ABDUCTED MAN IN MOHOTTARI FOUND DEAD SUNDAY

ABDUCTED MAN FOUD DEAD
Kathmandu, 25 Dec : An elderly man who had gone missing since a week has been found dead on Sunday
Morning, RSS reports from Bardibas.

He is 70-year-old Ram Dayal Chaudhary of Jaleshwar-4, Mahottari district.

Chaudhary´s body was found under a bridge near Zero Mile at Jaleshwar-4, the District Police Office, Mahottari said.

Police suspect that Chaudhary might have been murdered after his abduction. He had been operating a tile industry in Jaleshwar.

An investigation is underway in this connection,
said police.
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RETREAT IN MADESH FRONT ON RECRUTENT CREATES DIFFERENCS
Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: The second rung leaders from United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) have objected to the Defense Ministry´s statement that new recruitment in the Nepal Army (NA) would be conducted as per the existing rules of the army, Gani Ansari writes in Republica.

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An informal meeting of Sahayog Sampadan Samiti, UDMF´s advisory body, on Saturday termed the statements of the defense minister and defense secretary as against the spirit of the four-point deal reached between the Madhesi alliance and UCPN (Maoist) on August 29.

“We expressed our serious concerns over the statements and want our leaders to clarify the matter,” said Atmaram Sah, a Samiti member, adding, “This move has led us to suspect that the Madhesi leaders have compromised on the Madhesi cause.”

Addressing a press conference Friday, Defense Secretary Nabin Kumar Ghimire had said that the ministry would allot Madhesis 45 percent of the upcoming openings under the reserved quota as per the existing norms of NA.

Earlier, Government spokesman and Foreign Minister Narayankaji Shrestha had said the government had decided to fill 3,000 vacant Nepal Army positions with Madhesi youths including Madhesi Dalits, Janajati, women and Muslims.

Sah, who is also the general secretary of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Republican (MPRF-R), said they would take up the issue with Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, who is also defense minister, after the latter´s visit to China. Gachchhadar is leaving for China Sunday.

Sah informed that a meeting of the Samiti will take a formal decision Tuesday regarding the Madhesi recruitment issue. “Why did we need to sign a separate agreement with the Maoists, if the national army was supposed to begin new recruitment as per the existing NA rules?” he questioned.

Another member of the Samiti, Brikheshchandra Lal, who is vice-chairman of Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), questioned the rationale of UDMF´s presence in the government.

“What is the meaning of remaining in the government, if the Madhesi alliance cannot pressure the government to implement the four-point deal?” argued Lal.

Gupta says policy paper as per the government decision

Communications Minister J P Gupta has defended the policy paper on new recruitment in the Nepal Army (NA) made public Friday by the Defense Ministry and said the government´s move is aimed at making the national army more inclusive.

Gupta, who is the chairman of MPRF-R, claimed that media misreported the government decision regarding new recruitment in the national army.

“Media misreported the issue; the defense ministry made public the policy paper as per the government decision,” he said at Reporters´ Club in Kathmandu Saturday afternoon.

Gupta opined that the government has not rolled back on its decision as reported by the media.

Gupta accused the major parties of being ambivalent towards Madhesi recruitment in the army.

“They talk about inclusiveness in their party manifestos but are in fact status quoist,” he said.
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UML CHIEF RETRACTS PREVIOUS SPLAN TO SEND KP OLI TO PARLIAMENT
Kathamandu, 25 Dec.: In a surprising move, CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, who was expected to propose that three heavyweights in the party--Vice-chairman Bam Dev Gautam and Standing Committee members KP Sharma Oli and Amrit Kumar Bohara--be nominated as Constituent Assembly members, did not do so in Friday's SC meeting, Bhadra Sharma writes in The Kathmandu Post.
Khanal, who had earlier made up his mind to propose the leaders for CA membership even by replacing some sitting lawmakers, made no reference to the issue in his 12-point document, though he did raise the issue verbally of promoting Oli as the third highest-ranking party official after the chairman and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Party insiders privy to the discussion said that Khanal's change in stance was caused partly by the candidates' refusal and partly by objection from the opposition faction in the party.
Except Oli, both Gautam and Bohara have clearly rejected Khanal's offer of CA membership unless the essence of their participation in the Assembly is established. "In my case, I refused to join the CA after our party performed poorly in the 2008 elections," said Bohara, one of the leaders urged to join the CA. "The party should clarify whether or not my presence in the CA affects the peace process."
UML had fielded Bohara as a candidate under the proportional system in the 2008 CA elections but he refused to join the Assembly citing the party's poor show. In Monday's meeting, some SC members, including General Secretary Ishwor Pokharel, Vice-chairman Ashok Rai, Gautam and Bohara were in no mood to join the CA until the party clearly expressed the significance of their being new lawmakers. "The party should convince us that our presence in the CA can contribute to the completion of the peace process and healing intra-party rifts," added Bohara.
In case of Oli and Gautam, party leaders have been suggesting that Khanal not pick them as CA members reasoning that the move would not send a positive message across the party rank and file. Oli and Gautam lost CA elections from Jhapa and Bardiya districts, respectively. Vice-chairman Rai is against the idea of sending some leaders to the CA at the last moment. "The CA term expires in five months. Neither there are vacant posts nor is a by-election going to take place. So the idea of appointing senior leaders as CA members seems impractical," Rai said.
Rai, initially believed to be close to Khanal, is not happy about the proposal to lift Oli to the third place in the party. Senior leader Nepal, Pokharel and Bohara have also been opposing Khanal's proposal to promote Oli. In Friday's meeting, Pokharel suggested that the leadership go through the party statute before promoting Oli as proposed.
The UML statute requires the party to respect its ex-chief as a senior leader. In case Oli is promoted as proposed by Khanal, it will be against the rule. "The statute, endorsed by the party's Butwal convention, does not allow us to nominate two individuals as senior leaders. The party should explain 'scientifically' the need for the promotion," said Bohara.
Immediately after Khanal floated the proposal to 'strengthen internal party unity', leaders were divided over whether to review mistakes committed after the Butwal convention or not. A faction of leaders including Nepal, Pokharel, Bohara and Rai is for reviewing past mistakes while those close to Khanal want focus on the meeting so as to forge "internal unity among senior leaders". The debate has postponed the meeting to December 30.
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APECF READY TO OPEN NEPAL OFFICE

Kathmandu, 25 Dec.: Responding to the government's letter, the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) has said it is ready to help for the development of Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, by establishing its branch in
Nepal, The Kathmandu Post. reports.
A few months ago, the government requested the APECF to register its branch in Nepal so as to “legally" help Lumbini's development. According to Minister for Culture Gopal Kirati, APECF replied to the government expressing its readiness to open a branch in Nepal. According to sources, an APECF team visited Nepal some days ago to learn about the registration procedure. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who has been nominated coordinator of the Lumbini Development Steering Committee, is a co-chairman of APECF.
An affiliation with the Social Welfare Council is a must for all NGOs and INGOs to operate in Nepal. APECF is a Chinese government-backed INGO that works in the Asia Pacific region. Earlier, Dahal's initiative to bring in investment worth US$ 3 billion from APECF was dragged into controversy for allegedly keeping government authorities concerned in the dark about it. Dahal is stating that APECF could be part of an overall development of the sacred Lumbini.
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