Thapa after the CA meeting.

CA Chairman Suriya Bahadur Thapa said due to time constraints and a lack of preparation, both proposals were not presented in the meeting.

"Some parties have different opinions about taking ownership of past agreements, but it is not possible to promulgate a new constitution without taking ownership," Thapa told reporters after the meeting.  He said that such proposals should be settled at top leadership levels before being presented to the House for endorsement.

Second CA meet forms business advisory panel

The second meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Wednesday resulted in the formation of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), a body responsible for running CA and Legislative-Parliament sessions. The CA Chairman would serve as chief of the cross-party BAC mechanism.

Members from all political parties represented in the CA have been appointed members of the BAC.  Formation of this panel was the sole agenda of Wednesday's brief CA meeting. The members of the Committee include Chin Kaji Shrestha from Nepali Congress, Bhim Acharya from CPN-UML, Krishna Bahadur Mahara from UCPN(Maoist), and Dil Nath Giri from Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal(RPP-N).

Also members are Brijesh Kumar Gupta, Sanjaya Kumar Sah, Ayendra Sundar Nembang, Dil Bahadur Nepali, Prem Suwal, Narendra Shan Kalwar, Chitra Bahadur KC, Jaya Dev Joshi, Dharmendra Kumar Sah, Eknath Dhakal, Shiv Lal Thapa, Bisendra Paswan, Rukmini Chaudhary, Prem Bahadur Singh, Harish Chandra Sah, Sarita Kumari Yadav, Laxman Rajbansi, Dimpal Kumari Jha, Ram Kumar Rai, Kumar Khadka, Lokmani Dhakal and Megh Raj Nepali. The agenda of CA and Parliamentary sessions would be finalised by the BAC beforehand in order to avoid disputes and disturbances within the Parliament.

KATHMANDU, JAN 30 -In the face of an intensive crackdown on illegal migrant workers in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia and an ever increasing number of passport seekers, Nepal’s missions in major labour destinations are in desperate need of additional staffers to handle an ‘unprecedented crisis’. The understaffed embassies say they cannot cope with the current workload, with many working ten hours a day, seven days a week.

In total, the government has deputed 29 diplomatic staffers with the capacity to serve approximately 90 percent of around 2.5 million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Malaysia.

The dearth of manpower has mostly affected embassies in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia where there has been extensive crackdowns on illegal migrant workers in recent months.  While Nepal’s embassy in Riyadh claims it has repatriated around 90 percent of workers staying illegally in the oil-rich kingdom, a rising number of illegal Nepali workers are facing arrest in Malaysia.

The scarcity of human resources in the embassies has placed unprecedented demands on officials, affecting the quality of service provided. Approximately 5,000 illegal Nepali migrant workers missed the opportunity to make use of an amnesty granted by the Saudi King. According to migrants, the embassy failed to provide them the required exit visa on time, while the embassy says the workload was greater than the understaffed embassy could withstand.

Due to the manpower crunch, Nepal’s embassy in Malaysia, employing just eight diplomatic staff, has been unable to trace detained Nepali workers, let alone assist them in returning home. Officials at the embassy say regular paperwork and official duties hamper their ability to act.

“There is an immediate need of additional staffers to endure the growing work pressure,” said Amal Kiran Dhakal, labour attaché at the embassy.

Though Nepal’s embassy in Saudi Arabia is ‘almost done’ with illegal migrants, like other embassies in the Gulf it is facing huge demands for passports while attempting to perform other responsibilities including rescuing victimized women and men, repatriating the deceased and claiming insurance and other benefits for injured migrants.

The five embassies concerned collect applications from around 400 passport seekers each day as the 2015 deadline to phase out non-machine readable passports looms. It currently takes at least three months for migrants to renew or replace existing passports due to the lack of resources in the Department of Passport, despite Nepali citizens (both inside and outside the country) paying the highest fee in South Asia for the service.  

Stakeholders said that they are aware of the scarcity of human resources in the Gulf but are in no position to dispatch additional workers due to resource constraints, a common problem faced by all government bodies in Nepal. Unlike other labour-exporting countries including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Nepal does not have a ministry for foreign employment. The Department of Foreign Employment, the sole authority to oversee migrant issues, has just 97 staffers, while the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Employment has around 1000 staffers, despite Sri Lanka exporting half the amount of workers that Nepal does. Foreign Ministry officials blame the Finance Ministry among others for failing to provide an adequate budget to depute more staffers and resources. “Ironically, the migrants are sustaining the economy but  the government has invested little for their welfare and betterment. There has been consultation with other government bodies for funds to strengthen the overall capacity of the embassies depending on the number of workers they have to oversee,” said Deepak Dhital, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson.

Officials claim that they are planning to recruit more local staff as they are cheaper, efficient and easily accessible. Though the Ministry of Labour and Employment said it’s working to send additional labour attaches, sources said the embassies are pressing the Foreign Ministry to abort the plan, arguing that local staffers were ‘cheaper and more productive’.

KATHMANDU, JAN 29 - The government has tabled four different ordinances in the Legislature-Parliament meeting on Wednesday.

Home Minister Madhav Ghimire tabled the ordinances including Ordinance on Facilities and Security to Former Government Officials-2069, Ordinance on Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment)-2069, Ordinance on Extradition-2069 and Ordinance on Organised Crime Control -2069.

The next parliament meeting has been scheduled for Sunday.

Despite the call from President Ram Baran Yadav, today's meeting also failed to appoint speaker and deputy speaker of the Parliament.

Senior most Constituent Assembly (CA) member Surya Bahadur Thapa has been chairing the CA.

SOLUKHUMBU, JAN 29 - A complaint has been filed at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) calling for transparency in the funds spent in the Sagarmatha Cleaning Campaign.

The cleaning of waste from the world's highest mountain Sagarmatha or Everest was carried out under the campaign at the joint initiative of Sagarmatha Summiteers Association and Eco Himal.

The complaint has been filed jointly by some of the Sagarmatha Summiteers and stakeholders against the alleged irregularities in the campaign held in 2011.

The campaign had received funds from European Union, Nepal Government and Nepal Mountaineering Association, among other institutions. A total of Rs. 15 million has been collected for the campaign.

The Summiteers Chair Wangchu Sherpa and General Secretary Diwas Pokharel have been charged of spending the amount irregularly, and thereby not maintaining a transparent account of the same. RSS

KATHMANDU, JAN 29 -Three major political parties on Tuesday agreed in principle to own up decisions made by the previous Constituent Assembly and constituted a six-member task force to prepare a special proposal to ensure a new constitution within a year.

A meeting of top leaders of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist) at the Peace Fund Secretariat decided to form the task force comprising NC General Secretary Krishna Sitaula and Central Working Committee member Mahesh Acharya, UML Vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam and senior party leader Bhim Rawal and senior Maoist leaders Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Krishna Bahadur Mahara. The panel will table the proposal at a CA meeting on Wednesday.

The new CA will endorse among other things the decision of the first meeting of the former CA to declare Nepal as Federal Democratic Republic, said senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba after the meeting.

