Presidential Election Heads For Run-Off; Jha Is Elected Vice Prez
The meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) held Saturday (July 19) night officially declared that Paramananda Jha has become Nepal's first vice president, winning the election held on July 19. He was a Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) candidate. CA chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced that Jha has been elected vice president bagging 305 votes, beating his nearest rival Shanta Shrestha of CPN (Maoist) who garnered 243 votes. However, two presidential frontrunners – Dr Ram Baran Yadav of Nepali Congress and Maoist-backed candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh – failed to gain 298 votes needed to be elected to the post. Gurung announced that Dr Yadav bagged 283 votes while Singh ended up with 270 votes. Twenty-four votes were invalid. With no presidential candidate mustering majority votes, there will be re-election for the president. Gurung said the re-election will be held on Monday (July 21). 578 out of 594 CA members registered in the voter list had cast their votes. Five fringe parties including Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party ( Nepal), Rastriya Janamorcha and CPN (Unified) boycotted the voting. Compiled from reports
New Alliance Is Born; 'President To NC, VP To MJF And CA Chair To UML
In a sudden shift in political equation, three parties - Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (UML) and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) - have agreed to share the three key positions - president, vice-president and chair of the Constituent Assembly (CA). As per the understanding reached at a meeting of the three parties Saturday (July 19) morning, just ahead of the presidential election, UML and MJF have agreed to back NC's presidential candidate Dr Ram Baran Yadav while MJF's Paramananda Jha will get support for the vice presidential slot. Likewise, UML has settled for the chair of the CA. However, the three parties will have to bring few other allies on board to reach the magic number, 298, in order to materialize their agreement. The 'new alliance' was born after the Maoists refused to back both UML and NC candidates for the post of the president, and instead went ahead with its own candidate. Negotiations between the Maoists and MJF leaders this morning had failed. MJF parliamentary leader Bijaya Kumar Gachhedar said after the meeting that his party would not support Maoist presidential candidate, Ram Raja Prasad Singh, as they refused to back MJF candidate for vice presidential slot. Compiled from reports
16 Passengers Die When Bus Plunges Into Trishuli
At least 16 people died in a road accident last night at Khaharey area along the Narayangadh-Mugling highway. Another 24 people were injured when the bus skidded off the road and plunged into the Trishuli River. 21 injured are undergoing treatment at the Bharatpur hospital while seven have been sent to Bharatpur Medical College for treatment. Rescue operation is underway while the deceased and yet to identified. The deceased include two women and three children. The incident took place at around 12 midnight (July 18). Continued rain in the area has put obstacles in rescue works. It is feared that a number of passengers have drowned and are missing. Compiled from reports
Gautam Fumes Against Maoists
Senior UML leader Bam Dev Gautam has accused the Maoists of ending the politics of consensus by refusing to back Madhav Kumar Nepal and Girija Prasad Koirala for the post of president. "This is a historical mistake committed by the Maoist leadership" he said speaking at the Reporters Club Friday. Stating that Nepal and Koirala have contributed immensely for the peace process in Nepal, Gautam went on to claim that the Maoists would face the consequences in time. Gautam further accused the Maoist leaders of betraying the leaders who brought them into mainstream politics and helped improve their image in international forums. He claimed that Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had assured to support the candidacy of Nepal for president during the bilateral meeting on Wednesday. However, the central secretariat meeting of the Maoists on Thursday morning decided to back Ram Raja Prasad Singh for the post of president. Gautam also criticized the possible alliance between Maoists and Terai based parties, claiming that such alliance would lead the country to disintegration. Compiled from reports
Three Candidates For President; Four For Vice President
Three candidates have been registered for the post of president and four for the vice president till the fixed time on Thursday (July 17), according to the Election Commission. CPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) have filed the names of their candidates for the president and vice president so far. The Maoist has proposed Ram Raja Prasad Singh for the presidential post and its Constituent Assembly (CA) lawmaker professor Shanta Shrestha for the vice presidential post. Likewise, the NC has registered its General Secretary Dr Ram Baran Yadav as presidential candidate and central member Maan Bahadur Bishwakarma as vice presidential candidate. The UML has proposed the name of Ram Prit Paswan for president and central member Asta Laxmi Shakya for vice president. Paswan hails from the Madhes and belongs to the Dalit community. Similarly, the MPRF has expressed solidarity to the candidacy of Ram Raja Prasad Singh, proposed by the Maoist, for the presidential post. It has registered the name of Parmananda Jha for the vice presidential post. The candidates will be contesting in the elections that will be carried out on Saturday from 11am to 2pm. The Constituent Assembly will announce the country's first president and the vice president on the same day at 5. Compiled from reports
