YETI AIRLINES AIRCRAFT STUCK AT POKHARA AIRPORTGHT

YETI AIRLINES AIRCRAFT STUCK ON POKHARA RUNWAY

Kathmandu, 11 Sept.: Tires of a Yeti Airlines aircraft jammed on the Pokhara runway as a flight with passengers from Kathmandu landed Sunday morning.
Incoming and outbound flights have been disrupted with the aircraft stuck in the middle of the runway.
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PM MEETS UN OFFICIALS

Kathmandu, 11 Sept. Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai discussed the peace process with Nepal-based UN officials, including Chief Robert Piper.
The premier’s visit to UN headquarters to address the annual September general assembly session also figured in the talks.
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PRACHANDA RETURNING RETURNING SUNDAY

Kathmandu, 11 Sept. Maoist Chief Prachanda is flying back to the capital from Biatnagar Sunday, son and aide Samir Dahal said.
Prachanda flew to east Nepal Thursday and were tttle was knowof Dahal said Prachanda flewe to Biratnagar to meet close associates.

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MEDIA GOOGLE

“Handover of keys isn’t a major and big achievement. There has to be an understanding on
the main issues of modality, standards and establishment of ranks for integration of fighters and a package for resettlement “

(UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, Naya Patrika, 11 Sept.)
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COMBATANT CATEGORISATION LIKELY TO START LATE
Kathmandu, 11 Sept.:THMANDU: The categorisation of PLA combatants is unlikely to begin before the festival of Dashain, which is about a month away, despite UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s announcement that the process will begin within a week, as much spadework remains to be done on the integration and rehabilitation front, Lekhnath Pandey writes in The Himalayan Times.
“Handover of the keys of arms containers to the Special Committee is the only positive thing that has happened since Dr Baburam Bhattarai became the prime minister,” said a non-Maoist SC Secretariat member.
“This does not necessarily mean that ground has been created for the categorisation of the PLA into two groups — those who opt for rehabilitation and integration — especially when the three major parties have backtracked from their earlier understanding on the integration number and modalities,” he added.
In the beginning, opposition parties Nepali Congress and CPN-UML appreciated the key-handover, only to raise questions over the government’s ability to speed up the stalled peace process after a rift in the Maoist party over the key handover.
In informal negotiations, UML had agreed to integrate 6,000 PLAs into the Nepali Army, while NC Parliamentary Party Leader Ram Chandra Paudel had publicly announced that 5,000 PLAs should be integrated.
These stances have become a thing of the past.
Now, the UML has proposed integration of 5,000 PLAs, while the NC Central Working Committee has endorsed a proposal on the assimilation of 4,000 fighters into the national army as per the existing norms and standards.
Contributing to the standoff, the Maoist party has started saying that the integration should be on unit basis, and sought combative role for the PLAs with their identity kept intact, something which is ‘not acceptable’ to the NC.
The new stances have made matters much more complicated, rather than narrowing down the differences and facilitating an understanding on rank harmonisation and rehabilitation package.
Because of all this, the SC Secretariat, which is tasked with conducting survey of the PLAs for their categorisation, is in a fix.
“Without a concrete package for rehabilitation, our survey teams cannot visit the cantonments for PLA categorisation,” said Balananda Sharma, coordinator of the SC Secretariat. “As the political parties are yet to agree on the rehabilitation package, the categorisation of combatants is unlikely to begin before Dashain,” Sharma added, but hastened to add that the Secretariat is ready to convene categorisation once the SC works out the integration number and rehab package.
Amid all this, the PM is leaving for New York on September 19 for a week to attend the 66th UN General Assembly. The itinerary could affect the PM’s promise to complete the categorisation within 45 days after assuming office.
“In this context, it will be a great achievement for Dr Bhattarai if he manages to initiate the categorisation within 45 days of his prime ministerial stint, rather than concluding the process by then,” said a former Maoist minister
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UNTERTAINTY IN PLA CANTONMENTS
Kathmandu, 11 Sept.: At the Sangram cantonment in Dang, a sense of betrayal and an uncertain future prevails among the Maoist PLA combatants, Bishnu Prasad Aryal writes in The Himalayan Times with inputs from Dang and Chitwan.
The sense of betrayal has only deepened after Prime Minister and UCPN-Maoist Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai handed over the keys of arms containers to the Special Committee as per the party’s decision to go for the integration of 7,000 fighters and the rehabilitation of the rest.
A 32-year-old PLA fighter at the Sangram camp is one of the frustrated fighters. “We joined the PLA hoping to become a part of the Nepali Army. What will happen to the rest if only 7,000 combatants get integrated?” he said in an interview, referring to the 19,000-odd fighters at PLA cantonments across the country. “If I do not get selected for integration, I will certainly receive some money as part of the rehabilitation package.”
But it was “not for money” that I joined the PLA,” the fighter goes.
“I joined the PLA because I wanted to be a part of the state army. I still wish to serve the country through the Nepali Army,” he says. Chanda Oli and Mangala Luintel from Dang echo him.
Oli and Luintel joined the rebel force with encouragement from friends while they were studying at the lower secondary level, only to find now that the future is not going to be as rosy as it appeared earlier. Oli says she was a 15-year-old seventh grader when she joined the PLA. Now, she is not so happy with her decision to be a part of the rebel force. “Education has taken a backseat. My classmates are studying in universities now, while I just passed SLC exams this year,” she laments. “If I am not selected in the army, I will have few career prospects.”
Aware of the fighters’ frustration, Janak Bahadur Bista ‘Kuber’, deputy commander of the Third Division at Shaktikhor cantonment in Chitwan, fears anarchy may raise its ugly head if the integration gets delayed.
Bista, though, holds that there is no alternative to PLA integration.
“The number of PLAs to be integrated is not a big issue as long as integration and rehabilitation is respectful. Political leaders made acted immaturely in the past, but it’s time to leave it all behind and speed up the process of drafting a pro-people constitution that institutionalises progressive changes.”
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INTERVIEW