Parties have claimed that the dissolved CA had finalised almost all intricacies of the constitution but failed to reach an agreement on key constitutional issues—forms of governance and federalism. Except the Kamal Thapa-led Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) all other political parties have agreed to abide by the decisions of the last CA . But all 30 parties in the CA are united on delivering a new constitution within a year.

“The proposal to be tabled in the CA on Wednesday will include the spirit of the agreements reached between the political parties at various stages, like 12-point agreement, Janaandolan of 2006, Interim Constitution and declaration of Federal Democratic Republic Nepal,” said Maoist leader Shrestha.

The meeting discussed the issue of forming a parliamentary committee to probe into an alleged vote rigging claimed by the UCPN (Maoist) during the CA election in November. “We have also decided to discuss on the formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Disappearance Commission and agreed to incorporate suggestions made by the Supreme Court recently,” said Shrestha.

The parties briefly discussed power sharing issues like a fresh election of President and Vice President, chairman and vice chairman of the CA and composition of a new government. The UML agreed to join an NC-led government, but demanded a package deal from the Congress. “We [UML] and Maoists stood in favour of a fresh election of President and Vice President, making ourselves clear that we will not join the government rather we will support as responsible and constructive opposition,” said Shrestha.

The NC, however, told the UML and the Maoist that it was ready to replace the incumbent head of state and his deputy after one year. “We have decided to sit again to settle the dispute over   of new President, Vice President and others,” Shrestha added.

NC told to come up with concrete proposal

KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress on Tuesday formally proposed 28 political parties and two independent lawmakers represented in the CA to join a consensus government under its President Sushil Koirala.

Apart from UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal, all other parties requested the NC to come up with a consensus proposal on power sharing.

“The meeting ended on a positive note, boosting our hopes of drafting a new constitution within a year,” said senior Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba.

The NC has expedited cross-party talks following President Ram Baran Yadav’s call on Sunday to form a consensus government before February 2. Kamal Thapa-led RPP-N and Tarai Madesh Loktanrtik Party were absent at the meeting.

UML leader Bhim Acharya said almost all parties had suggested the NC to prepare a consensus draft for a  power sharing deal as soon as possible.

“Except for the UCPN (M) and the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal, all other parties have made clear that they will sit in opposition and will work as constructive opposition,” said NC leader Arjun Nar Singh KC.

On behalf of the NC, senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel asked for parties’ consent before the February 2 deadline ends.

Senior Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara told the meeting that his party would determine its role after studying a road map that the government would bring out on delivering the constitution within a year. (PR)   

JAN 27 -After 14 grueling days, Dr Govinda KC finally ended his hunger strike on Friday after government officials agreed to meet three of his seven demands, including autonomy for the Institute of Medicine (IoM). Dr KC went on a fast-unto-death after former IoM Dr Prakash Sayami resigned, citing undue pressure from various quarters to grant affiliation to private medical colleges, and Dr Sashi Sharma was politically appointed. In solidarity with Dr KC’s protest, the Nepal Medical Association, an umbrella body of doctors, shut down hospitals across the country. When officials continued to turn a deaf ear to their demands, doctors at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital resigned en masse, forcing the government’s hand. Manish Gautam and Pranaya SJB Rana spoke to Dr Sharad Onta, assistant dean at IoM, about the circumstances leading to Dr KC’s protest, the row over affiliations and the state of medical education in the country.

Now that Dr Govinda KC has broken his fast, how do you see the way in which the whole incident progressed?


The issues that Dr KC raised definitely needed to become a matter of national interest. We had long been discussing autonomy for the IoM and demanding that affiliations be granted in an organised manner. It is unfortunate that such a great price had to be paid for these issues to be addressed. Dr KC stayed on a hunger strike for so many days and the general public was deprived of access to health facilities. But it is in the past so there is no sense in regretting it now. At least the issues are now up for national debate.

What exactly was it that led Dr Sayami to resign as dean?

At IoM, we begin our undergraduate classes on Mangsir 1 but this time, there were elections so we had to push back the date to Mangsir 6 (November 21) but since some students might not have had time to admit themselves, we increased the admission date for affiliated colleges to Poush 10 (December 25), an additional 35 days. But what was disheartening was that even after the school year had already begun, there was great pressure on IoM to grant affiliation to more colleges and let them start teaching from this year itself. This was unacceptable. We only asked for one small thing, that the affiliation be deferred to the next school year. But even that demand was unheeded so Dr Sayami felt forced to resign.

Why did the IoM refuse to grant affiliation to these colleges?

Alongside the establishment of a medical college, we need to have certain rules and regulations, the college’s disciplines and clear guidelines for the monitoring of the college’s quality and capacity. Our universities—TU, and Kathmandu University—only have enough capacity to conduct academics. We cannot bear the additional load of monitoring the academics of other colleges. And this is not a problem that suddenly arose; it has been there since the very beginning. If certain frameworks and regulations for granting affiliations had been instituted ever since the first medical college was established, this problem wouldn’t have exploded like it did now.

But isn’t it an excuse to say that you don’t have the capacity? Can’t capacity be built by increasing the number of faculty members or contracting out to retired professors and doctors?


Yes, that is exactly what we have been trying to do. It would certainly have been better if the number of faculty members had been increased proportionally with the number of new medical colleges. But that did not happen. At minimum, we should be monitoring them once every three months. Right now, IoM is running around 54 programmes and private colleges are running around 25 other programmes. But we do not have the human resource required to evaluate these programmes and see how they are being run. So the bottom line is that need at least an additional 150-200 faculty members.

Why is there only talk of granting affiliation to private colleges? Can’t the government establish its own public colleges?

This is related to the political economy. If Nepal has fully embraced a liberal, market economy, the state will not start letting the market handle public institutions. But the state should continue to support the social sector, like schools and hospitals. Nepal, however, doesn’t have the financial capacity to run all medical colleges. It needs the support of the private sector. Even if the state replaced one or two private colleges with public ones, that would provide great relief to many ordinary students. It would be better if the private sector had to compete with the public but right now, the private sector has turned out to be far more powerful than the public.

Given the fact that every year, scores of Nepali students leave the country to study medicine abroad in China, Pakistan and Bangladesh because there aren’t enough seats in Nepali colleges, won’t the number of medical colleges have to be increased?

That our students are leaving the country to study medicine abroad should not be the only reason for us to open new medical colleges. Even if we open 50 new colleges, there still won’t be any assurance that students won’t leave the country. There must be more principled reasons than this. Medical education creates capable human resources and aids in the country’s overall development. It also provides a critical service to the people. So there must be some principles that cannot be comprised—the quality of the education provided, that medical colleges operate along the principles of social justice and that colleges be socially accountable. The quality of education also depends on the capability of those monitoring these colleges. Can a person living in the Far West get easy access to medical education? Geographical distribution needs to be kept in mind. Medical colleges also have to be accountable to society.

So medical education is not just about creating technically skilled professional but also about being accountable to society.

Speaking of social accountability, was it ethical for doctors to shut down medical services across the country in support of Dr KC’s protest?

