PRACHANDA, NEMWANG DISCUSS COMPLETING FIRST CONSTITUTION DRAFT BY 17JULY

PRACHANDA, NEMWANG DISCUSS COMPLETING DRAFT CONSTITUTION BY 17 JULY

Kathmandu, 11 June: Maoist Chairman Prachanda and Speaker Subash Nemwang Saturday discussed completing a first draft of a proposed constitution by 17 July.
They discussing differences between parties on articles to be incorporated in a basic law.
Prachanda heads a sub-committee under the main constitution drafting committee headed by Nilambar Acharya to resolve differences on articles themes.
The sub-committee was to form a task force Friday for detailed discussions on differences; the body couldn’t be formed after the Maoist chairman reported sick.
A constituent assembly couldn’t complete a draft of the basic during an extended one-year deadline 28 May; the tenure was extended by three more months.
But major players haven’t held serious discussions nearly 15 days after the second tenure extension.
Prime Minister JhalanathKhanal held discussions with Prachanda Friday.
Khanal asked the Maoist chairman on the authenticity of published reports Maoist ministers were resigning from government, Naya Patrika reports.
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CHURE BHAVAR ANNOUNCES ANOTHER-THREE-DAY BANDH

Kathmandu, 11 June: Chure Bhavar Rashtriya Ekata Party Nepal announced another continuous three-day bandh from 15 June to press 13 demands.
The party charged government for renegading on assurance to implement the demands.
The party is pressing government not to implement demands for mass enrolment in security agencies demanded by Maoists and Madeshbadi parties,
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TWO DIE AFTER EATING WILD MUSHROOM IN DHADING

Kathmandu, 11 June: Two persons died Friday in Sherjung VDC in neighbouring Dhading.
after eating wild mushroom.
Two of three seriously villagers who ate the poisoned mushroom have been rushed to the capital for urgent medical care.
Deaths from eating wild mushrooms during monsoon is common.
Mushroots sprout in the wild during the monsoon.
Thirteen labourers fell sick Friday after a meal at a home in Dhungrekhola-3 in Sarlahi
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YOUTH FORCE BURN COPIES IN NAGARIK IN JHAPA

Kathmandu, 11 June: Activists of Youth Force, a youth wing affiliated with UML heading the government, Saturday burnt copies of daily newspaper Nagarik in Jhapa Saturday
The charged the newspaper for defaming the body.
Activists of the UML youth wing battered a reporter of the newspaper in Biratnagar last week seriously injuring him
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THREE MORE POLICEMEN KILLED BY NAXALS IN CHATTISGADH

Kathmandu, 11 June: Three more policemen were killed by Naxals or Indian Maoists in state of Chattisgadh at Tandibara, radio reports said Saturday
Fourteen policemen were killed this week in two other encounters by Naxals in the district this week.
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GOVT. ATTORNEY FAULTS CIAA FILE
Kathmandu, 11 June: As public concern is growing how one of the biggest corruption cases, the Darfur scam, in the country will move forward in the court of law, the government attorney general, who will be defending the government in the case, dropped a bombshell saying the entire investigation process and the chargesheet itself were full of flaws, Ananta Raj Luitel writes in The Himalayan Times.

Attorney General Yuba Raj Sangroula said the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had failed to address public concerns — that some politicians and bureaucrats too were involved in Darfur scam — while filing a chargesheet against 36 persons, including 34 police officials, at the Special Court. Even parliamentary State Affairs Committee had indicted some politicians and government officials.

“CIAA should have interrogated the leaders, who are currently in the eye of the storm, before filing the case so that they would have got an opportunity to record their statements,” Sangroula told The Himalayan Times today.

The anti-graft body on Tuesday moved the court with a chargesheet against 36 persons but spared politicians and bureaucrats.

Sangroula said the chargesheet was flawed, as it failed to categorise the police officials for their ‘specific involvement’ in the case, leaving doubts how the quantum of punishment will be meted out to them.

“The major fault in the entire system lies here: The anti-graft body is authorised to investigate and prosecute without involving the Office of the Attorney General and the

latter is supposed to defend the former in the court of law,” said Sangroula.

