DISSIDENT MAOISTS PROTESTING WEDNESDAY

DISSIDENT MAOIST PROTESTS WEDNESDAY

Kathmandu, 11 April: Baidhya faction is staging an hour-long protest nation-wide against UCPN (Maoist)an government by disrupting traffic movement for one hour from 10 in the morning Wednesday.
The dissident Maoists are protesting sudden handover Tuesday of cantonments and watch of fighters and Maoist weapons to Nepal Army.
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200 MAOIST FIGHTERS FELL AMID ARSON AN ATTACKS


Kathmandu, 11 April:: As many as 200 PLA combatants from Paribartan Smriti Brigade of the PLA fourth division at Hattikhor of Nawalparasi fled their camp on Tuesday evening after a violent episode of
Arson, Narayan Sharma writes from Nawalparasi in The Kathmandu Post..
The runaway fighters were among the combatants who had been staging protests for the past four days, accusing the senior ranking officers of financial misappropriation. Their protests culminated in the burning of two SUVs, three motorcycles, two waiting halls inside the camp and a camp gate.
“Today's incident was a result of corruption and mistreatment committed by the senior ranking officers against the lower ranking PLA soldiers,” said Dil Bahadur Rokaya, PLA company commander and one of the runaways. “It's high time that we fight against corruption rife within the Maoist party and the PLA.”
After the agitating combatants started setting fire on the vehicles and camp's property, many PLA personnel, including the commanders, fled.
A large contingent of police was mobilised at Hattikhor to contain tense situation and bring back the PLA commanders, including fourth division commander Tej Bahadur Oli, to safety.
A Nepal Army team led by Maj Krishna Khadka also arrived at the scene at around 9:30 pm.
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DETAILS OF TALKS BETWEEN GOVT. AND OPPOSITION
Kathmandu, 11 April:: A meeting of the three major parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML -- and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) scheduled to finalize contentious issues related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Disappearance Commission on Tuesday lost focus after the Maoist leaders, including Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, proposed settling the
issues of the peace process first, Kosh Raj Koiralareports.

At the meeting held at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai setting the agenda for the day argued that keeping the peace process in limbo would not augur well, especially keeping in view the tension in cantonments for the last few days, said a leader present at the meeting.

Dahal then stressed the need for bringing the Maoist cantonments, containers and combatants under the Nepal Army immediately.

Dahal argued that “a Maoist faction” does not want to conclude the peace process and has been creating tension in the cantonments. “Tension in the cantonments shows that they do not want to see conclusion of the peace process,” a leader quoted Chairman Dahal as saying.

Dahal had mentioned that some elements in the cantonments had also created tension on the issues of rank, ethnicity and financial matters. “They have stood against the political developments since the 12-point agreement and are trying to foil the peace process both from inside and outside the cantonments,” the leader quoted Dahal as saying.

Dahal told the leaders that he was committed to taking the ongoing peace process to a logical end and that the process gained momentum only after his party decided to send his PLA body guards to the cantonments. “Keeping in view the tension in the cantonments, we should settle the issue in a responsible manner,” he said.

Acknowledging the gravity of the issue, NC President Sushil Koirala, CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) Chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, Sadbhawana Party President Rajendra Mahato, MPRF-Republican Chairman Raj Kishor Yadav, Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) leader Hridayesh Tripathi had seconded Dahal´s proposal. The leaders then proposed to call a Special Committee meeting and take necessary decision to bring the Maoist cantonments, combatants and arms under the government´s control.

Earlier, the parties had agreed to conclude the voluntary retirement process by April 12 and settle all contentious issues in the new constitution by April 17.

Accordingly, the parties were set to finalize all the contentious issues related to the TRC and Disappearance Commission. Maoist leader Khim Lal Devkota and UML leader Agni Kharel, who have been looking into legal issues in the party, and some officials from the law ministry, were also invited at the meeting.
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BAIDYA FACTION OPPOSITION COULD ISOLATE NEPAL FINANCIALLY
Kathmandu, 11 April: The Baidya faction of the UCPN (Maoist) continues to oppose three major bills related to anti-money laundering (AML) even though Nepal has only about two months to get them enacted if it is to escape blacklisting
by the international community, Republica reports.

Chief whip of the party Dev Gurung, who belongs to the Baidya faction, has ruled out any chance of his faction paving the way for enactment of the bills -- Extradition Bill, Mutual Cooperation Bill and Bill to Control Organized Crime -- until the country gets a new constitution and the political transition ends.

“There are reasons to this. The Bill on Organized Crime includes clauses similar to the Terrorist and Destructive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance, which was enacted in 2001 targeting us during the insurgency. That act was politically motivated. Who can guarantee that the new bill will not be used to serve similar political interests?” he said.

Gurung argued that the faction he represents was not against controlling financial crime or taking action against people engaged in terrorism financing. He, however, expressed the view that bills like the one on Control of Organized Crime should be enacted only after the transition ends and the country´s politics returns to normal.

The government tabled the Bills on Extradition, Mutual Cooperation and Control of Organized Crime in parliament in February, when the deadline set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering body, was about to expire.

However, attempts to get them endorsed under a fast-track approach failed after the Baidya faction of the Maoist party threatened to stall parliament if those bills were included in house business.

The failure sparked a hue and cry as it raised the chances of the country being downgraded by FATF. If that had happened, the international community would have instantly disregarded letters of credit and payments issued by Nepali traders, donors would have stopped issued aid and foreign investors would probably be encouraged to pull out their investments.

But the country managed to escape such threats after FATF considered positively the requests of a high-level political leadership and gave Nepal additional time till June.

“It was our good luck that we managed to remain in the grey zone even though we have grossly flouted 33 out of 49 recommendations from FATF,” said Maha Prasad Adhikari, deputy governor of Nepal Rastra Bank.

But with the new deadline also fast approaching, he has appealed to all the political parties in the Constituent Assembly to be serious about enactment of the promised laws.

If the country fails to honor the commitment it made in February, it could face harsh action, Adhikari opined. That will be very unfortunate for in that case banks in Nepal will be forced to depend on Indian or other banks to facilitate international trade and payments.

“That will make us completely dependent on other countries,” said Rajan Singh Bhandari, vice-president of Nepal Bankers´ Association.

Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun, meanwhile, said that the government was committed to enacting the three bills within the set deadline. “As a responsible government, we are committed to cleaning up financial crime domestically and fulfilling our international responsibility through prevention of the financing of crime from Nepal,” he stated.

Referring to the fact that the three crucial bills are already before parliament, he said the government will include them in parliament´s business for ratification once the House session is called.
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