Lohani verdict irks UML Accuses court of irregularities

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, June 28 - A day after the Special Election Court toppled the May general election results in a precedent-setting ruling, the main opposition CPN-UML today came down heavily on the verdict that went against it.

When the votes were recounted, the Special Court found that the RPP veteran, Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani, had defeated his rival Rajendra Prakash Lohani of CPN-UML by a single vote in Nuwakot-1. The latter will lose his status as a lawmaker once the Election Commission gives the official decision.

CPN-UML said it will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court, claiming that there were irregularities in the re-counting process.

General Secretary of the main opposition party Madhav Kumar Nepal in his half an hour long speech said the issue is related to the accountability of the judiciary.

"The process that led to yesterday’s decision was not transparent," he said. "It was either targeted to weaken our party or to jeopardise the whole democratic process. In either case, it is a matter of utmost gravity and the culprits must be brought to book."

He added: "People have already lost faith in the police, administration and various constitutional units,". "Now the judiciary has come under the dark cloud of suspicion with this murky decision. How can we possibly dream of rule of law with an unaccountable judiciary and unreliable constitutional units?"

He, however, stressed that all was not lost yet. "The CPN-UML still has faith in the judiciary and hence we shall appeal at the highest court.If the court fails to punish the culprits, the consequences could be serious."

Referring to the 1996 landmark decision of the Supreme Court which toppled the CPN-UML government, he said, "everybody thought it would affect only the CPN-UML Prime Minister but in the long run it affected all the successive premiers. The present decision shall also affect all the parties in similar manner. It is hence of common concern to all the democratic parties."

Nepal also came down heavily on the police manhandling of the party lawmakers and cadres who protested against the decision. Enraged UML supporters had shouted slogans against the verdict and even hurled stones at the court smashing window panes of the court and windscreens of some half a dozen vehicles parked in the court premises.

Some of the party lawmakers even ventured to accuse the single bench of Justice Pramod Bijayi of "indulging in bribery to make the decision."

CPN-UML lawmaker Mahendra Pandey said, "the decision was based on money."

Another lawmaker from CPN-UML, Urmila Aryal said "the justice engrossed in financial irregularities holds no right to the esteemed post."

Likewise, Lawmaker Rajendra Pandey said it was very unfortunate that yesterday’s verdict shows that the judiciary has come under the domain of politics. He also said the decision has defied the voting rights of the people and challenged the very authority of the Election Commission.

Apparently enraged lawmaker Sher Dhan Rai said, it was not surprising that court was rampaged yesterday. If the judiciary indulges in such irregularities the day might come when the party will even be compelled to torch the Constitution." However, he later took back his words.

Speaker Tara Nath Ranabhat then interfered asking him to sit down. The House then went chaotic after some of the main opposition lawmakers shouted at top of their voices saying that they had every right to get their voice heard.

The Speaker then urged the lawmakers to end the debate on the issue as it was unnecessarily delaying the regular parliamentary proceedings. "As the parliament hasn’t been officially informed about the verdict, it would be worthless delaying the regular proceeding on the basis of newspapers articles."

The lawmakers, however, calmed down after the Speaker allowed the leader of the main opposition to come to the rostrum to vent his party’s reaction to the verdict.

Barring few opposition from the RPP not a single voice from all the other parties including the ruling Nepali Congress was heard in the House during some 90 minutes of the uproar over the verdict.

Maoists free Subedi

KATHAMNDU, June 28 (PR) - A group of armed Maoist rebels have freed former state minister for land reforms Reg Bahadur Subedi, 74 days after they abducted him from his house in Rolpa. Whereabouts of his son Suresh Subedi, who has also abducted by the rebels, is not yet known.

Family sources said the rebels left him at his house in remote mid-western hill district of Rolpa Wednesday night. The rebels told them that the underground "Maoists’ higher authority is still investigating Suresh Subedi".

About 150 rebels, including locals, had dropped him home. They also signed a paper bearing signatures of five Maoists and five of Subedi’s neighbours.

