SPEAKER NEMWANG SEEKS COOPERATIONOF WHIPS TO RUN PARLIAMENT SESSION SMOOTHLY

SPEAKER NEMWANG SEEKS COOPERATION OF PARTY WHIPS TO RUN LEGISLATIVE SESSION SMOOTHLY
Kathmandu, 12 Jan.: Speaker Subash Nemwang Wednesday summoned whips and chief whips of major parties, including Maoists, NC, UML and ruling Madeshbadi
front, for discussions to run house proceedings smoothly.
Legislative proceedings have been obstructed repeatedly without a quorum.
Nemwang asked for the cooperation of parties to conduct legislative proceedings.
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MORE THAN 1,300 MIGRANT WORKERS DIE IN LESS THAT 4 YEARS
Kathmandu, 12 Jan.: Over 1,300 Nepali migrants working abroad have died in the past three-and-a-half years, a study has revealed, Roshan Shedai writes in The Kathmandu, Post reports.
While most of the 1,357 deaths were related to road and work place accidents, suicides and murder, a significant number of the cases could have been avoided, a survey conducted by the Foreign Ministry in coordination with the Foreign Employment Board says.
The report prepared for “internal use” has blamed lack of pre-departure orientation classes on workplace safety, road safety or rules, climatic conditions and precautions to be taken in the countries for the unprecedented number of deaths.
Official data show there are around 22,500 Nepali migrant workers in different countries across the globe.
According to the report, 299 workers died of natural causes, 120 committed suicide, 185 died in road accidents, 102 died in work place accidents, 100 were murdered, 76 died of heart attack, 292 died of respiratory problems and 183 died of “other” causes. A majority of the workers were young ranging from 20 to 50 years of age.
The report shows that 441 died in Malaysia, 350 in Saudi Arabia, 306 in Qatar, 125 in UAE, 21 in Kuwait, nine in South Korea and 64 in other countries. The number does not include bodies flown to Nepal by victims’ families themselves.
Director General of the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) Purna Chandra Bhattarai said most of the deaths were avoidable.
“The report indicates that most deaths occurred due to lack of awareness. Basic orientation for the migrant workers could have avoided most of the accidents,” Bhattarai said. “Many Nepalis even don’t know how to cross the road.”
Nepal does have a counselling body—Migration Resource Centre (MRC)—that is responsible for disseminating information to potential workers. However, workers seldom visit its office.
MRC records show that only 466 people visited the office to acquire information on the destination country.
MRC officials say that since there are no strict regulations making the orientation binding, most of the workers do not attend the free orientation.
“Very few prospective migrant workers visit us. Many don’t think it is important,” said Sthaneswor Devkota, the executive director of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB), which looks after the MRC.
Devkota said workers are exposed to several risks once they find themselves in a completely different situation in the destination countries.
“When they don’t find things as expected, they get frustrated and tend to think suicide. Many others meet untimely deaths as they are not prepared for extreme climate conditions, the heat, etc.” MRC officials say the death rate could be brought down if workers take prior counselling on the laws of the destination countries, the nature of work, the company and the climatic conditions.
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NC RENEGADES ON MIXED SYSTEM
Kathmandu, 12 Jan.:It has been revealed that the leaders of major political parties had agreed to accept the mixed model with the provision of a directly elected president and a prime minister elected from the parliament as a meeting point between them on the forms of governance, The Kathmandu Post.
The understanding reached by second-rank leaders of major parties in Switzerland last year comes in the wake of fresh disputes among parties on the forms of governance. Both peace and constitution-making processes are stalled after the Nepali Congress expressed reservation over the provision of a directly elected president suggested by the taskforce under the Constitutional Committee.
Nepali Congress leader Arjun Narshing KC, who participated in the meeting held in Zurich last February, admitted that there had been an understanding to adopt a mixed model in the new constitution. "We had agreed that we can go for a mixed model with universally accepted norms of democracy after the management of arms and armies of the Maoists," he said. "But that was only an advisory consultation so its recommendation is not mandatory now."
UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai were originally scheduled to attend the Zurich meeting from February 11 to 17 organised by Nepal Transition to Peace. Because the senior leaders remained busy, Khim Lal Devkota and Lila Mani Pokharel represented the former rebel party and were facilitated to hold talks with their rivals by former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana and communist leader Padma Ratna Tuladhar.
Prakash Man Singh, KC and Bimalendra Nidhi represented the NC; Ishwor Pokharel, Pradip Gyawali and Bhim Rawal represented the CPN-UML; Hridayesh Tripathi represented the Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party during the weeklong discussion. They drafted a common proposal on peace process and constitution making and briefed their top leaders and Chairman of the Constituent Assembly (CA) Subas Nembang on it after returning from the visit.
All the participants had reaffirmed their commitment to enshrine globally accepted norms of democracy in the new constitution and suggested that a mixed model can be a compromising proposal, according to the document outlining the decision of the Zurich meeting obtained by the Post. Leaders had agreed that rights and duties of a directly elected president and prime minister elected by the parliament should be clearly written in the constitution to avert the possible conflict between the two in future.
They also expressed readiness to ensure competitive multiparty politics, ensure individual freedom, fundamental rights, human rights, adult franchise, full-fledged press freedom, independent judiciary, rule of law, periodic elections, freedom of expression, pluralism and address social and cultural diversity in the constitution. Talking to the Post on Wednesday, UML leader Pradip Gyawali said that parties had prepared a common proposal with the consent of top leaders in Zurich.
"We had reached an understanding by taking consent from top leaders of our respective parties. But it could not be implemented after the Maoists backtracked from implementing the peace deal," he said. The recommendation made by the Laxman Lal Karna-led taskforce for sharing of the powers between a directly elected executive president and a prime minister elected from the House is the elaboration of the "understanding reached in Zurich," claimed a source at the CA.
Maoist lawmaker Devkota had told the Post on Monday that non-Maoist parties had proposed the provision of a directly elected president and a prime minister elected from the House a year ago. He claimed that the NC had backtracked from the deal.
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