FOUR FORMER FOREIGN MINISTERS OJHECT BAN CALL

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 7 Sept, Four former foreign ministers KP Sharma Oli, Chakra Prasad Bastola, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohini Tuesday charged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for intervening in the affairs of a sovereign member state of the world body.
The reaction was prompted by a call from Ban that a successor government led by Caretaker Prime Minister should decide the details of the mandate of UNMIN, the political arm of the world body, whose tenure ends 15 September.
While saying a successor government should discuss the mandate with the UN, Ban asked the government led by Nepal to extend the tenure and mandate without change.
The four ministers said even though the Nepal-led government is caretaker it was elected by a majority in parliament and a replacement government hasn’t been elected.
The former ministers objected to the implied question of the legality of the government.
The former ministers said the Bann call in a report to the security council even as the government hasn’t told UN formally of UNMIN’s future amid calls the mandate should be limited by taking Nepal army off the UNMIN’s watch list.
The ministers are from NC, UML and Rashriya Janasakti Party (RJP).
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PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS DISRUPTED

Kathmandu, 7 Sept.: NC and UML lawmakers Tuesday demanded discussions in parliament, amid Maoist opposition, on contents of a tape conversation of Maoist Spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara demanding Rs 500 million from an unidentified Chinese to buy votes in parliament for Chairman Prachanda’s bid for prime minister.
Speaker Subash Nemwang, through a notice posted on theboard, announced house adjournment until 12 September.
The speaker had adjourned the meeting for 30 minutes after allowing Finance Minister Surendra Pandey to register an amendment to the finance bill 2067 to raise tariff on gold imports.
The speaker ruled after announcing the outcome of a vote in the sixth round of election of prime minister.
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FURTHER DETAILS ON PARLIAMENT VOTE

Kathmandu, 7 Sept.: Fearing defections, MJFL locked up its lawmakers at the office in parliament and stopped them from voting in the sixth round of voting for prime minister Tuesday.
MJF-Nepal stayed neutral although it can expected 25 lawmakers would vote for Chairman Prachanda.
Voting started one hour later at three in the afternoon.
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