This is not an easy question and I don’t have an easy answer. Like I said earlier, this issue should not have come at such cost. We had been raising these issues for the last year or so and they were never addressed. I wish that we didn’t have to do what we did so I don’t have any space to say that this was an ethical move. But was it necessary? That is a hypothetical question. As long as we raised our voices, we were never heard. It was only after Dr KC started his fast and we shut down services that our demands were addressed. So in retrospect, it looks necessary. But the nation paid a great price and I don’t have the moral strength to attempt to provide a rationale or justification.

This is not the first time Dr KC went on a hunger strike for the same reason. What guarantee is there that he won’t have to do this again?

There is no guarantee. To prevent this kind of thing from happening again, we need to be more alert and active. But it is not just us doctors and office bearers who should be aware, we need a more diverse stakeholder body to be alert. This time around, civil society supported us and the media supported us. So we all need to be vigilant and act in a timely manner so that this doesn’t happen again.

On a final note, what is the state of medical education like in the country?

I think there are very few countries in the world that have increased the number of medical colleges in such a short time. The first college was established in 1979 and the second in the mid-90s. But since then, 16-17 new medical colleges have been established. These colleges have made their economic contributions but the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Second, the cost of medical education has also increased exponentially. I think it is cheaper for students to leave the country and study abroad than to study medicine here. Furthermore, there is a severe lack of monitoring and accountability. For example, we have a programme called the district health programme where MBBS students in their final year are required to go into the field and work there for nine weeks. This is worth 100 marks—the IoM awards 50 and the college awards 50. Till date, no private college has sent its students on this programme. But when these colleges award their students internal marks, the numbers are irrational. We know what they are doing but we can only sit back and watch because we don’t have the monitoring capacity.

KATHMANDU, JAN 27 -Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala defeated senior party leader Sher Bahadur Deuba in the vote on Sunday to claim the party’s Parliamentary Party leadership, paving the way to becoming the country’s next prime minister.

After its failure to pick a unanimous party leader, the NC went to the poll on Sunday with Koirala and three-time former Prime Minister Deuba in the fray for the post.

With party Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel throwing his weight behind him, Koirala won the race against Deuba by a margin of 16 votes. According to the Congress party statute, parliamentary party leader is the natural candidate for the post of prime minister. Following his victory on Sunday, Koirala is widely seen as the country’s next prime minister. Being the party leader of the largest party in the CA, Koirala will preside over the PM post but it will be difficult for him to reach a power-sharing agreement within the party and CPN-UML, the second largest party.

Poudel, who had miniscule support base inside the party, had extended his support to President Koirala at the last moment on Saturday. Amid fears that the election would further polarise the party, Koirala assured that the Congress will remain unified in the days to come. “The democratic exercise we just completed will strengthen the party,” said Koirala, insisting on working in the spirit of consensus, dialogue, unity and reconciliation.

Poudel was offered to work as acting party president in the absence of Koirala. Deuba, also vying for the same position, was denied by the Koirala camp citing the provision of party charter which consequently led the two leaders to go for the poll.

Leaders were busy trying to forge an understanding on a unanimous candidate before Sunday’s vote at party’s Parliamentary Office inside Singha Durbar. They even pushed back the polling time of 8.30am by two hours. But those efforts fell through as neither leader was ready to budge.

Of the total 194 valid votes, Koirala secured 105 against Deuba’s 89, confirmed Dilendra Badu, the election commissioner.

Following the result, the Deuba camp also concluded that the idea of troika inside the party formally collapsed on Sunday after Poudel extended his support to Koirala. “There are only two power centres in the party now—one led by Koirala and the other by Deuba,” said a leader, adding that the future course of the party will be based on the equation of the 105 and 89 votes.

“Our calculation was that we would secure around 110 votes but some of our friends defected to the rival camp,” said a leader from the Koirala camp. Immediately after the result, Deuba congratulated Koirala on his victory as the PP leader.

Afterwards talking to the media, Koirala said: “It was the victory of the party, all its members and the democracy not me alone. I will lead the party with support of all the friends.”

The NC won 196 seats in the CA, with both Koirala and Deuba emerging victorious from two constituencies.

KATHMANDU, JAN 27 - Major political parties on Sunday expressed commitment to own up the progress made by the previous Constituent Assembly ( CA ) in the constitution drafting process and deliver a new constitution within a year.

Addressing the first session of the Legislature Parliament, top leaders of the major parties, except pro-monarch Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), said that promulgation of a new constitution from scratch was not possible. They also claimed that initiating work of the second CA will not be a problematic as there are many lessons learnt from the previous one, which will serve as reference in the second CA .

Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala said a majority of the issues had been resolved by the first CA through consensus and his party would own up the decision of the previous CA on the issues. He said NC as the largest party in the CA will lead in the constitution writing process and put in all its efforts to sort out all the contentious issues through consensus within the stipulated time.

“Delivering a new constitution in a year is possible if all the parties work truly to this effect avoiding the crisis of confidence,” Koirala said, adding that the constitution should be promulgated in a year to lead the country to the path of prosperity. The first CA had completed a majority of the tasks except state restructuring, forms of governance and electoral system.

The major political parties including NC, CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi forces had reached a four-point agreement last month to own up the achievement made by the previous CA and produce a new constitution within a year.

Chairman of the UML Jhala Nath Khanal recalled that the previous CA had agreed to have 39 parts in the new constitution of which it had completed 32 before its dissolution. He said all the issues completed by the first CA should be organised and presented before the new CA for  approval before moving on to another task.

“The election result is the reflection that people have rejected the idea of single identity-based federalism which was one of the most debated issues earlier. The fact should be realised before starting the business of the new CA ,” Khanal said.

Chairman of the UCPN (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal explained that the first CA had completed 80 percent task of the constitution drafting process. “I urge all the political parties to own up the constitutional issues settled by the previous CA . Then we can draft a new constitution in six months and promulgate it in a year,” said Dahal, assuring his party’s full support to the NC and the UML in drafting the constitution in a constructive manner.

Leaders of the Madhes-based parties, including Chairman of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum- Loktantrik Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, General Secretary of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Sarbendra Nath Sukla, also agreed to own up the issues from the first CA . However, they warned parties not to undermine the agendas of Madesh and marginalised groups.

RPP-N Chairman Kamal Thapa, however, said that it will be a mistake to understand the new CA as the continuation of the previous one. Demanding a fresh start to the constitution drafting process, he said a new constitution can be promulgated in a year if all the parties work together.

“As the current CA has 85 percent new faces, imposing the task of the former CA on them is not justifiable,” he said.

The party emerged as the fourth largest party securing 24 seats under the proportional representation system in the second CA . The party has been demading reinstatement of Hindu kingdom, constitutional monarchy and advocating for decentralisation instead of federalism.

Claiming that the culture of prohibitive politics has only brought conflict in the country, Thapa warned the major parties not to exclude RPP-N from the decision making process.

“We are well aware of our status but it will be a mistake to undermine our demands without any negotiations,” said Thapa.

Around two dozens of leaders from different parties addressed the session. The parliament session will continue on Monday from 11 am.

Majority for fresh president poll

KATHMANDU: Major political parties except the Nepali Congress have formally demanded a fresh presidential election in the new political set up.