'PARTY PRINCIPLES BEING COMPROMISED: BIDYA

Maoist senior Vice chairman Mohan Baidya has vociferously opposed the party´s move to hand over the keys of the arms containers to the Special Committee.
Republica´s Post B Basnet caught up with him to get his views on the keys handover and about giving full shape to the government. Here are the excerpts:

The government has not taken a full shape as yet. Not all the factions in your party have joined the government. When do you think will the government take a full shape?

We told the last Standing Committee meeting that we would join the government only after holding a Central Committee meeting. The CC meeting scheduled for Sept 19 has been deferred. We will decide whether or not to join the government only after the CC meeting is held.

The meeting was supposed to take some important decisions, including the handover of the keys of the weapons containers to the Special Committee. How far was it justifiable to defer the CC meeting?

Some disputes and debates have surfaced over issues including the keys handover. So there is no point in joining the government without settling these disputes first. While talking about the peace process, there are two issues that need attention. First, the disputed issues should be resolved. Second, there must be some agreements with other political parties, including the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML. On Thursday, the NC and UML held a bilateral meeting. Though, we are not quite sure what transpired at the meeting, it is said the parties have decided to push for the completion of the peace process first and constitution drafting later. If this is so, the peace process will not move ahead. We hold the view that the peace process and constitution drafting should move ahead simultaneously. So it is important for the party to hold talks with the NC leaders and reach consensus.

What is the dispute over the weapons containers handover all about?

Firstly, the peace process, integration and constitution drafting are interrelated. This is not only about the keys handover. Secondly, I must clarify our party´s decisions vis-à-vis the peace process. The first point of the decision is related to the integration issue. A proposal was tabled at the party meeting a day before the decision to hand over the keys to the Special Committee was taken. After holding debates and discussions, the point was removed. But the keys were handed over without holding further discussions. We hold the view that the PLA and the weapons containers should have been handed over to the Special Committee all at once. It was wrong to hand over the keys only as it means disarmament. This dispute has not been resolved as yet. So we have already made public our views that the move is against the party decision.