In a letter faxed to his friend Krishna Bahadur Gharti in Rolpa district headquarters, a copy of which also obtained by The Kathmandu Post, Subedi has said that he is currently taking rest.

Former envoy's dues in Germany

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, June 28 - Former Ambassador to Germany Nobal Kishor Rai has yet to pay some of the dues of departmental stores in Germany and train tickets bought using credit cards while he was travelling with his family to Paris, a Foreign Ministry source said.

When the police came to the embassy and asked for the payment of the dues the incumbent ambassador to Germany Balram Singh Malla notified the Foreign Ministry about Rai’s dues in a letter on May 23. According to the source, Malla paid some of the dues of Rai and some of the amount is yet to be paid.

Former Ambassador Rai, however said that some of the people have made mountain out of a mole-hill to tarnish his reputation. "I have faxed a message to my friend Ram Thapa and the present ambassador to pay the dues if there be any from my life insurance amount," he said. "May be the departmental stores went to cash the credit card too late, after I closed my bank account," he said.

Rai and family had bought two way tickets to Paris from a travel agency on the credit of DM 448 equivalent to Rs 12 thousand three hundred. He had also bought goods using credit cards from two departmental stores on the day of his departure from Germany, according to the source. The present Ambassador paid the train ticket and departmental store dues amounting to DM 576 equivalent to RS 19,653, from the fund which was to be reimbursed to Rai and his workers, according to Foreign Ministry source.

NC CWC members rap party leadership

KATHMANDU, June 28 (pr)-Some members of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the ruling Nepali Congress today alleged that a faction of the party members have adopted a biased strategy to influence the upcoming General Convention of the party.

CWC members close to the former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai alleged that the party General Secretary was repeatedly dissolving the party’s district committees (Bhattarai panel) by unfair means just before the upcoming tenth Convention. They said the General Secretary was directed by the Party President and Prime Minister Koirala himself.

Koirala and Bhattarai, the septuagenarians and the senior most leaders of the party, are long time friends recently turned foes.

Criticising a report on "the Tenth Convention and Party Organisation" presented by the General Secretary Sushil Koirala at the CWC meeting today, the unsatisfied members said that the crisis in the party was due to the fraction in the leadership.

It is merely a "double standard" of the Party President when he talks of party unity, the members told The Kathmandu Post, quoting Bhattarai at the CWC meet today.

Similarly, an influential party leader and CWC member Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed profound pessimism over the design to dissolve the district committees just before the Tenth Convention.

He also said that the conflict in the party had deep impression at the grass-roots level of the party and if proper measures weren’t taken duly, it would adversely affected forthcoming local elections.

Health status among the worst

KATHMANDU, June 28 (PR) - Nepal’s health status still ranks among the worst in Asia- 150th on overall health system performance, the World Health Report 2000 released today revealed.

The total government expenditure on health is significantly low, just 26 per cent compared to total private expenditure which stands at 74 per cent. Nepal spends 3.7 per cent of its GDP on health, according to the report.

The difference between a well-performing health system and one that is failing can be measured in death, disability, impoverishment, humiliation and despair", Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Gro Brundtland stated in her message.

In its first ever analysis of the world’s health systems of 191 member states, WHO reveals its findings that France provides the best overall health care followed by Italy,Spain,Oman,Austria and Japan.

The report ranks Singapore the sixth country, the only Asian country apart from Japan in the top 50 countries. Countries judged to have the least fair financing of health systems include Nepal, Sierra Leone, Myanmar,Brazil, China,Viet Nam, Russian Federation,Peru and Cambodia.

According to the Report, health ministries’ excessive focus on the public sector, often disregarding the larger private sector health care, and their inability to translate policies into practice, physicians’ contributions simultaneously for the public and private sector, government’s inefficiency in mitigating "black market " in health, rampant corruption, bribery, and a host of other illegal practices are the chief causes that can be attributed to the failure of many health systems.

The impact of failures in health systems is most catastrophic on the poorest of the poor who do not have financial protection against ill-health.