Banks Agree To Finance Rs 6 Billion On Upper Tamakosi Project
A consortium of commercial banks have reached an agreement with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to finance Rs 6 billion in the proposed 309 MW strong Upper Tamakosi hydropower project. On behalf of ten banks, CEO of the lead bank Himalayan Bank Limited signed the agreement on Wednesday (July 16). Earlier, the NEA had reached an agreement with Employment Provident Fund (EPF), which agreed to finance Rs 12 billion for the project. The total project cost is estimated at Rs 27 billion of which 70 percent will be financed through loans and 30 percent through shares. This is the first big project being financed with full domestic lending and shares. Kantipur daily reports
LPG Supply Runs Dry
The Kathmandu Valley is facing severe shortage of cooking gas, as there had been no import of LPG from Barauni refinery for the last 12 days. Sanwar Mal Agrawal, president of the LPG Industries' Association, said 500 metric tonnes of LPG had been loaded in Mathura station and was ready for delivery to Nepal. But that's just a trickle compared to the average monthly demand of 10,500 metric tonnes. Even after the Barauni refinery, which has been shut, re-opens, LPG supply won't be regularized, as the IOC has told NOC that it would not supply more than 100 metric tonnes of LPG a day for non-payment of its past dues, says Agrawal. Local dealers have already run out of stock and customers are set to face an unprecedented shortage. Nepal Oil Corporation fuel stock too is worrisome, as NOC has imported only quarter of the monthly demand for July.
During the first 14 days of July, NOC imported 2,750 kl of petrol while the monthly demand is around 12,000 kl. Likewise, NOC imported 6,700 kl of diesel against the monthly demand of 30,000 kl and 2,000 kl of kerosene against the demand of 10,000 kl.
In the past two months, the NOC had been able to import only around 40 per cent of the demand. NOC managing director Digambar Jha said the NOC was not being able to import enough fuel due to fund crunch. He said even loan from banks was not available as it was closing of the fiscal year. "The NOC alone cannot do anything on it," he said, adding that the government should be more supportive to ensure smooth fuel supply. He suggested exempting fuel from VAT and adjusting fuel prices on par with international prices. Based on today's transaction, the NOC is losing Rs 3.46 per litre on petrol, Rs 33.25 per litre on diesel, Rs 23.33 per litre on kerosene and Rs 343.45 on a cylinder of LPG, said Jha. The Himalayan Times daily reports
Democracy Not Followed In Passing Advance Expenditure Bill: IFDS
A leading economic think tank has decried the hasty manner in which the advance expenditure bill was presented and approved through the Constituent Assembly (CA). The Institute for Development Studies (IFDS) has said that denying public debate on the bill is not in keeping with the democratic norms. "An unprecedented event of amending the constitution for an Advance Expense Bill was bad enough. What is worse is that the bill was passed on the same day that it was tabled. What is even worse is that it never underwent public scrutiny, it was never released to the media, and no grievances were heard or asked for," reads a statement by the IFDS. "What is the point in commenting on the Advance Expense Bill or offering constructive criticism on a bill that has already been passed?" asks Dr. Raghab Dhoj Pant, executive director of IFDS. "The only recourse for anybody who thinks the bill is unfair is a bandh or a strike. Has a new politburo emerged or are we reverting back to the Panchayat System? Either way, it does not matter. What matters is that this is not the democracy that we were promised," the IFDS further notes. Minister for Finance Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat had presented the Advance Expense Bill of Rs 73 billion, about 43 percent of last year's budget, on July 14 in order to allow the government to run day to day expense and to collect revenue from the beginning of the new fiscal year (beginning July 16) until it is replaced by a full-fledged budget. Compiled from reports
Shamshergunj Rebels Also Face Action
The police have initiated disciplinary action against the policemen who had rebelled at Shamshergunj battalion of Armed Police Force (APF) in Nepalgunj four weeks ago. A team of police led by Superintendent of Police Man Singh Mauni took rebelling APF personnel of Shamshergunj in their custody by taking over the battalion on Monday night. Forty APF men have been suspended and 26 held in detention while 18 were flown to Kathmandu for further investigation. The fresh action was initiated after the government detained 19 policemen of Riot Police Battalion (also in Nepalgunj) under control after they revolted last week. Earlier, the government had held 'talks' with 'rebels' of Shamshergunj battalion to end their seige. However, as the series of revolt spread and the junior policemen held their senior officials hostage in Riot Police Battalion, the government decided to adopt a tough posture. Consequently, the rebelling policemen of Shamshergunj battalion who had been let off without any action earlier have now been dragged under the disciplinary action. Compiled from reports
