MAOIST MEET BEGINS TO SELECT GOVT. TEAM

MAOIST STANDING COMMITTEE TO SELECT GOVT. TEAM; OTHER DETAILS

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 3 March: Maoist standing committee began meeting Thursday to select its 11-member government team which will be led by standing committee member and Foreign Department Chief Krishna BahadurMahara.
Maoist Chairman Prachanda Wednesday informed Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal who is also UML chairman the UCPN (Maoist) decided to join government changing a policy to lend Khanal government only outside support.
Differences surfaced in the parties over the control of the home ministry sought by Maoists.
Khanal was ready to hand it over to the UCPN (Maoist) but a section in the UML led by former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s and KP Oli but a brake arguing security-related ministry like home shouldn’t be awarded to Maoists until completion of the peace process.
Maoists also objected to the UML amendment of a secret 7-point pact between the chairmen of Nepal’s two largest communist parties that ensured Khanal’s election 3 February with Maoist support.
The Maoist decision to join the government paves the way for the expansion of the four-member Khanal government delayed by one month.
The alliance between UML and UCPN (Maoist), with a majority in parliament, will polarize politics between communists and centrists and possibly delay the promulgation of a constitution that has to be promulgated by a 28 May deadline.
NC has forged a 14-party alliance against the Khanall government.
UML also headed the predecessor government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal; but is was a coalition of centrists, communists and Madeshbadi parties.
Khanal is now attempting to negotiate a minimum common programme of the government with Maoists.
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VERY LITTLE HOPE FOR KRISHNA PRASAD BHATTARAI

Kathmandu, 3 March: There’s very little chance of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai returning home after recovery, Dr. Bharat Rawat who is treating him said.
“There’s very little possibility this time of his returning home after recovery. Whatever happens now, is in the hands of God,” Dr. Rawat who has been treating Bhattarai for several years said, Nagarik reported.
“He has never been in such critical condition before.”
Before lapsing into coma Wednesday, Bhattarai, a bachelor, attempted to speak, but only could write,” My, my country,” the newspaper reported.
Hindi news service Wednesday night at 10 PM wrongly reported the two-time prime minister was but in a ventilator the same day after his health deteriorated.
Bhattarai was admitted to Norvic Hospital 16 February for treatment of bronchitis, chronic conjunctive heart and chronic renal failure.
Blood and oxygen flow to the brain fell before Bhattarai went into coma; he’s being fed by tube through the nose.
Doctors are debating whether to put the only surviving founding member of NC which he quit in a ventilator.
“We want to avoid putting him in a ventilator ass much as possible because very few patients survive after being put in a ventilator at this age,” Dr. Rawat said.
Bhattarai, a principled politician, quit the party after NC adopted a republican agenda under Girija Prasad Koirala abandoning traditional support for constitutional monarchy.
The country’s oldest political party pushed constitutional monarchy
even as King Mahendra in 1960 banned political parties and imposed absolute royal rule under a panchayat system.
Bhattarai first became prime minister for the first time following the toppling of the panchayat in 1990.
In one year, the man affectionately called ‘Kishunji’ worked with King Birendra to steer the transition to constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy from absolute king’s rule and promulgated a 1990 constitution in one year.
Bhattarai was elected speaker of parliament in 1959 even though he lost on a NC ticket in the country’s first parliamentary election from a Gorkha constituency.
In his just released autography ‘Ma Mero”, Bhattarai prided himself for not signing any commitment to get out of jail during panchayat rule like other party stalwarts who conducted anti-panchayat ad anti-long protests from across the border in India.
Kishunj never exiled himself to India.
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1,391 NEPALIS RESCUED FROM LIBYA

Kathmandu, 3 March: Altogether 1,391 Nepali workers have been rescued home from Libya, foreign ministry said.
Government has decided to fund the repatriation cost of an estimated 4,000 workers.
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800,000 DEVOTEES WORSHIP AT PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE

Kathmandu, 3 March: An estimated 800,000 devotees from home and India Wednesday offered puja and worship at Pashupatnath temple, the country’s holiest Hindu temple.
Former King Gyanendra, along with then queen Komal, offered worshippers amid chants from supporters to return.
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