What will be your argument at the forthcoming CC meeting? It is also stated that the decision was taken secretly ignoring your faction.

We had previously decided to handover the combatants and weapons simultaneously. So the modality for integration should be determined first. The party is supposed to lead the peace process and constitution drafting side by side. They should have held a meeting of the standing committee to clarify the issue.
Besides, I would like to make public some of our decisions that are yet to come out in the media. Some friends including myself put forward some notes of dissent and reservations on the four-point deal signed with the Madhes-based parties. The third point of the agreement that is about the constitution making states that there would be “inclusive democratic republic”.

But “democratic republic” is not the party´s decision. We have been pushing for “people´s federal democratic republic” which is the official decision of the party. So we wrote a note of dissent against that decision. Besides, we also expressed our reservation over some vague points on the agreement. The second point of the agreement is about the implementation of the past commitments which includes the right to property. It states that no one would be deprived of the right to property. But we have the issues of the land tenants and peasants. It is also directed against the scientific land reforms and against the fundamental principle of the party. Similarly, the fourth point of the agreement is about the mass recruitment from the Madhesis. It is agreed that 10,000 from the Madhesis would be recruited unit-wise into the army. I agree that the Madhesis should get space in the army, but there are such demands from other janajatis also. Now, let´s come to the first point of the agreement.

The standing committee had decided to go for unit-wise integration of the PLA, but we later agreed revise the point. Likewise, we had decided to integrate 8,000 PLA into the army, but a compromise was reached on that point too. The number was reduced to 7,000. Similarly, it has been stated that attempts would be made to address the proposals by some countries. This is very abstract. What are the issues that have not been addressed? There are no such issues from China or other countries. We have issues with India only. India has demanded stationing air marshals at the airport, signing an extradition treaty, and keeping Indian army at places, including the Koshi dam. So the agreement reflects that we are ready to agree on such issues.

On top of that, there are seven members in the party´s talks team, but they were not informed about the talks. Only two leaders (Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai) participated in the meeting and struck the deal. We feel that the party is bowing to the demands of others. It is wrong to make compromises on the fundamental principles of the party.

Do you think the current coalition is natural at a time your party has been raising the issue of national sovereignty in view of the widespread perception that the Madhes-based parties sympathize with the southern neighbor?

I don´t want to make comments on this. Sometimes, the events themselves make things clear. We can work with the Madhes-based parties following the party´s norms and values. But it would wrong to bow to others and work with them.

What will be your strategy if the party endorses the keys handover move by a majority vote?

I don´t think the move would be endorsed by a majority vote. I have already made my point clear, and I don´t think the CC would take such a decision.Sometimes you are in a minority and sometimes you are in a majority. At times the decision of the minority is right and that of the majority wrong. It is the first time in my political career that I have been reduced to a minority. I have been in the central committee for nearly 38 years. What I want is to take the decision to the CC and hold debates on the issue. The CC is the supreme body to settle such disputes when you are not holding a general convention.

If it did, will the party split?

Let´s not think that the party would split. The party would move ahead united. Ours is a communist party and we understand the organization as the unity of the opposites. It is important for the party to have debates and discussions. On top of that the peace, integration and constitution drafting processes are reaching their culmination. All these issues should be looked at in their entirety and the peace process and constitution drafting should go hand by hand.

Your chairman has been saying that those who are against peace and constitution would quit the party and would be reduced to ashes. What do you have to say?

It would be wrong for the party to take a wrong paath. We would not present ourselves that way. I would say whoever deviates from the party´s norms and values and tactical line would be reduced to ashes.

Why are you called a hardliner?

It is a very strange thing. After I was released from the jail, someone wrote that I was a hardliner. I did not know why. There was no dispute in the party then. There are some who give the name hardliners or softliners. Sushiliji (NC President Sushil Koirala) told me the other day that they call him NC hardliner and me a Maoist hardliner. Just let them say so.

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