MAOIST CENTRAL LEADERS MEETING IN SEPARATE SESSIONS Kathmandu, 31 May: Maoist establishment and rebel factions have called meetings of their central committee members Friday following Sunday’s automatic dissolution of the constituent assembly (CA) after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai ordered assembly elections 22 November. The announcement has divided all parties. The establishment of the UCPN (Maoist) has already asked its support to go to villages and prepare for the vote. The factions are meeting to review Sunday’s automatic CA dissolution while the largest political party is threatened with a split. nnnn UML STANDING COMMITTEE MEETS THURSDAY Kathmandu, 31 May: The UML standing committee is discussing the current political situation after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai ordered constituent assembly (CA) elections 22 May. The committee is also discussing a mass rebellion in the party by janajatis who have threatened rebellion. Pasang Sharpa announced his formal resignation Wednesday. Brahmin/ cheetris are have been running the party for 40 years, another janati leader who has been with the party four decades charged. Janajatis across party lines have threatened to form a party to contest coming CA elections. nnnn. PEDESTRAIN RUN OVER BY BUS, KILLED Kathmandu, 31 May: A pedestrian died on the spot when a passenger bus knocked him down near the bridge over the Karrakhola stream in Hetauda along the East-West highway on Wednesday night, RSS reports from Hetauda.. The identification of the deceased is yet to be identified, according to the District Police Office. The bus was heading towards Kathmandu from Gaur at the time of the accident. nnnn STUDENTS CONTINUING ANTI-PM PROTESTS Kathmandu, 31 May: Students of 10 unions affiliated with political parties are continuing their hour-long protests against Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai in front of campuses in the Valley Thursday. They are demanding his resignation for calling elections to constituent assembly (CA) 22 November. nnnn DETAILS OF PM’S CONSULTATIONS WITH LEGAL LUMINARIES Kathmandu, 31 May: Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai Wednesday consulted with former attorney generals (AGs) on constitutional and legal provisions in the context of dissolution of the CA and lately developed political situation, The Rising Nepal reports. During the joint consultation held at the Prime Minister’s office in Singha Durbar, most of the former AGs suggested that all the political parties should go for election taking the government’s announcement positively. Saying that the government was compelled to announce the election for Nov 22 at the last hour when the CA was automatically dissolved as per the Supreme Court verdict, the Prime Minister sought opinions of the legal experts on legal and constitutional provisions for such a situation and also on statement issued on Tuesday by the President. Sarvagya Ratna Tuladhar, former attorney general and senior advocate, informed that the almost all the former AGs were of the opinion that the government’s decision to go to fresh mandate of the people when the CA got dissolved was positive. "What was the alternative way than to choose to election as per the verdict of the Supreme Court?" Tuladhar questioned. He said that there was no meaning in issuing the statement by the President on the issue that was provisioned in the constitution. "The issue that the membership of the parliament of the Prime Minister has been automatically ended is in the constitution and it is also stated in the constitution that the present Council of Ministers works until the other is formed," he said. Saying that attempts were made again to draw the President into unnecessary controversy, the former AG suggested that the President and the Prime Minister should work together to find a way out to the nation by holding a new CA election. Tuladhar said that the AGs suggested Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai that the present government had the constitutional basis to hold the election. "The present government which announced the polls should be given a shape of national consensus government and the election should be held. The present government should introduce ordinance and the President should issue the ordinance for the sake of necessary laws for election," he said, adding, "Even in the past the government led by a caretaker PM or interim government had held the election." Tuladhar argued that it would be still more unconstitutional to seek alternative to the present government when nobody was the Member of Parliament. "What is the basis for a consensus government when people talk about that but unwilling to join the present one. It is meaningless to oppose for the sake of opposition." Another former AG Laxmi Bahadur Nirala said that they suggested that it would not be against the constitution if the state was run on the basis of agreement. He said that legal hurdles due to lack of election laws could also be solved through consensus. "The President can amend different legal provisions on the recommendation of the Cabinet. Even the