CRUCIAL UML CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET LATER SATURDAY

CRUCIAL UML MEET SATURDAY

Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: A crucial central committee meeting of UML leading the majority communist government meets later Saturday amid a direct clash between Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who is also party chairman, and influential party leaders, including former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Nepal faction has threatened to recall Khanal from government.
He has been charged for defying party directives to accommodate Maoists in government.
The committee will discuss formation of a national government, disciplinary action against the premier and other issues.
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WOMEN CA MEMBERS VISITING INDIA

Kathmandu, l6 Aug.: A 15-member team of women constituent assembly (CA) begins a week-long India Sunday on Indian government invite.
Women assembly members are visiting India on Indian government invitation immediately after a team of journalists concluded a similar visit.
The assembly/parliament members will interact with top leadership.
Women leaders of NC, UML and Maoist are in the team.
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NO MEETING OF CONSTITUENT COUNCIL

Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: A scheduled meeting of the constitutional council chaired by Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal wasn’t held Friday.
A representative of the main opposition NC is also in the council to recommend appointments to chief of constitutional bodies.
Parties are lobbying for the appointment if their candidates.
Positions are vacant in constitutional bodies like CIAA, Public Service Commission and Election Commission for more than one year adversely impacting work of the bodies.
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PM WILL QUIT BY 13 AUG.; MAOIST CHIEF
Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal will resign on August 13 with or without an agreement on the peace process, Amet Dhakal and Kiran Pun write in Republica.

Dahal said this at a three-party meeting held at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction on Friday.

As the meeting progressed and began to digress to various issues, NC leader Minendra Rajal pointedly asked what the purpose of the meeting was.
“Are we here to discuss August 13 (proposed date of the prime minister’s resignation) or August 31 (the day the Constituent Assembly term expires)?” Rijal asked, according to a leader who was present at the meeting.

UML General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel quickly added: “Or are we here to review what happened last May 28?”

Prime Minister Khanal jumped in to respond to the questions and said, “We are here to discuss how to move ahead on the peace process and take it to a logical end since I have already publicly announced that I will resign if there is no agreement on the peace process by August 13.”

It was now Maoist Chairman Dahal’s turn to jump in. “The prime minister will resign on August 13 with or without an agreement on the peace process by then and this is what we have decided in our party as well,” another leader present at the meeting quoted Dahal as saying.

Prime Minister Khanal did not respond to what Dahal said.

NC leaders Ram Chandra Paudel and Dr Ram Saran Mahat, UML leader Bhim Rawal and Maoist leaders Barsa Man Pun, Janardan Sharma Prabhakar and Pampha Bhusal were also present at the meeting.

Interestingly, after the three-party meeting, Maoist Chairman Dahal held a separate meeting by himself with the three NC leaders and reiterated that Prime Minister Khanal would step down on August 13. He also said that he was committed to taking the peace process forward.

Dahal sought the NC’s cooperation and proposed that the parties now form a national consensus government led by Maoist Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai.

The NC leaders, however, said that they were not in a position to accept a Maoist-led government unless there was tangible progress in the peace process. They instead suggested that the Maoists should be ready to accept a government led by the NC after August 13.

Dahal insisted that his party, as the largest in the Constituent Assembly, should get a chance to lead the all-party government and requested the NC leaders to come up with their bottom line on the peace process.

Though disagreement on which party should lead the next government persisted till the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to begin the negotiations on peace process in earnest.

“We will soon hold a meeting of top leaders of our party and come up with our bottom line on the peace process,” said an NC leader.

Though the leaders discussed the major issues in the peace process during the three-party meeting and took briefings from members of the Special Committee on the contentious issues, they did not enter into the nitty-gritty.
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GOVT.RELIEF FOR CONFLICT AREA PROPERTY LOSS

Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: The government is coming up with assorted initiatives to help those affected by the decade-long Maoist insurgency. Families who lost property during the conflict are getting a relief package from the Relief and Rehabilitation Unit of the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, including some 2,250 families in Kapilvastu district, Shreejana Shrestha writes in Republica.

“We have determined the amount of compensation on the basis of claims, but the maximum amount given is Rs 35,000 per family. Any kind of loss during the conflict is taken into account,” said Ganesh Prasad Upadhyaya, acting chief at the Relief and Rehabilitation Unit.
The unit has allocated Rs 70 million as compensation to 2,250 families in Kapilvastu district.

Motipur, Kushwaha, Rajpur, Maharajgunj, Barahipur and Shivapur are among 71 village development committees (VDCs) benefitting from the package. Manang and Mustang are the only two districts that escaped the consequences of the decade of conflict.

The Relief and Rehabilitation Unit says that 14,483 families who lost property and bore losses during the conflict have been identified. Altogether 7,063 families have been given compensation. According to the unit, local loss evaluation committees are at work in every district to identify the victims. Since its establishment in 2008, the Relief and Rehabilitation Unit has spent Rs 168.7 million in compensation for families that lost property.

As per data provided by the unit, the number killed during the armed conflict stands at 16,719, the number of disappeared at 1,302, number of abducted 1,448, and those maimed 4,305, whereas 83,925 have been displaced. Similarly, 5,600 infrastructures were destroyed.

“Main purpose of the package is to provide immediate relief to those who have lost property during the armed conflict,” said Upadhyaya, adding, “There are hundreds of families still to be identified.”

The chief district office (CDO) coordinates to identify victims and distribute the allocated amounts. The cabinet had passed a proposal on February 25, 2011 to compensate the victims.

Prior to this, the government decided to provide each child who lost both parents during the armed conflict Rs. 5,000 per month as personal expenses until they reach 18. Vocational training is also part of the government´s relief package. Similarly, the government is planning to develop 16 different conflict-affected villages as model villages.
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