Addressing the first session of the Legislature Parliament on Sunday, CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal and Chairman of Rastriya Prajantantra Party- Nepal Kamal Thapa claimed that the continuity of incumbent President Ram Baran Yadav and his deputy Pramananda Jha will be against the fresh mandate from the electorate.

They held that the election of the top post including that of the President, Vice President, prime minister and chairman and vice-chairman of CA should be held immediately. (PR)

KATHMANDU/MALAYSIA, JAN 27 - Out of more than 2,000 Nepali migrant workers, who died while at work in Malaysia in the past 10 years, the families of only 20 percent were provided with compensation and insurance returns by their employers.    

The families of 80 percent of the Nepali migrant labourers who died there in the past decade have not been compensated for their loss, as the Malaysian law does not adequately protect foreign workers. According to the data provided by the Nepali embassy in Malaysia, only the kin of those workers, who had died in industrial or traffic accidents, are receiving compensation. Meanwhile, the families of those who have died of ‘natural causes’ are not eligible for compensation and insurance. And a majority of the deaths are attributed to ‘natural causes’.

 The embassy documents the causes of these deaths based on the reports given by the Malaysian authorities. The embassy officials say five Nepali migrants die in the country every week and most of deaths are attributed to sudden heart attack that, doctors in Nepal claim is unusual on young adults.

“Malaysian government do not have the provision to compensate workers who die from natural causes or suicide,” said  Amal Kiran Dhakal, labour attaché at the Nepal’s embassy in Malaysia, said. “It is mostly the families of those dead in industrial and traffic accidents who get the compensation.”

Stakeholders and rights groups claim Malaysian government have been employing structural discrimination against the migrants through its ‘weak and outdated’ laws to protect the migrant workers.

For migrant workers, the Malaysia has Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952, which Malaysia-based rights groups also have been demanding the country’s government to repel it and ensure better working condition for foreign labourers. In one report, Irene Fernandez, executive director of one of the rights groups, Tenaganita, says the Workmen’s Compensation Act ‘does not adequately protect foreign workers as the maximum compensation for workplace related accidents is only Rs 23,000- and that too, only in cases of permanent disablement’.

She pointed out that local workers, on the other hand, are covered by the Employee’s Social Security (Socso) Act 1969 which ‘offers a long-term disabilities pension scheme’.

Stakeholders and rights group in Nepal say every one should be entitled to compensation irrespective of the nature of deaths as the employer should take entire ‘liability of workers during his work tenure’.

“It’s a bitter reality that most workers are compelled to work under enormous pressure for 12 hours for petty wage. Nepali workers have been facing serious exploitation since the government there bans the rights to union. Everyone should be entitled to insurance benefits,” said Rishi Adhikari, Nepal’s former ambassador to Malaysia.

Adhikari said Malaysian government’s said there has been very little work to improve the deplorable living and working condition of migrant workers.

Officials at the Ministry of Labour and Employment said families of migrant dying of non-accidental causes are also not entitled to compensation in the gulf countries. Around 35, 00 Nepali have died in Saudi Arabia and nearly 17, 00 have died in Qatar since 2000.

“We had recently raised this issue with Qatar. There should be revision in their laws to provide insurance benefits to all deaths and they were positive,” said Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson of the ministry.

Some government officials and rights group say there is enough ground to raise question on the credibility of reports prepared by local police on the deaths of Nepali migrants. They said that the cause of deaths could have been manipulated.

“One particular point to doubt on the credibility of report is the number of industrial deaths have been decreasing every year while deaths causing from other factors are quadrupling,” said a government source. The embassy reports, which categorizes deaths that related only after 2005, show a mere 20 percent of total death resulted from road and industrial accidents while the rest has been broadly described as ‘chronic disease’, ‘suicide’ and ‘other causes’. Even disease like tuberculosis, gastritis, pneumonia, renal failure has been attributed to several deaths.

The deaths resulting mostly from sudden cardiac arrest, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, heart attack, work related stress and traumas  have been mentioned as ‘other causes’ in nearly 800 deaths by the embassy.

Body count

Year     No. of Death

2003    101

2004    152

2005    189

2006    196

2007    252

2008    210

2009    183

2010    217

2011    280

2012    252

2013    341

Total    2373

SOURCE: Nepali Embassy in Malaysia 

KATHMANDU, JAN 22 -
The amount of pre-release hype Cha Ekan Cha received certainly raised audience expectations. The fact that it stars almost all well-known faces from Nepal's most popular sit-coms had already excited moviegoers, most of whom were possibly looking forward to having a fun time and a few good laughs at the theatre. And the film meets all expectations; there will be many laugh-out-loud moments here. This is probably the best Nepali comedy ever made!

Well, I'm only joking, of course. Cha Ekan Cha is nothing more than a big screen transformation for the big sit-com star. It has a weak plot, boasts of an even weaker execution, and these—as well as all the other factors at work here—only serve to make the film lengthy and exhausting. Comedy bigwigs like Deepak Raj Giri, Shiva Hari Poudyal, Kedar Ghimire, Sita Ram Kattel, Sandeep Chettri and Jitu Nepal are seen romancing actress Neeta Dhungana in different song sequences. But the film has no story, and Dinesh DC's poor direction fails utterly in terms of bringing the best out of each of these actors. Nothing substantial will happen in the film for as long as you are at the theatre, and then the credits will finally roll. Whatever happens on screen is so nonsensical that after a point of time, you'll just want to jump out of your seat and yell for someone to make the film stop.

The 'story' here goes something like this: Astha (Dhungana), a rich girl, is asked to get married, "as soon as possible," by her ailing grandfather. The girl, who lost her parents in a plane crash the day she was to get married a few years ago, now wants a person who will (1) respect women, (2) never lie, (3) never cheat. But surprise, surprise, the only kind of men who enter her life are those who belong to the 'liar' or 'cheater' categories. A businessman, a lawyer, a police officer, a poet, a servant and a beggar, she meets and romances them all, but is unable to find a suitable partner in any. And her journey, her quest for her Prince Charming, is not the least interesting. It's quite funny actually to see a girl who has all the success and money she could ever want in a lifetime falling for every random guy she meets. Sigh!

The male characters in the film play quite surreal characters; no one really connects with audiences. Special mention for Chanchal Pandey (yes, you heard it right!) played by Deepak Raj Giri. The whole Dabangg spoof is over-written and over-played here. The filmmakers have managed to copy lyrics and tunes, and even dance moves from the Salman Khan-starrer, which is funny, NOT! There are no original jokes and the one-liners have been heard a million times before. Raj Ballav Koirala, who plays a Newari Don in the film, is not impressive either. He only adds to the list of mediocre performances here. And the film's climax is exaggerated, for no conceivable reason.

Only a few films have the power that enables them to give you immense happiness when they finally run their course and come to their respective ends. Cha Ekan Cha is definitely one of those films. It is a plain debacle in the guise of 'comedy'.

KATHMANDU, JAN 22 -
Amid mounting pressure on the government due to the chaos in the health sector, Chairman of the Interim Election Government Khil Raj Regmi met Dr Govinda KC and urged him to break his fast-unto-death that entered 11 day on Tuesday.

Dr KC, however, stood firm in his position saying he would not give up until the government comes up with  a firm commitment to address his demands.

