PM Asks NA To Be Ready To Face Any Challenge
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has directed Nepali Army (NA) to be ready to face any kind of challenge to the nation. Koirala, who also holds Defense portfolio, traveled to NA Headquarters on Sunday (July 1) morning and discussed security situation with senior army officials. Earlier, he used to hold such discussions at his residence in Baluwatar. According to NA's Directorate of Public Relations, PM also directed the army to remain alert on security situation in the country. He praised the restraint and maturity demonstrated by NA in the changed context. He said NA shoulders the responsibility of protecting national independence and sovereignty. He said NA's unity, discipline and dutifulness will secure integrity and democratic rights of the country. He assured government's help in modernizing and professional development of the army. At the meeting, army chief General Rookmangud Katawal expressed commitment to carry out orders of the government on the basis of civilian supremacy. PM was presented with various reports at the meeting. Kantipur daily reports
Thapa Against PLA Integration Into NA
Surya Bahadur Thapa, president of Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP), has said it will be wrong to integrate politically indoctrinated soldiers of Maoists' People's Liberation Army (PLA) into the national and disciplined Nepali Army (NA). "If persons carrying political ideologies are entered into NA, then that will trigger anomalies. We believe that should not be done," he said on Sunday (July 1) after the three-day meeting of central committee of his party. Thapa also lambasted the constitutional provision that bars those named in Rayamajhi Commission report from contesting elections of Constituent Assembly. He said such provision should be made applicable to only those persons termed guilty by court of law. The RJP has also said it will unacceptable to them if the government tries to fill up the vacancies in local bodies prior to elections. Kantipur daily reports
UNMIN Refutes Reports That 400 PLA Men Have Been Disqualified
In response to media reports that around 400 PLA men have been disqualified in the course of second stage verification in Chulachuli camp, the UNMIN spokesperson Kieran Dwyer has issued a clarification. "There has been a range of media reports stating that around 400 Maoist army personnel were disqualified during the verification process conducted by UNMIN at the Chulachuli cantonment site in Ilam - the process completed last week. These numbers are not provided by UNMIN, and in fact they are not correct," Dwyer says in a statement. He has added that the UNMIN will make figures public, but not at this stage, pending further discussions with the Maoist leadership. In the statement, Dwyer has said that there are three categories of Maoist army personnel that will be disqualified through the verification process. "First, those personnel who registered earlier in the year, but did not report for the verification process. Second, those personnel who joined the Maoist army after 26 May 2006 and, third, those personnel born after 25 May 1988." The statement also says that verification teams only include UNMIN arms monitors, with UNICEF child protection officers and UNDP registration personnel. Compiled from reports
Talks With Janajatis Drag On
As in the past, the third meeting between the government talks team and representatives of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN) and Indigenous Nationalities Joint Struggle Committee, on Thursday (June 28), also ended inconclusively. However, like in the past, the meeting got stuck on the NFIN demand of ethnicity based full proportional representation election system as well as ensuring a minimum of one candidate (in CA) for every ethnic community. Although NFIN leadership regretted the lack of homework on government's part, they have agreed to meet again within next ten days. "The government could not come up with any proposal today. I hope the eight party mechanism will take up this issue in their meeting on Sunday," said Dr. Om Gurung, member of NFIN talks team. Dr. Gurung said next meeting could be held within ten days. On the other hand, Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel expressed inability of the government to entertain all demands by the ethnic groups. "You can imagine the extent of complications when you are demanding ethnicity based fully proportional representation system and guaranteeing at least one member from each group. There are over 100 ethnic groups in this country. Their population range from 165 to over 1.2 million," Poudel said. Compiled from reports
YCL Rejects OHCHR'S Charges
The Young Communist League (YCL) has rejected charges of rights violations made by the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). At a press meet on Tuesday (June 26), leaders of Maoist-affiliated YCL blamed that the OHCHR report, made public on Saturday, was politically motivated and was not based on facts. "The charges of abductions, torture and misbehavior are false. In some cases, based on public grievances, we brought some people for discussion," said Ganesh Man Pun, president of YCL. He said that YCL was in favor of peace and progress. "Reactionaries and regressive elements are against us," he said. The YCL leaders have also expressed surprise that instead of many criminal groups active in the country, they were being targeted. The YCL leaders also rejected allegations that their activities had spoiled the environment for elections. On Saturday, OHCHR-Nepal had issued a statement blaming YCL for rights abuses. It had delivered the report, which documents abuses such as abductions and ill-treatment in captivity, attacks on physical and mental integrity, and the violent disruption of political activities, to Maoist chairman Prachanda.
