BRIEFS (Spotlight Weekly)

THE 25TH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE UN General Assembly, which began in New York on June 6, observed a minute’s silence for the peace of the departed souls of His late Majesty King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and His late Majesty King Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

THE ELECTION FOR THE 20 VACANT seats of the National Assembly will be held in June 27, according to the Election Commission. Every two years, one-third of the Upper House seats become vacant. This year, 11 of the 20 vacant seats will be filled by the election through the House of Representatives based on proportional representation system. Five members will be chosen by the local bodies and four will be nominated by His Majesty the King.

CONCERNED BY THE LATEST TRAGIC developments in the country, leaders of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) is meeting with political leaders. The FNCCI representatives, led by president Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, met with the leaders of Marxist-Leninists at its party office on June 10 to discuss the present national situation. The leading businessmen of the country told the M-L leaders that following the unfortunate palace incident, an environment of chaos and confusion was prevalent in the country, and asked political leaders to sit together and give a new direction to the country. General Secretary of the CPN-ML Bamdev Gautam assured the businessmen that his party would behave very responsibly and urged them to take the initiative in bringing ruling and opposition parties towards a national consensus.

DESPITE THE WIDE CONDEMNATION against the arrest of editor and publishers of Kantipur daily, the government is standing firm. In a statement published on Saturday, the Ministry of Information and Communication has supported the home administration’s move of arresting the journalists, saying the first duty of the state is to penalize those who break the law. The ministry has also said that the move, in no way, was an attack on press freedom. When exercising the right of expression and opinion, the laws according to the constitution do not provide immunity to any citizen to commit crimes against the nation’s sovereignty, integrity and the state. If anybody violates this law, it is the primary duty of the state to take legal action against the person, reads the statement. Meanwhile, condemnations are pouring in from several human rights and media organizations against the government for arresting editor Yubaraj Ghimire and publishers Binod Raj Gyawali and Kailash Sirohiya.

Green Nepal Party Congratulates New King

The Green Nepal Party has extended best wishes to King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev on his accession to the throne of the kingdom of Nepal. An emergency meeting of the central committee of the party held in June 7 passed a note congratulating the new monarch. The party expressed confidence that His Majesty would be able to perform the duties well. The party welcomed His Majestyís commitment to constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy and vowed to support in all his endeavours towards strengthening and promoting this system. The party also urged the king to organize an all-party meeting to discuss the major issues facing the country including corruption and Maoist problem. In the same meeting, the party expressed deep sorrow at the unexpected incident at the palace that took the lives of king, queen, crown prince and other royalties. The party extended condolence to His late Majesty King Birendra, Her late Majesty Queen Aishwarya, His late Majesty King Dipendra, late Prince Nirajan, late Princess Sruti and other members of royal family and prayed for the departed souls. Meanwhile, the party has denounced the government for arresting Kantipur journalists on charges of sedition for publishing an article by Maoist leader. It has asked the government to immediately release the journalists and respect the press freedom.