He has been on an indefinite strike demanding the government reinstate former Dean Dr Prakash Sayami,

stop issuing affiliations to new medical colleges, end political meddling in the Institute of Medicine (IoM), take action against TU office bearers, and develop the IoM into an independent university, among others.

The head of the government met the agitating doctor for the first time along with Minister of Education Madhav Poudel and Minister for Health Bidhyadhar Mallik, among other high level officials. The government team had first requested Dr KC to end his fast saying that a taskforce has been formed to decide on the autonomy of the IoM and that affiliation to new medical colleges has been halted for now.

The team also said instructions have been sent to review the appointment of new

Dean Dr Sashi Sharma. Dr KC, however, said that they will soon leave the government and they ‘are yet to be familiar with the TU office bearers’. “They are not the ones as you might think,” Dr KC told Regmi.

“Thank you for your concern. But I won’t break the fast until my demands are addressed.” Dr KC had asked the officials to stop the affiliation until the government comes up with a concrete policy on the number of medical colleges required.

Quoting Chairman Regmi, Dr Subarna Adhikari said since he is from the legal background he believes in a just society and showed his solidarity with Dr KC.  Minister Poudel, who is also the government spokesperson, told the Post that they are flexible on his demands that will be addressed soon.

Doctors quit en masse

Meanwhile, 106 doctors including the executive director of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) Dr Bhagwan Koirala and three assistant deans and campus chief resigned en masse on Tuesday. They protested the government apathy towards addressing the demands

of Dr KC who is in critical condition. The resignation, however, could not be registered as the TU office was closed for the day.

Similarly, the Nepal Medical Association (NMA) has also threatened a mass resignation of all the doctors across the country.

Dr Anjani Kumar Jha told a press conference on Tuesday that they have been running the emergency services in hospitals respecting the Supreme Court order.

“Abiding by the SC’s verdict, I urge continuity to the emergency services. But our stir continues,” Jha said.

Demands of Dr KC

1.     End political meddling in all the education and health institutes

2.     Stop affiliation process to new medical colleges and those who were in pipeline

3.     Reinstate former Dean Dr Prakash Sayami

4.     Take action against the ‘corrupt’ TU office bearers

5.     Establish IoM as an autonomous health university

6.     Establish medical colleges in rural parts of the country

7.    Institutionalise the trend of appointing dean through seniority and work experience

Make dean appointment ‘ineffective’

Kathmandu: Interim Election Government Chairman Khil Raj Regmi, who is the chancellor of the Tribhuvan University, on Tuesday directed the TU vice-chancellor to render Dr Sashi Sharma’s appointment as the dean of Institute of Medicine ineffective.

Chairman Regmi has written to the VC, directing him to make the Executive Council’s decision to appoint the dean ineffective, read a statement issued by Prime Minister’s Office Secretary Rajuman Singh Malla on Tuesday. Regmi asked the VC to apprise him of the developments within 24 hours.

The instruction of Pro-chancellor and Education Minister Madhav Poudel to TU office bearers to solve the row amicably was not implemented.

Before issuing the statement on Tuesday, Chairman Regmi held a meeting with some ministers, the chief secretary and secretaries on the TUTH problem.

During the meeting, Regmi sought their views whether to sack Dr Sharma. Some ministers urged him to seek a middle path in view of possible legal complications.

Sources said Dr Sharma sent a message to Minister Poudel that he wanted a graceful exit or a transfer so that he could work with his TUTH colleagues in future. (PR)

KATHMANDU, JAN 22 -
Newly-elected Constituent Assembly members took the oath of office and secrecy on Tuesday. Oldest lawmaker Surya Bahadur Thapa, 85, presided over the ceremony.

Out of the total 575 lawmakers, 565 were present. The five who remained absent are Abhishek Pratap Shah, Narayan Khadka, Pradip Giri, Bansidhar Mishra and Subarna Jwarchan.

Four other seats were vacant as there were four lawmakers winning from two constituencies.

Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala, senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, senior CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, and UML Vice-chairman Bam Dev Gautam will have to pick one of the two constituencies and a new lawmaker will have to be elected through by-polls in each of the vacated constituencies.

Former Prime Minister Thapa was administered the oath by President Ram Baran Yadav on Monday. As per the CA rule, the oldest lawmaker chairs the meeting until the new chairperson is elected.

The ceremony started at eleven past noon—after a delay of around 40 minutes—and lasted around six minutes. The new CA has seen many new faces. The youngest of them is Sarita Yadav, 25, of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Ganatantrik. She is the wife of party Chairman Rajkishore Yadav.

According to Secretariat spokesperson Mukunda Sharma, 44 lawmakers took oath of office in  their respective mother tongues. The lawmakers were asked to get a copy of the oath in the language of their choice and were allowed to submit the copy at the last hour unlike in 2008 when they had to submit it three days in advance.

This CA witnessed a father administering the oath to a son. Among the lawmakers to be sworn in by Surya Bahadur was his son Sunil Thapa. Similarly, three couples have made it to the CA , including NC senior leader Deuba and his wife Aarjoo and UML leader Amrit Bohara and his wife Astha Laxmi Shakya.

KATHMANDU, JAN 21 -Nepal Medical Council has said that they would abide by the Supreme Court's order to resume emergency services in hospitals but threatened to quit en masse if any force was used by the government against the agitating doctors.

Organising a press meet in the Capital on Tuesday, NMC Chairman Anjani Jha urged doctors to resume all the essential services through the emergency wards. "Abiding by the SC's verdict, I urge to continue the emergency services. Our stir to suspend services except emergency continues," Jha said during the meet.

Jha also demanded to save the life of Dr Govinda KC who is staging indefinite hunger strike since January 11 putting forth his seven-point demand, including the immediate removal of the newly appointment dean at the Institute of Medicine.

"If any untoward incident happens during the hunger strike or our protest, government should bear its responsibility," he said.

Jha warned that doctors across the country will resign en masse if government remains indifferent towards solving the problem. Some 15,000 doctors are associated with NMC, an umbrella organization of medical doctors, across the country.

In response to two separate petitions, the apex court on Monday had ordered the agitating doctors to resume services in hospitals across the country within an hour of receiving its order. A single bench of Justice Prakash Wosti stated that the doctors cannot resort to strike in hospitals, which provide essential services.

KATHMANDU, JAN 21 -The newly-elected Constituent Assembly ( CA ) members have sworn in CA building in New Baneshwor on Tuesday.

Senior most member in the CA Surya Bahadur Thapa administered the oath to the lawmakers. Five lawmakers were not present in the occasion.

The Parliament Secretariat informed that 35 lawmakers administered the oath in Bhojpuri, Maithili, among other 10 mother languages.

Thapa, the oldest lawmaker in the new CA , was administered oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Baran Yadav on Monday.

The first CA meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday.

The first meeting of the Legislature Parliament will convene on January 26, four days after the first CA meeting.

There is the representation of 575 members from 30 political parties including two independant members in the CA .

KATHMANDU, JAN 21 -A solid half century from Gyanendra Malla failed to register a first victory for Nepal in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier campaign as they went down by 12 runs against Canada at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 256 runs in the game reduced to 41 overs each, Nepali side managed to score 243 runs for the loss of eight wickets.