The attorney general did not rule out involvement of politicians in the scam. He urged the prosecuted top cops to reveal the facts and assist the court. “Why former IGs Om Bikram Rana, Hem Bahadur Gurung and Ramesh Chand Thakuri did not reveal the facts,” said Sangroula adding, if the top cops give a lead in the case that points at politicians, CIAA must reopen the investigation, or the court may ask to do so.

Sangroula but argued that Nepal Police had snubbed the Public Procurement Act and Rules while purchasing logistics for its peackeeping mission. “NP did not demand the money from the government, but it had decided to release Rs 340 million from its fund. The goods were purchased for the government. So, the amount must have been deposited in the account of the government for the UN to reimburse the money.”
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LAWMAKERS FLAY CIAA OVER WEAK LAWSUIT





Kathmandu, 11 June: Lawmakers Friday raised their voice that Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) failed to file the case at Special Court against the alleged of Sudan corruption scam in line with the spirit of House panel report, The Rising Nepal reports.
They argued that the lawsuit against the alleged of corruption case had become weak as CIAA implicated only the police officers, not the political leadership.
"It is difficult to believe that the then political leadership was unaware about such a big corruption scandal," said UML lawmaker Pradeep Gyawali at the meeting of State Affairs Committee under the legislature-parliament.
Gyawali, who headed the parliamentary probe body, said the politicians interfered into even the ordinary matter like the transfer of civil servants and police. "So, the people do not trust that political leadership had no hand behind it."
He said that the CIAA filed the case against many police officers on the same charge, which he said, did not only make the case feeble but it also risked of not delivering justice.
Rastriya Janmorcha Nepal warned that the case might be dismissed at the Special Court.
Ram Nath Dhakal, chairman of the State Affairs Committee, said that it was not appropriate to discuss on the case that was under consideration in the court.
Meanwhile, former Home Minister Bhim Rawal claimed he was not involved in the Sudan scam as it occurred before he assumed the post at the Home Ministry.
Speaking at an interaction in Kathmandu, Minister Rawal said the funds were not released to procure Armed Personnel Carriers meant for Nepali mission in Sudan during his tenure.
He claimed he brought the scam to public after the voices were raised that there was corruption behind the case. "It is prejudice to implicate him in the scam," he added.
Rawal said that it was in his tenure the UN Mission had checked the APCs and logistics of the Nepal Police mission and found they were sub-standard. "Then I started to investigate into this," he claimed.
He said upon receiving the report from probe panel, he directed the police authorities not to make further payments until the State Management committee completed its investigation.
He was thankful that he initiated the work and helped in the investigation of such a big corruption case, he said. Rawal said ploys were hatched to drag him in.
He also claimed that the Home Minister had only the responsibility to direct the police headquarters for necessary management while the cabinet decided on such matters. Home Ministry had no role in the decision to make purchases, he said.

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18 DEVIATIONS OF CHAIRMAN DAHAL
Kathmandu, 11 June In a clear manifestation of the widening intra-party rifts, the hard-line faction of the UCPN (Maoist) has accused Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal of serious ideological and moral “deviations” and launched a campaign against him inside the party, Post B. Rasnet reports in Republica.
The hard-line faction, led by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, has recently circulated a document among the party rank and file, which outlines 18 “deviations” of Dahal. The document, a copy of which has been obtained by Republica, is being circulated among the cadres of the party´s hard-line faction down to district level committees and also the party´s chapters in various countries.
“On the political front, [Dahal] is seen moving toward rightist reformism and national capitulationism from his centrist oppertunitism,” states the second point of the document.

The relations between Baidya and Dahal have soured after the latter defected to the line of peace and constitution last June, deferring the official line of revolt and state capture.

The document, entitled “Problems of deviations in chairman comrade”, has charged Dahal with financial irregularities and misuse of resources.

“On the issue of financial discipline, [Dahal] is seen tilted toward corruption. [Dahal] is seen having the tendency of doing anything -- both moral and immoral -- for the sake of power, money and prestige.[Dahal] has deliberately left the party without an accounting system and misused financial means and resources in an individualistic way,” states point no 18 of the document.

On the front of party organization, the party hard-line faction has accused Dahal of “self-centric individualistic tendency”, intolerance toward those holding dissent and using his power to silence their voices.