provision of by-election can be taken as a basis to move forward," he said, adding, "However the President should remove all the hurdles as per the article 158 of the constitution." Besides Tuladhar and Nirala, former AGs such as Raghav Lal Baidhya, Mahadev Yadav, Prem Bahadur Bista, Krishna Ram Shrestha, Yuba Raja Sangraula and Badri Bahadur Karki were present in the consultation. Attorney General Mukti Pradhan was also present in the consultation. Nnnn SOCIAL ABUSES TRAUMATIZE SINGLE WOMEN Kathmandu, 31 May: The single women (widowed women) of Solukhumbu district claimed that they were being traumatized with social abuse and family exclusion, The Rising Nepal reports from Solokhumbu. Speaking at an interaction programme organized by The Small World to find out their problems and help them develop skills Wednesday, they said that single women were victimized by the inhuman cultural practices and restrictions. The single women gathered from five VDCs of the district said that single women were still not considered as a human being as they were expelled from different religious and social practices. Sharing her ordeal, Tara B.K, a single woman of Kaku, Solukhumbu, said that her days start with the hateful words of her mother-in-law. Everyday she is accused of killing her husband with her negative supernatural power. B.K said she was two-months pregnant when her husband died. However, her in-laws had been accusing her of having immoral relationship with some other guy. Though she tried to tell them the baby was of their own son, they denied believing it, she added. This is not only the story of B.K. There are many single women in the district who had been traumatized with different forms of social and family abuse. Sukumaya, another single woman of Basa VDC, said that the widowed women were repeatedly victimized due to the ill-practices prevailed in the Nepali society. She said the single women were supposed to be a symbol of unluckiness. "Therefore, people start using offensive words and spit whenever they see her in the early morning," she said. "This is just an example of social exclusion; single women are facing different forms of social and religious practice", she added. Likewise, Muna Ghimire, who has been raising her three little children after her husband died, faced different accusation from her family and society. "People used to say that I would soon get married with another guy and leave my children alone to suffer," she added. During the programme, 85 single women arrived from five VDCs and expressed their frustration and sufferings. They claimed that people and family member themselves remark about their single hood and suspected them of being to be involved into various immoral activities. "They are restricted for social practices and are barred from the access to resources and capital and they are not socialized for dependent life," they shared. During the programme 1/3 women of the district said they lacked access to the properties of their husbands. Kanchi Sherpa of Takkisandu said that her own family member denied her providing power to her husband’s property. Chairperson of The Small World, Karma Sherpa, said that his organization was going to organize various skill oriented trainings for single women so they could live independent life. Nnnn CHINA NEPAL WATCHERS SAY CONSTITUTION A MUST Kathmandu, 31 May: China is concerned about the recent political developments in Nepal and wishes the “Himalayan Republic overcame the jarring crisis by issuing the much needed constitution to ensure political stability, economic growth and prosperity,” two of China’s top Nepal hands have said, Nirmal Shrestha writes in The Kathmandu Post from Hong Kong. They also warned that the protracted transition phase could increase foreign intervention in Nepal. Professor Wang Hongwei of the Institute of Asian Pacific Studies said in an interview with The Kathmandu Post that promulgation of a new constitution was the only option for the country and for that unity among the political parties was imperative. “The parties should continue on the path of finding common ground of understanding to settle disputed issues. Just like they did in the recent past,” said the 78-year-old professor. Prof Wang said he was hopeful that sooner or later the Nepali political leaders would come up with the constitution as wished by the people of Nepal. Hu Shisheng, the Director of South and South East Asian Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the condition of Nepal could get more fluctuant in the coming days. He, however, suggested the Nepali people not lose their patience. “Even China suffered many problems in different periods of its history before getting to where it is today.” Hu said the failure of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal to issue a new constitution should be taken as a matter of grave seriousness or alarm. “The topic of federalism is very sensitive and a complex one. It would have been very dangerous to take a rather arbitrary and a hasty decision on the matter,” he said, adding that Nepal should take its time and decide what is best for the country and its people. nnnn