Gyanendra Malla hit nine boundaries for his 97 ball 86 building a 83 runs partnership with Pradeep Airee (26) for the second wicket. Nepal continued losing wickets after Airee was run out in the 15th over and eventually fell short of 12 runs. The defeat also meant that Nepal ended the tournament winless.

Canada had posted a challenging total of 255 runs after winning the toss and deciding to bat first. Raza-ur-Rehman top scored with 89 runs followed by Nitish Kumar on 67.

Sompal Kami took three wickets for Nepal. Basanta Regmi claimed two while Shakti Gauchan and Sagar Pun registered one each in their names.

BIRATNAGAR, JAN 20 -
UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said he will not relinquish the party leadership as sought by some of the party leaders.

Talking to reporters at the Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, the Maoist supremo asserted that the demand for a change in the party leadership is insensible at a time when the party is in trouble.

Dahal, who was on his way to attend a programme of Kirat community at Larumba in Ilam district, said the reasons behind the party’s defeat in the second Constituent Assembly (CA) election were being reviewed, stressing on the need to strengthen the party and its leadership.

“Raising the issue of leadership change at this moment is a ploy to damage the party. The leadership cannot run away when the party has been defeated,” said Dahal.

Speaking at the party’s Central Committee meeting in the Capital on Saturday, Maoist senior leader Baburam Bhattarai had sought Dahal’s resignation arguing that the same person should not lead the party for over 25 years. The former vice-chairman said he would continue to protest the “Stalin style of activities” of Dahal and demanded transparency in party work.

Stating that there is no need of resignation when a single election is lost in the communist revolution, Dahal insisted that the so-called question of morality, like in bourgeoisie parties, does not surface in a communist party.

He also denounced the allegation that he was treading the path of Stalin. “There is no truth behind the allegations of me being a Stalin kind. The documentation against the Stalin style was approved with the help of Bhattarai and Mohan Baidya,” he said.

In another context, Dahal said that the two largest parties— Nepali Congress and CPN-UML— had to form the government. He claimed that the UCPN (M) is concentrating on promulgating the new constitution within a year

and does not have any interest in the matters of President, Vice-president and the government.

KATHMANDU, JAN 20 -

• 400 hospitals shut across country

• IoM Dean Dr Sharma refuses to quit

• NMA moots scaling up stir

Outpatient departments in hospitals and nursing homes across the country remained shut on Sunday, in solidarity with the indefinite fast of Dr Govinda KC, who has sought immediate removal of the incumbent dean of the Institute of Medicine (IoM) and some crucial reforms to depoliticise the governing body.

Nepal Medical Association (NMA), which jumped in support of Dr KC’s demands, resorted to the severe measure of shutting down essential medical services from Sunday after the government appeared non-committal in fulfilling the demands even as the fasting doctor’s health reached a critical stage. Dr KC is a senior orthopedic at the TU Teaching Hospital.

Sunday’s medical strike imposed on over 400 hospitals across the country deprived thousands of patients from availing health services. The hospitals provide services to an estimated 150,000 patients on a daily basis.

As Dr KC’s hunger strike reached ninth day on Sunday with no concrete results at hand yet, the NMA is mulling scaling up its agitation.

In the face of mounting pressure, incumbent IoM Dean Dr Sashi Sharma has, however, refused to give in. Only on Saturday, Dr Sharma turned down Interim Election Government Chairman Khil Raj Regmi’s call to resign, saying that he would not follow any ad-hoc orders but only the due process of law.

As Dr Sharma refused to budge, Minister of Education Madhav Poudel on Sunday directed the Tribhuvan University to withdraw Sharma’s appointment as the dean of IoM. “As a pro-chancellor of the institute, I’ve asked the TU office bearers to scrap the appointment,” said Minister Poudel.

However, with the TU Regulation-1992 preventing its Executive Council from scrapping the appointment, only an amendment to the law could pave the way for removing Dr Sharma. Such an amendment will have to be endorsed by the TU Senate, the highest body of the university.

“Dr Sharma’s resignation is the only solution to the current crisis,” said Dr Sarad Onta, a public health professor. “The entire medical fraternity is agitating. There is no point in sticking to a position if that does not help run the office.” The agitating doctors argue that Dr Sharma should resign as he has been implicated in a number of corruption cases, which are currently under investigation at the CIAA.

Officials at TU find themselves at loss. “We are in dilemma. We can appoint a dean but we do not have the right to remove him/her.

Dr Sharma remains firm on his stand not to step down,” said TU Registrar Chandra Mani Poudel.

Narayan Khanal, legal advisor to the university, said the Supreme Court has established the precedence that the office bearers can revoke the dean’s appointment only if he or she is found involved in criminal offences or proved mentally retarded.

“There are five cases where the apex court has reinstated the deans after the executive relieved them from their responsibilities,” said Khanal. In one instance, Tej Bahadur KC, a former dean of the Institute of Forestry, was reinstated to his office after the TU Council gave him marching orders in 1995.  Khanal said any professor or associate professor can be appointed as the dean as per the prevailing law of the university. Meanwhile, doctors attending Dr KC said his health condition is potentially life threatening. Dr KC has been on an indefinite strike demanding the government reinstate former dean Dr Prakash Sayami, stop issuing affiliations to new medical colleges, end political meddling in the IoM, take action against TU office bearers, and develop the IoM into an independent university, among others. Asking the government to immediately address the demands raised by Dr KC, CPN-Maoist issued a statement expressing their solidarity with the fasting doctor.

JAN 20 -
Political parties, after almost two months since election to the second Constituent Assembly (CA), have finally sorted out differences about the election results and the debate on who will call the first meeting of the CA. The date for the first CA meeting has now been fixed for Wednesday. Against this context, Kamal Dev Bhattarai and Darshan Karki spoke to Tek Prasad Dhungana, legal advisor to the first CA (2008-2012), about the shortcomings of the last CA, the way forward to ensure that a constitution is produced within a year and the role of the donors in the constitution-writing process.

All major political parties have promised that they will complete drafting the constitution within a year. Is this possible?

If the political parties are to fulfil their commitment, they will need to decide on a few things. First, the new CA should see its work as a continuation of the previous Assembly. Parties should take the decisions and work done by the first CA as reference material and head straight to the process of drafting the constitution. Preparing a draft of the statute will require finalising the defining elements of the constitution. All the issues on which an agreement was reached in the last CA were relatively simple matters. So the parties should sort out the defining elements of the constitution, ie, state restructuring, forms of governance, the electoral system and the relations between the executive, judiciary and legislature. If parties can agree to this and begin drafting the constitution, they can complete the task within a year. Else, it will be difficult to do so.

An informal agreement was apparently reached among parties in the last CA regarding some fundamental elements of the constitution. Since this is now a changed context, do you see the parties building on that understanding?

In the last CA, different concept papers and drafts were prepared at the thematic committee level. While doing so, there were differences of opinion among the various parties. The CA identified those issues and tried to resolve inter-party differences. Accordingly, many issues were formally resolved while political agreements were informally reached on others. However, since these decisions did not reach the formal process, we cannot say that they will remain the same.