"In many countries without a health insurance safety net, many families have to pay more than 100 per cent of their income for health care when hit with sudden emergencies. In other words, illness forces them into debt", the report says.

WHO’s assessment system is based on five indicators: overall level of population, health inequalities or disparities within the population, overall level of health system responsiveness(a combination of patient satisfaction and how well the system acts), distribution of responsiveness within the population and the distribution of the health systems financial burden within the population ( who pays the costs).

All VDCs to have 2 phone lines in 3 yrs

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, June 28 - Minister for Information and Communications JP Gupta has said that every Village Development Committee in the country would get two lines of telephone in the next three years.

He made this observation in parliament referring to the question raised by the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Shiv Raj Joshi on the distribution of telephone lines to all the VDCs. "Two lines of telephone would be furnished to each and every VDCs in the country by the fiscal year 2059/60.

He also informed the House that all the VDCs shall get two Wireless Local Loop (WLL)/VSAT telephone services by the same fiscal year. "I want to assure the House that we have ample capacity to achieve these ends," he said.

Minister Gupta added that six VDCs-Bahun Tilpung, Ratnawati, Swolpa, Khansang, Lampantar and Ambote - in Sindhuli would be connected to the rest of the country through telephone services by the end of this fiscal year.

Minister Gupta also said that the government had decided to set up a number of television towers in four phases to expand the television transmission throughout the country. "A television tower at Resunga in Gulmi falls in the first phase and would soon be installed."

Meanwhile, Minister Gupta also presented an amendment bill regarding some communication acts. The House overwhelmingly passed the proposal.

RNAC-Ansett talks hinges on a million dollar

By Suman Pradhan

KATHMANDU, June 28 – After a month-long negotiations, the aircraft leasing deal between national flag-carrier RNAC and Australian conglomerate Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services is on the verge of collapse.

On the surface, it appears that the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on the maintenance package of the leasing deal. That much is true, since RNAC kept a condition that the maintenance of the Boeing B-767 jet Ansett was supplying had to be done exclusively at Royal Brunei’s maintenance facilities. Ansett, on the other hand, wanted an option.

But is that the real reason why the deal is on the verge of collapse? Sources close to the negotiations say, yes and no.

Yes, because Royal Brunei was the sticking point in the negotiations. And no because, the real reason for disagreement is the refusal by Ansett to pad the aircraft leasing price with an additional 200 US dollars an hour.

To put the issue in perspective, RNAC has been in negotiations with Ansett for a month. The Australian company, which initially proposed a whopping price of 4300-4500 dollars per flight hour for its jet, reduced the final price to 3400 dollars an hour after some expert negotiating by RNAC officials. The price included the cost of the aircraft, its insurance and maintenance package as was specified by RNAC in its global tender.

Airline sources say, RNAC bosses then put an exclusive clause in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Ansett and Royal Nepal Airlines that granted maintenance work to Royal Brunei exclusively, which Ansett had initially resisted. The Australians had proposed four alternative maintenance organisations which included a London-based maintenance company called Monarch, Royal Brunei, Air New Zealand and Ansett itself, but that was rejected by RNAC in favour of Royal Brunei exclusively.

A problem arose in between when Ansett expressed its inability to supply a five year old jet it had originally signed the MoU for. Instead, it agreed to supply a seven year old jet at reduced prices of US $ 3400 a flight hour (the price for the five year old jet was agreed at US $ 3570 per flight hour.)

After signing the MoU, Harry Forsythe, the Ansett official who was here negotiating with RNAC, returned to Australia earlier this month. The next day, he got a call from Royal Brunei officials that turned the deal around.

Ansett sources said, Royal Brunei officials were asking for an increase of US $ 200 in the US $ 3400 an hour price to "cover the maintenance of the aircraft." They also implied that the money would go as a "retainer" for its agent in Kathmandu, sources said.