JTMM Splits Again
The Jai Krishna Goit-led Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) has split again. Eight commanders of its military side have revolted and floated a separate front with the same name. They floated a new JTMM with eight member central committee led by Bishphot Singh concluding that Goit-led JTMM 'cannot liberate Terai and its people.' Singh told Kantipur that the new front was floated on Jestha 30. "We formed a separate front by revolting together with one company of Terai Liberation Army," he claimed. He also claimed he has 150 armed fighters in his company and vowed to expand his organization. "Leadership is indulged in personal interest and have become others' agent," he charged. The newly formed central committee includes Jaso Yadav, Surya Narayan Yadav, Shri Yadav, Gugali Yadav, Asharam Yadav, Bam Bhola Singh and Devnath Yadav. Bishphot Singh used to be eastern military commander of Goit-led JTMM. Goit who was once the president of Maoist-affiliated Madhesi National Liberation Front (MNLF) had revolted from the Maoists in Shrawan of 2061. However, two year later in Shrawan of 2063, Jwala Singh rebelled from Goit's JTMM and formed a separate front. Kantipur daily reports
Results Of FSR Are Encouraging: NRB Governor
Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Bijaynath Bhattarai has said that the achievements of financial sector reform programs till now are encouraging. He informed that reforms in Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) and Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) have resulted in profits there. Till the end of 2006, NBL has earned operating profit of Rs 3.84 billion while RBB has earned operating profit of Rs 5.3 billion. Government had invited foreign management to look after these financially bankrupt state-owned banks. They were running in loss before the foreign management took over. Bhattarai said data will help better understand the importance of reforms. On Wednesday, senior political leaders had said the reforms were unsuccessful and said the foreign management should not be renewed. In the four year period, Rs 824.3 million and Rs 480 million have been spent on foreign management group in NBL and RBB, respectively. Kantipur daily reports
West Seti: Govt No To House Panel View
The government has made it clear to the parliamentary Natural Resources and Means Committee (NRMC) that Article 156 of the constitution does not come into play while talking about the West Seti Hydroelectricity Project (WSHP). This came in the form of a reply to the NRMC, which had last fortnight written to the government to explain why Article 156 does not come into play when the export-oriented WSHP goes into implementation with Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) closer to clinching the job. "We have been told that the Article does not come into play at all. They have rejected our view that since WSHP is an export-oriented project, the government must ensure that the same is passed by parliament with the desired majority," said member of parliament from the CPN-UML and member of the NRMC Prakash Jwala. He said that the government has ruled out that Nepal and India were executing the project jointly. "The government has also ruled out asking for free energy since, as has been claimed, the agreement of 2003 has scaled down the demand to cash reimbursement from energy," Jwala further said. The government letter reads that Nepal could expect to have the promised energy when the company executes the Upper Seti project. In reply to a third question concerning suitable rehabilitation of the 760 families from the project site, the government has promised to go by the agreement "which covers rehabilitation aspect." However, not all the families who will be affected are expected to be relocated in Terai, it has been learned. While the NRMC is expected to sit down with Minister of State for Water Resources Gyanendra Bahadur Karki for the last time on the episode very soon before writing its report to him, chief whips of the parties in parliament today spoke in favor of asking for 10 percent energy rather than cash reimbursement. They said the government must table the agreement in parliament in future. The Himalayan Times reports