The first CA sorted out simpler issues first and left the major ones to be dealt with later on. The new CA does not have the option to do the same. It should reach consensus on complex issues first and then move ahead. Completed work need not be repeated because the last CA also worked within a federal democratic republican framework. It worked to institutionalise the issues raised by the Janaandolan II and the new CA will also be doing the same thing.

What were the shortcomings of the first CA?

The last CA made two kinds of mistakes—some were procedural and others political. A grave mistake that the first CA committed was that it started drafting a constitution without reaching consensus on its defining elements. The next reason the Assembly could not work effectively was that it failed to understand that constitution-writing in a Nepali context is not an independent project. The constitution is not being written because Nepal has just gained independence or because it is a newly formed nation. We needed a new constitution to transform a

ten-year conflict into peace and to institutionalise the issues that were raised. Therefore, the peace process is an integral part of the new constitution. Though, ideally, the peace process should have been concluded before writing a new constitution. There are two important aspects of the peace process which are very important for constitution-writing—army integration and transitional justice, which is the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) and a disappearance commission.

How did the focus on government formation affect the functioning of the CA?

This was another drawback of the first CA. Whether it was in the thematic committees or meetings, political party leaders had absolutely no focus on writing the constitution. Their sole focus was the formation of the government, which changed four times during the CA's tenure. Government formation is important and it is natural for political parties to seek a berth in the Cabinet. But when politicians do so at the expense of writing a constitution, it is a matter of concern. If we look at countries where a constitution has been written by a CA, whether it be India, South Africa or the US, leaders have led different forums and committees within the House. And when difficulties arose in writing the constitution, they rescued the process. But this was not seen in our CA. So a long-term government, which will last for at least the term of the CA, must be formed to ensure that a constitution will be written this time.

Quite a few CA members were involved in various controversies but could not be prosecuted in the absence of a specific law. Will a Code of Conduct help prevent these kinds of problems?

This is related to the fourth problem of the previous CA—an absence of procedural compliance. The CA Rules of Procedures broadly outlines eight to 10 points about how CA members should conduct themselves. It also has a provision to form a Conduct Monitoring Committee, which was never formed. CA members were found selling their red passports, stealing electricity, sending someone else in their place to appear for School Leaving Certificate exams and even found drunk and passed out on the streets. Had a Conduct Monitoring Committee been formed, it could have taken suo moto action against CA members, based on the reporting of their misconduct.

This time, the ordinance for the formation of the CA has a provision that bars people convicted of five to six crimes listed in it from being a CA member. This provision will be important if an incumbent CA member indulges in those crimes. In that case, it could lead to the expulsion of a member, resulting in an incomplete CA. The Rules of Procedure for the new CA should address such loopholes. There is a need to enrich the content on the conduct of the CA members too.

Last time, we saw the involvement of the donors in different processes of the CA. What was their role?

Different organisations held various interaction programmes outside the CA, invited CA members at a personal level and held discussions on issues of the constitution. To learn of the degree to which CA members were influenced by such discussions is a matter of study. Still, as the constitution is not only a national but an international document, it is natural for such discussions to be held. It can also help CA members understand the processes of writing a constitution, its principles and international practices. However, within the CA, the Parliament Secretariat only accepted logistical support from the United Nations Development Programme, the Government of India and various other embassies and organisations. It did not accept the role of any donor or foreign agency regarding the content of the constitution.

In what areas should the donor support be concentrated on, with regard to constitution-writing?

Donor agencies could support us when it comes to transitional justice. This issue has become more complicated now because a verdict was initially given for one commission to work for both truth and reconciliation as well as disappearance. A case was filed against this at the Supreme Court and the Apex Court has now directed the government to form separate commissions for truth and reconciliation and to investigate disappearances and also defined amnesty provisions. So different organisations who have worked in transitional justice issues in Brazil, Peru, South Africa,

Sierra Leone, Haiti and Sudan should assist Nepal, not to complicate matters, but simplify them. They can help resolve transitional justice issues by taking into account the value system of Nepal's political parties. Likewise, they should also keep providing logistical support to the Parliament Secretariat.

Lastly, 26 members have yet to be nominated to the CA? Can the first meeting of the CA be held without them?


When the first meeting of the former CA was held on May 28, 2008, we told the Prime Minister and all the top leaders that the CA has three constituencies: the first-past-the-post system (240), proportional system (320) and those that are nominated by the Cabinet (26). The process through which they become part of the CA is more important that the numbers they command. If the CA meeting is held without nominating a single candidate in the 26 seats, various constitutional and legal questions can arise. But our advice went unheeded. To take that incident as a precedent and repeat it would not be good practice. However, this is not to say that 601 members must be present for the first CA meeting. Even if 601 members are elected, they can be absent from the meeting for various reasons. But there is a difference between being absent due to personal reasons and absence due to the process of their nomination being 

KATHMANDU, JAN 20 -
Lawmakers from the CPN-UML will wear a uniform look in terms of dress while attending meetings of the Constituent Assembly.

Party Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal has instructed them to wear the national dress—daura suruwal and bhadgaunle topi for males and gunyu choli for females.

Lawmakers are instructed to follow the dress code during their swearing-in on Tuesday. The UML has a total of 175 CA members.

Party leaders reason that the move was intended to convey a message of national unity and identity to the public. The dress code, according to party leaders, is mandatory for lawmakers from Chhetri-Bahun communities while those from indigenous nationalities can wear a dress of their choice.

Following verbal instruction from the party chief, lawmakers are said to be arranging for the dress. “I bought two pairs of daura suruwal today,” said UML lawmaker Gokul Gharti.

In the pervious Assembly, no party required their lawmakers to attend a meeting donning a national dress.

The law defines daura suruwal as the national dress. But the issue was challenged in Supreme Court some three years ago stating that it is against multiculturalism. The apex court, however, upheld the provision that daura suruwal is the national dress.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal has also asked its lawmakers to wear the national dress in the Assembly. Janajati lawmakers, however, will be allowed to wear their traditional costumes.

KALIKOT, JAN 20 -
As a combatant of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Deepak Raj Karki would take action against people selling alcohol during the insurgency in the district. Karki, however, has become the largest liquor suppliers in Pili Bazaar and adjoining areas now.

“I learned that business was all about profit and loss, and as alcohol was in high demand, I decided to start a liquor shop,” he said.

Area in-charge of Manma, Dahaan and Pili of the UCPN (Maoist), Karki has no qualms about people linking his business with his party. An assistant commander of the dissolved PLA, Karki had aspired to join the Nepal Army (NA). He even completed intermediate level studies while he was at Dashrathpur camp to become eligible to join the NA as an officer. However, as the government did not recognise his new academic qualification, his dreams shattered and he opted for voluntary retirement. Karki’s wife Kalpana was a platoon commander in the PLA. When the duo opted for voluntary retirement, they received a total of Rs1.1million. They bought a piece of land and invested the remaining Rs 800,000 to open a liquor shop. After faring well, the couples expanded the business into ‘Karki General Stores’ also selling daily essentials.