To figure out what kind of money that is, it should be remembered that the leased jet would be flown for approximately 5400 hours over the course of the 18 month leasing period. Multiply that with 200 and the dollar value of the padding will come to around 1.08 million dollars.

Efforts to verify this with RNAC officials were unsuccessful. RNAC Executive Chairman Hari Bhakta Shrestha, who is directly overseeing the negotiations, did not return calls despite repeated attempts to contact him. However, the negotiating tactic employed by RNAC negotiators reinforces the perception that something fishy is going on.

The airlne called for AMI leasing conditions, which means the supplier must supply not only the aircraft but also the insurance and maintenance packages. In the aviation business, this generally means the supplier has the freedom to choose which insurance or maintenance companies it wants to do business with.

Not so in this case. Royal Brunei was forced upon Ansett by RNAC. It got that point in the MoU, which was agreed at a price of US$ 3400. But when Ansett refused to jack up the price by US$ 200 dollars (which obviously will not be shown in the leasing invoice, according to sources) to accommodate Royal Brunei’s request, RNAC officials threatened to cancel the deal.

The question is: why are RNAC officials supporting Royal Brunei’s efforts to jack up the price which, ultimately, will not be shown on the leasing invoice? Where is this 200 dollars an hour, and by extension the 1.08 million dollar over the leasing period, going?

It is for this reason that the deal is on the verge of collapse. It has to be noted here that RNAC has never asked for an exclusive maintenance clause in all its leasing agreements in its entire aircraft leasing history. Why now, and why for Royal Brunei?

Meanwhile, other problems have cropped up in the negotiations. Sources say, since the MoU was signed by Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS), RNAC is asking that the leasing agreement also be signed with the same company. But Ansett has its leasing arm which is named Ansett Worldwide Leasing Company (AWLC) which supplies all its aircraft for lease.

Ansett officials are arguing that AWAS is the holding company and any deal signed by ANLC is also legally binding on AWAS. RNAC officials are refusing to budge on this point. This issue is being raised to ultimately cancel the Ansett deal and deflect attention from the issue of "padding". That is the real reason why the deal is going nowhere, say sources.

Gaddachauki tense over beating case

By a Post Reporter

MAHENDRANAGAR, June 28 - The Indo-Nepal border area in Gaddachauki here remained tense all day today after hundreds of Nepalis protested against Indian border police who allegedly manhandled a Nepali businessman.

The enraged mob also blocked transport movement along the border side after an Indian police inspector beat up one Khem Chandra and seized his truck, a relative of Khem Chandra said.

He added that the truck, which received permit to transport goods from Nepal-to-Nepal and also underwent customs check, was forcibly stopped by the Indian police. Customarily, such vehicles are not re-checked by the police. The truck carrying rice sacks was bound for Darchula.

Administration warns BASE on Kamaiya move

By Rama Parajuli

DHANGADHI, June 28 - District Administration Office (DAO) Kailali has warned Backward Society Education (BASE) not to take any step that would "disturb the social structure" of the Terai communities.

The notice issued Sunday warned BASE, an NGO presently spearheading a campaign for emancipation of the bonded labourers (Kamaiyas) in Dhangadhi, of legal action if the order was not obeyed.

Kamaiya movement started in March this year in mid and far-western Terai districts when Kailali district administration refused to register a complaint filed by 19 Kamaiyas against their landlord Shiva Raj Pant. The application was finally accepted when the Kamaiyas gheraoed the administration office for 14 days.

Kamaiyas have demanded emancipation from bonded labour, waiver of loans and interest and guarantee of their security and shelter. The number of Kamaiyas filing petition has crossed one thousand.

Pallu Rana, 19, a Kamaiya who has filed a petition at Kanchanpur DAO, said, "I wish the government would free us from the debt we owe to the landlords soon. We could earn our own bread." His father had borrowed Rs 20 sauki (loan) long ago. With the interest added, the loan swelled into Rs 52 thousand pulling his whole family into life-long debt trap.

The movement has gained support from local elected bodies, political parties, national media, NGOs and INGOs including former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. But the authorities, whose actions matter much in this case, are busy passing the buck.

