Maoist secretariat discusses protests; other details

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 31 May: Maoist secretariat Sunday morning began discussions Sunday morning to chart out anti-government protests after parliament speaker Subash Nemwang Saturday rejected a Maoist proposal to discuss a Maoist censure motion against President Dr Ram Baran Yadav.
There was no unanimity in the business advisory committee as well.
Maoist claim the president acted unconstitutionally by asking Army Chief Gen Rukmangud Katawal to continue after dismissal by remaining Maoist ministers in the government of Prime Minister Prachanda.
Supreme court is also considering the legality of the presidential action.
The secretariat is also discussing the agenda for a politburo meeting and the constitution draft, party spokesman Dinanath Sharma said.
Meanwhile, an immediate split was adverted in the MJF after a late night central committee meeting agreed to send both Bijaya Gachedhar and Chairman Upendra Yadav to government, according to Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta, who is deputy party chief.
Party political committee will decide the party team in government; MJF has been offered six seats in the cabinet.
Gachedhar faction opted to join the Madhav Kumar Nepal government—a move opposed by Yadav who defected to the Forum from Maoists.
Yadav charged Nepali Congress and CPN-UML of attempting to split his party.
Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala will decide the party in government.
Maoists are likely to obstruct the discussion of a report of a national interest protection group in the constituent assembly Sunday.
The assembly is scheduled to discuss the report for four days until Thursday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nepal Sunday is paying a flying visit of his home district Rautahat from he lost constituent assembly elections 10 April 2008.
Nepal hasn’t assembled a complete government even eight days after his election.
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PM Nepal performs religious ritual for dead mother

Kathmandu, 31 May: Five years after the death of his mother, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal with his brothers Friday performed sharadhya [religious ritual for dead mother], Naya Patrika reports.
Nepal didn’t observe the ritual when his mother died and couldn’t be prime minister then.
King Gyanendra appointed Sher Bahadur Deuba prime minister after the resignation of Surya Bahadur Thapa even as Nepal laid claim to the post after claming regression had been partially rectified.
The ritual was held at his home in Koteshwor where political party leaders were offered prasad.
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Woman paraded naked in the capital

Kathmandu, 31 May: Watched by fearful children and passersby, a mob of nearly 50 young men beat up a woman and paraded her naked in the heart of the capital city Kathmandu with no one daring to protest even as Nepal’s political parties said they were writing a new constitution that would empower women and other disadvantaged groups, Times of India reports.
Though it happened on May 20, it came to public notice only this week when a passerby taking photographs of the scene and sending them to a Nepali blog site, Mysansar.com.
Though the cornered woman repeatedly cried out in fear, asking people to save her, nobody dared to intervene.
The shocking incident occurred in the Ratna Park area of Kathmandu, one of the busiest spots in the capital where Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Friday laid down the foundation of a martyrs’ memorial.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“An attempt is being made knowingly by extreme communists to revive monarchy by riding the backs of CPN-UML and Nepali Congress.”

(Defence Minister Bidya Bhandari, Kantipur, 31 May)
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