Karki, a brilliant student during his days in the Geta-based Kalika Secondary School, was joined the PLA after he was arrested by security forces in September 26, 2001 allegedly for helping the Maoist rebels. Kalpana too joined the PLA after security forces started torturing her, asking for Karki’s whereabouts. Kalpana, who fought against the security forces in the battles of Palpa, Kapilvastu, and Manakamana, said she had taken up arms leaving behind a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter with her grandparents. “The thought that we then could never see my daughter’s face always haunted me. Thankfully, we were able to stay alive to see the light of day” she said.

Karki’s parents, who then spent their days worrying about their son and daughter-in-law, are happy that the couple returned home and are doing well. “We had lost all hopes of seeing them again when the war was at its peak,” Deepak’s father said.

KATHMANDU, JAN 20 -
The Constituent Assembly Secretariat has prepared three agendas for the first meeting of the CA to be held on January 22.

A meeting of the 30 parties elected to the CA was convened on Sunday by the secretariat to discuss the agenda for the first meeting.

As per the schedule, a letter from the Interim Election Government Chairman to the Assembly would be read out first. The CA business will be run as per the CA Regulations (2065) as the new rules are yet to be prepared. A proposal will be presented to the CA for picking a member to preside over meetings until the CA chairperson is elected.

A proposal to form a committee to draft the new CA regulations could also be tabled in the meeting. The agenda was floated by the CPN-UML in Sunday’s meeting. It was, however, not clear whether thanksgiving to the government and the people for the election would be a separate agenda or incorporated in another.

“The meeting is unlikely to take any historical decision as was the case in 2008,” said Sadbhawana Party Co-chairman Laxman Lal Karna. The first meeting of the CA in 2008 declared the nation as a republic, abolishing the institution of monarchy.

Sunday’s meeting, however, failed to incorporate the much anticipated agenda of owing up the work of the last CA as new lawmakers sought time to study them. Also, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, the fourth largest force in the CA , rejected outright the proposal to own up the achievements of the erstwhile CA , including secularism and federalism. All the major parties except the RPP-Nepal have agreed to take ownership of the proceedings of the first CA .

Since the new lawmakers need time to study the work of the last CA , the agenda of owing up its work did not make it to the final agenda, said UML leader Bhim Acharya. The meeting also did not agree on incorporating the agenda of promulgating the constitution within a year. The agenda was floated by the Nepali Congress. Smaller parties such as the CPN-ML were sceptical of the plan arguing that it would fail without a concrete framework. “The CA is yet to finalise the new regulations and elect the chairperson, which is part of the larger deal among the major parties. Thus we could not make the proposal an agenda of the meeting,” said CPN-ML Chairman CP Mainali. Prior to the election, major parties pledged to bring out the statue within a year.

Prez to administer oath to Thapa today

KATHMANDU: President Ram Baran Yadav will administer the oath of office and secrecy to seniormost lawmaker Surya Bahadur Thapa on Monday. Thapa will chair the Constituent Assembly until the CA gets its chairperson and vice-chairperson.

The Interim Constitution provisions that the head of state administers the oath to the seniormost lawmaker who conducts the CA affairs until the CA chairperson and vice-chairperson are elected. Former Prime Minister and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Thapa (85) is the oldest member of the CA .

CA Secretariat spoke-sman Mukunda Sharma said Thapa will take the oath from President Yadav on Monday morning. On Tuesday afternoon, Thapa will swear in the rest of the lawmakers. The secretariat has notified all the 574 CA members to attend the ceremony with their certificate of election. Only 575 members of the 601-strong Assembly will be present in the first meeting on Wednesday, as the government is yet to nominate 26 members.

In the first CA in 2008, seniormost lawmaker Kul Bahadur Gurung had administered the oath to other lawmakers.

Parliament to meet on Jan 26

KATHMANDU:  President Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday evening summoned the first meeting of the Legislature-Parliament on January 26.

A statement issued here by the President’s Office said the first meeting of the House would convene at 3 pm. Earlier on Sunday, the government recommended that the Office of the President summon the first meeting of the House on January 26.

Cabinet Chairman Khil Raj Regmi, Law and Parliament Affairs Minister Hari Neupane, Chief Secretary Leela Mani Poudel and Law Secretary Bhesh Raj Sharma met the President to ask him to summon the House. The CA doubles as

the Legislature-Parliament. According to Article 51 (1) of Interim Constitution, the President summons the House on the recommendation of the prime minister (now Chairman Regmi).

The decision on the meeting has been registered in the Parliament Secretariat.

KAKADVITTA, JAN 19 -
Five Nepalis died when a jeep they were traveling crashed after hitting an electrical pole at Guwahati in India on Saturday. Nineteen Nepalis were injured in the accident.

The jeep, en route to Manipur from Kakadvitta, crashed at Waihata in Guwahati at around 2 am Saturday night.

The deceased have been identified as Chandra Prasad Luintel, his wife Jasoda Luintel of Satasidham-4 in Jhapa. Likewise, Harka Bahadur Gurung, Bhoj Raj Adhikari and Dhan Prasad Poudel were also killed in the mishap. Their address has not been ascertained yet.

The injured are receiving medical treatment at Guwahati Medical College. Four women and three children are said to be in critical condition.

Local journalist Rohit Gautam, who had reached the accident site, quoting the police, said that driver might have slept at the wheel leading the accident.

KATHMANDU, JAN 19 -
Hong Kong thrashed Nepal by 10 wickets in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier at Mainpower Oval, Rangiora, in New Zealand on Sunday.

Hong Kong chased the 151-run target set by the Nepali side without losing any wickets and with 100 balls to spare.

Losing the toss and batting first, Nepal's batting faltered again and were bowled out for just 150 runs. Basanta Regmi (46) and Sompal Kami (26) rescued the Nepali side late on to take the team to the 150-mark.

Skipper Paras Khadka (29) was the only other batsman to score a double digit mark for Nepal while Hong Kong conceded 21 runs in extras.

Haseeb Amjad took four wickets for Hong Kong .

In reply, Hong Kong openers Irfan Ahmed (86) and Waqas Barkat (56) raced towards the target in 33.2 overs.

This is the third defeat for Nepal in as many matches in the tournament. The defeat has virtually ended Nepal's hopes of playing the cricket world cup.

BARDIYA, JAN 17 -
CPN-UML Vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam , who was elected from Bardiya-1 and Pyuthan-1, has said he will resign from Bardiya.

He, however, expressed his commitment to remain in contact with the electorate and help them carry out development activities in the district.

The UML leader was in the district to celebrate Maghi, the greatest festival of the Tharu community.

KATHMANDU, JAN 17 -
The government is due to start the preparations of the detailed project report (DPR), country´s largest hydropower project.

The reservoir-based project with capacity of 1,111 MW capacity would be situated in the border area of Ramechhap and Solukhumbu districts.

According to information officer at the Electricity Development Department (DDA) Gokarnaraj Pantha preparations for carrying out the DPR were completed and invitation for bids would be called for within some days.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already provided Rs 2.9 billion to prepare the DPR of the project.

Currently, the government is carrying out the works of DPR of reservoir based Budhigandaki Hydropower Project of 600 mw capacity. RSS