NC GENERAL CONVENTION ENDS WTH CENTRAL WORKING COMMITTEE MEMBERS’ ELECTION

Kathmandu, 21 Sept. The five-day 12th NC general convention ends Tuesday with the election of 61 of 85 central committee members by 3,100 plus delegates.
Voting started at 10 in the morning—two hours behind schedule.
The remaining members will be nominated by the newly elected president to succeed Girija Prasad Koirala who ran the party with an iron fist.
A closed session of the assembly approved the party’s policy and programme for the next five years.
Acting President Sushil Koirala, three-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Bhim Bahadur Tamang are contenders for the presidency.
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CASES FILED AGAINST UML LAWMAKER DOL BAHADUR KARKI

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: CIAA Monday filed cases at the special court against UML lawmaker Dol Bahadur Karki Swami 1008 Brahmananda Udasin
The party has recommended the expulsion of Karki from the party andd parliament.
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The anti-corruption court filed cases for recovery of Rs 405,000 from them; they were arrested 1 August from the capital while accepting Rs 100,000 from a youth who was soliciting to enter Nepal Police as inspector.
The court sought fur-year imprisonment of Karki and an 18-month internment of Udasin.
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UNMIN KUDOS

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: UNMIN Chief Karin Landgren Monday hailed recent landmark agreements to integrate Maoist combatants into state security agencies and bring the 19,000 combatanys under command and control of a special committee headed by the prime minister.
“From the four-point agreement, the government’s agreement and the agreement between the UCPN (Maoist) and the CPN-UML, we have really seen more movement in the peace process than at any time since May.
“We are very encouraged by these rapid and dramatic developments and we are looking forward to many developments in the weeks to come.” Landgrin told reporters after consultations with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Monday.
They discussed the breakthroughs in recent days, UNMIN future and recent discussions on Nepal at the security council.
She said a team is coming from UN headquarters to assess recent developments in Nepal.
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NEPAL HONOURED BY UN

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Nepal, one of 49 least developed countries (LDCs) Monday received in New York the MDG award for outstanding national leadership, commitment and progress towards reducing maternal mortality rate (MMR) set by the UN Millennnium Development Goal (MDG).
Nepal’s Permanent Representative to UN Gyan Chandra Acharya received the award on behalf of the government.
Nepal brought down MMR from 415 deaths in 2000 to 229 in 2010 per 100,000 live births.
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PROBABLY OLDEST WOMAN REGISTERED AS VOTER

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Probably the oldest Nepali was registered as a voter Monday in Dandeldhura.
Parvati Khadka of Bhajanpur VDC was registered for the first time as a voter when she received her electronic voting card.
“She may be the oldest woman voter,” said CDO Bhakta Raj Joshi.
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ARMS, AMMUNITION SMUGGLING INTO CAPITAL CONTINUES

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Smuggling of arms and ammunition into the capital continues unabated.
One revolver and 15 bullets were recovered Monday from a bus passenger at Nagdhunga—an entry point to the capital.
The bus was coming from Tamghas, Gulmi.
ID forms, letter pads, donation receipts of Madesh State Council were recovered.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

“India didn’t like the refusal of One Madesh Province. Dahal withdrew from the contest for prime minister when it was sure he wouldn’t win. Dahal’s opposition to mass recruitment in army from Madesh and opposition to One Madesh Province was against Indian wishes.”

(Narayanman Bijukakchaya, Nagarik, 21 Sept.)
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16,719 KILLED IN INSURGENCY; UPDATED GOVT. REPORT

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Updated government records have put the Maoist insurgency death toll at 16,719 and this figure may go further up in the next four months when a government task force is scheduled to come up with the final tally.
According to Peace and Reconstruction Secretary Dhruba Prasad Sharma, a task force formed by the ministry finalized the data on the basis of the recommendation made by district administration offices, peace committees and district-based all-party mechanisms.
The data shows that 1,327 people were made to disappear during the10-year insurgency. Around 1,219 were abducted during the period. The task force has estimated that 9,000 women lost their husbands to the armed conflict, Similarly, 75,708 people were internally displaced while 11,775 lost their properties to the insurgency.
“The task force will continue to collect data on the deaths till mid-January. But, I think, this conflict-related death toll is unlikely to change significantly. In the next four months, Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjung,: told Republica on Monday after releasing the figure at a press conference on Monday on the eve of International Peace Day Tuesday.
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Who will pip whom to the post?

Kathmandu, 21 Sept.: Nepali Congress leaders’ claim that the 12th General Convention would be the “convention of unity” has been reduced to a mere formality, The Kathmandu Post reports.
For, a day before the party’s crucial election the party saw the two dominant factions come up with separate lists of their favoured candidates. Now the question is which one of the two will win the race?

Many leaders of both the Koirala and Deuba factions concede that whatever the positions until a week ago, there is now a neck-to-neck competition. Many feel that Deuba has grown stronger over the last one week, while Koirala, who has inherited the party organisation from Girija Prasad Koirala, remains as strong as ever.

Unlike the other two contests—that of the General Secretary and Treasurer—the presidency needs the vote of a majority of the GC participants. In the presence of a ‘Third Front’ and neither of the two leaders dominating the GC, the chances are that the presidential election could go for a run-off. This is all the more likely given the claims from both sides that they will win the presidency at the very first go.

In such a scenario, the “inconsequential” Third Front led by Bhim Bahadur Tamang and Narahari Acharya could prove decisive. Supporters of the Third Front led by Bhim Bahadur Tamang could vote for Deuba instead of Koirala since a number of its leaders are known to be strong Koirala-baiters.

The party’s central committee, however, is expected to have mixed representation, with the establishment panel having an edge, though a lot of it is gradually eroding in face of persistent campaign from the Deuba faction. The 85-member Central Working Committee (CWC) will hold elections for 61 seats while others will be nominated by the party president.

Deuba supporters believe that their campaign has been aggressive and it is making progress. “In the last two-three days, my reading says that the possibility of Deuba has grown higher,” said Udaya Rana, a youth Vice President of the NC’s Tarun Dal and a youth NC leader who lost with a narrow margin to Barsa Man Pun in the 2008 Constituent Assembly Election.

However, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, himself a contender for the CWC, claims that Koirala has a wider support base than Deuba. “There is no doubt about Sushil’s victory, but I believe that the constituencies this time around are not going to strictly follow a certain panel while voting for other CWC members,” said Mahat. “Neither Sushil’s nor Deuba’s panel will be able to get a clear victory. It will be a mixed bag.”

The leaders of both the factions, however, are not much confident about around 40 percent of the voters composed of new and youth faces, Aadivasi-Janajatis, Dalits and women, as there are chances that many of them could turn out swing voters.

Both the Deuba and the Sushil factions believe that the voting pattern of these youth and inclusive faces would impact the election of the leadership. Whoever manages to appease these voters would have greater chances of winning the race.

So far as the youth voters are concerned, both the factions are hopeful that they would be divided equally between the two factions; the Deuba faction seems more confident to shore up votes from the inclusive list of Aadivasi-Janajatis, Dalits and women.

“From the inclusive angle, Deuba is seen in a better position” said Rana, as it was under his leadership that the agenda of inclusion was introduced in the party and to some extent reflected in the performance of his government in 1995 when separate commissions on women and Dalits were formed.
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