When the Kamaiyas approached the VDC, the local representatives rejected their petitions saying the VDC does not have the authority to free them. Then they took recourse to the CDO office.

"VDC can determine agriculture labourers’ wages," said Geta VDC Chairman Shanta Bahadur Karki. "We have fixed 60 rupees as minimum agricultural wage per day."

Ministry of Labour granted authority to DDCs and Municipalities to fix daily wages of agricultural labourers on Janaury 13 this year.

When VDCs chairmen disappointed them, they approached the Chief District Officers (CDO) of Kailali and Kanchanpur with their grievances, but the same fate waited them.

"We don’t have laws to free Kamaiyas," Tana Gautam, CDO of Kailali said. "They are being exploited. They are working as bonded labourers but I don’t have the legal authority to free them."

Gautam added that the copies of petitions have been sent to the Home Ministry and the Land Reforms Ministry.

Dilli Chowdhary, the coordinator of the movement and president of BASE said Nepal’s Constitution and Civil Code provides enough authority to the CDO to free the bonded labourers.

Now the ball is in the government’s court. Kamaiyas are waiting eagerly for the government to decide in their favour. Local administration officials are also waiting Kathmandu’s directives.

Some local NGOs claim that there are around 40 thousand Kamaiyas in the five districts of Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardia and Dang. However, official data released by the government some four years ago show the number to be around 20 thousand.

Demonstrators arrested at TIA

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, June 28 - Police today arrested former daily wage employees at Tribhuvan International Airport who were on a relay hunger strike at TIA premises since May 10.

The employees who were sacked after the hijacking of Indian Airlines plane in December last year, were staying relay hunger strike demanding their reinstatement. .

"We have arrested the people on strike because Kathmandu District Administration has declared TIA as restricted area since yesterday prohibiting such demonstration," said Inspector Ramesh Kumar Gautam. The police later released all of the arrested.

Meanwhile, Raj Kumar Bhandari, a central committee member at Nepal Customs and Airport Workers Union (NCAWU) said, "I don’t know why such a step was taken so suddenly when the protest has been going on for the the last fifty days."

According to Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, Krishna Prasad Sharma, such action was taken because of the ‘sensitiveness’ at TIA.

The former employees had opted for a hunger strike after authorities at TIA did not comply with the then Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bijay Kumar Gachhedar’s orders to take necessary steps to reinstate them.

"While twenty-seven people were removed, ten were then just transferred to other places and later called to TIA. This is sheer discrimination," said Chudamani Bhatt unit-8 secretary of NCAWU.

However Director General at TIA, Rajesh Raj Dali disagrees. He said," We don’t have people working on daily-wage basis now."

"One thing must be clear that these people have been removed not because they were found guilty but in accordance with the policy of adjustments at TIA," Dali stressed.

CIAA begins further probe against land official

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, June 28 - The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has initiated further investigations against a senior land reforms department official charged with illegal transferring of land belonging to SOS Village of Pokhara to private individuals.

Spokesman at CIAA Rewati Raj Kafley on Wednesday said the country’s anti-corruption body has initiated further investigations against the department’s deputy director general Ram Prasad Shrestha.

CIAA, the constitutional anti-corruption body, last month released the former Chief of the Kaski District Revenue Department, after his family members deposited their personal assets worth Rs 15.65 million rupees in bail amount as fixed by the commission.

Shrestha was taken into custody and detained in late May after he failed to come up with the bail amount. Shrestha is accused of illegally transferring about 20 ropanies of land worth Rs. 30 million by abusing his authority to at least nine people.

He is said to have done so with the help of government advocate at the Pokhara Appellate Court Pushpa Raj Koirala. Koirala happens to be related to all nine land recipients that included his father.

The Worldwide Children’s Welfare Organization had built buildings about 23 years ago on the land donated by Pokhara Town Planning Implementation Committee Office and has been using it since then for the purpose of helping orphans and helpless children providing food, shelter and education.