The document alleges that the chairman has developed a “fascist tendency”

The party hard-line faction has also accused Dahal of extending relations with the Indian intelligence agencies.

On the peace process, the hard-line faction has launched lacerating criticism against Dahal for bringing the PLA under the control of the Special Committee and accused him of disarming the PLA and emptying the cantonments in the name of “regrouping” without forging a national security policy, controlling the open border and setting up a border security force.

The circular states Dahal deviated from the party´s ideological goals by not launching appropriate programs to counter the party´s “principal enemy” -- India -- and accused Dahal of extending relations with the sympathizers of “Indian expansionism and its comprador class”.

The Baidya faction has also come down heavily on Dahal´s moves on the constitution drafting front as well. “Despite being said that we would go for a federal system with autonomy to ethnicities, [Dahal] has emphasized unitary and centralized system,” states the document.

According to the document, Dahal has agreed to go for bicameral legislature succumbing to the “bourgeois theory of separation of power, and to minimize the participation of people in the judiciary under the pretext of judicial independence, instead of empowering the People´s Assembly. The document also criticizes Dahal for agreeing to make appointments of judges by a commission, not by the federal assembly as demanded by the party.

The document also expresses dissatisfaction over the party´s move to go for “federal democratic republic” instead of the party´s line of “People´s Federal Democratic Republic.”

The Baidya faction has lately launched vitriolic polemics against Dahal and has been registering a series of notes of dissent against the party´s decision.

The relations between the hard-line faction and the moderators have strained further after the party establishment decided to end security being provided by PLA personnel to the senior party leaders. Over two dozen PLA guards deployed for the security of the leaders from the hard-line faction have not yet submitted their weapons and returned to the cantonments, despite the party´s official decision to this effect.

The faction is currently holding a series of meetings and working to strengthen its position in the party.
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WOMAN OBSTRUCTS GOVT.ATTEMPT TO SEIZE HOUSE OF FORMER KING
Kathmandu, 11 June: The decision to nationalise royal property belonging to the late King Birendra and his family was taken four years ago, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post.
However, a woman has been barring the government from taking over a house in Chhauni that belong to the ex-royals.
Gyanu Shrestha has been using the one-storey building constructed in a 1,440 square-metre compound defying the Nepal Trust's order to vacate the premises. The trust was formed four years ago to nationalise the property of the former king and manage funds generated from the nationalisation of the property.
"Every time the government officials visit the house to request to woman to vacate the house, they have to feel humiliated. They return empty handed as the woman threatens to let loose her dog," Brinda Handa, the Secretary of Nepal Trust Fund told parliamentarians on Thursday.
During discussions at the State Affairs Committee, lawmakers made a mockery of the Home Ministry due to the issue.
"How can a government that cannot provide security to its officers from a dog provide security to the people," questioned Maoist lawmaker Sudarshan Baral. He asked Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara to make a time-bound commitment on the issue.
Responding to lawmakers' remarks, Mahara said the government will soon take under its control the property used by Shrestha.
"The government has to respect basic human rights. It is not afraid of a dog," he said.
During the two-hour discussions, Hada said the trust had managed to take control of 5,064 ropanies of land belonging to the ex-royal family. She said process was underway to nationalise Gokarna Resort and its golf course and the 1,300 ropanies of land in Kathmandu.
Nepal Trust has been able to trace down Rs 7,000 belonging to the late royal family in the Rastriya Banijya Bank so far. This year, the government found 43,100 Pound Sterling deposited in Nepal Investment Bank and Standard Chartered Bank by the former royals.
Hada said the trust, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had written letters to 10 countries seeking details of bank accounts maintained by Birendra, former queen Aishwariya, former Crown Prince Deependra and former Prince Nirajan who died in the royal massacre of June 2001.
"Those countries replied requesting us to establish direct contact with the banks concerned," she said, adding that the trust was preparing to track down the details with the help of anti-money laundering laws that was passed by the House this month.
The Nepal Trust has taken ownership of 142,000 units of shares owned by the former royal family at Nepal Industrial Development Cooperation and Hotel Annapurna. The total income made by the trust so far is 97.3 million, according to Hada.
During the discussions, lawmakers also said the government should investigate property of former King Gyanendra and nationalise all those he transferred in his name after the death of his brother and his family.
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