MAOIST STANDING COMMITTEE MEET Kathmandu, 28 May: Maoist standing committee meeting of underway Monday morning at Baluwatar official residence of the prime minister reviewing the situation after Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai ordered elections 22 November for a new CA without promulgating a constitution to institutionalize a declared republic. The meeting is reviewing the renewed mandate sought for CA, resignations of some ministers and parties from government and other issues. NC and UML that have attempted common stance against Maoists leading government are also meeting separately Monday afternoon to review the situation. Both parties are back in opposition after les than three weeks in the Baburam Bhattarai government. NC withdrew from government first followed by UML Sunday night. NC was pressing for a national consensus government under its leadership before election of date for CA election. Repeated elections for CA are rare. nnnn SOME ‘DIRTY’ MEMBERS BROUGHT CA INTO DISREPUTE Kathmandu, 28 May: The Constituent Assembly death has reinforced people’s accusation that the CA members are incapable of doing anything other than hurling brickbats at each other, The Kathmandu Post writes. In the past four years, some lawmakers, who were assigned to write a new constitution, remained busy in gambling, criminal activities, theft, misusing diplomatic passports and slapping government officials. Nepali Congress CA member Achyut Raj Pande was the first in the list of lawmakers to fall into disrepute in 2009. Pande, who was arrested from a Maharajgunj-based gambling house, made other CA members red-faced too. Later in September 2010, UML lawmaker DB Karki identified himself as a corrupt politician. He was arrested by a CIAA team red-handed while he was taking bribe from unemployed youths promising them of jobs in the Nepal police. Dirtying their hands were two lawmakers, Gayatri Shah and Biswonath Prasad Yadav, as they were arrested on the charge of misusing their diplomatic passports. A corruption case filed against them is pending at the Special Court. Lawmakers Naradmuni Rana of CPN-UML and Shiva Pujan Yadav of Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum also made their names in the list of passport-sellers-cum-lawmakers. Maoist lawmaker Indramati Yadav was arrested for illegally hooking electricity power for water pumps. Another Maoist lawmaker Prem Bahadur Pulami appointed a proxy examinee to sit for his SLC exam in Rautahat district. It was very childish of lawmakers Bishwendra Paswan and Sanjay Kumar Sah as they threw a chair down from the CA building and broke a microphone. Later Sah was suspended for days. Luxury-hungry Karima Begam of Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum Loktantrik slapped Parsa CDO for not providing a vehicle. These are a few examples of CA members crossing the limit. Saroj Kumar Yadav of Sadvawana Party misbehaved with doctors of Bir Hospital in a drunken stupor. UML lawmaker Lhyarkyal Lama reached the height of notoriety by possessing passports of China, Nepal and India. Intellectuals say the CA members are to blame for killing the CA. Prof Kapil Shrestha says the CA could not promulgate a new constitution due to the incompetence of lawmakers and CA Chairman Subas Nembang. “The lawmakers always looked for their personal gains, while CA Chairman Subas Nembang worked like a non-gazatted officer,” said Shreshta. Just hours before the CA’s death, some lawmakers protested against senior leaders on the CA premises demanding their roles in the CA. “That was a low profile drama performed for public consumption. Whey did they remained silent for four years?” asked Shrestha. Nnnn FAR-WEST PEOPLE FEAR WORSE DAYS AHEAD Kathmandu, 28 May: Western Nepal curiously observed the desperate attempts by the power centers in Kathmandu on the last day of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Sunday, Gunaraj Luitel writes in Republica from Nepalgunj. Expectations had been high that life would return to normal across the region once the new constitution was drafted. As the day wore on in a region plagued by numerous strike, that expectation gradually gave way to despondency as the inclusive constitution appeared distant. People were preparing to cautiously welcome the new constitution despite indications that it would not address all the voices. But the late news about the failure to draft the constitution has worsened the situation. The strikes that started with demands of an undivided far west region a month ago still continue and the civil society leaders fear that the days ahead would be more painful. "It is very difficult to even imagine the eventuality of non-issuance of constitution," civil society leader in Kanchanpur Nara Bahadur Saud told Republica. "It will lead the country toward anarchy and political vacuum." Most of the common people can´t even imagine what will happen now. They were hoping for a midnight miracle as in the past but were disappointed with the news of failure this time. "The failure to draft a constitution may invite many accidents in the future. It may even lead to the loss of all the accomplishments attained till now," Saud added. People had hoped to celebrate Monday´s Republic Day with vigor with the new constitution but the bad news at the end has disappointed them. "We were expecting widespread celebrations after promulgation of constitution. It has now turned into disappointment," Registrar of the Far West University Hem Raj Panta said. He advised the leaders to learn from the failure and express commitment not to repeat the mistakes again in the future. "They should now attempt to improve communal harmony that have lately been strained," he advised. Advocate from Baitadi Rajendra Saud had hoped that at least an incomplete constitution would be framed by midnight. "The people had fed the CA members even by staying hungry themselves. But the CA members didn´t complete their duty," he stated. He opined that the credibility of leaders will take a massive hit after this failure. "The democracy would be weakened if the leaders lose credibility," Chief of Mountain Multiple Campus, Dadeldhura Suresh Joshi concurred. Blasting the leaders for inability to complete the constitution despite extending the two-year tenure of CA by another two years. "The economy has been hit hard by the uncertainty prevailing in the country. This new development will worsen the situation," Joshi added. nnnn ________________________________________ AFC U-22 CUP IN LIMBO Kathmandu, 28 May: Group D qualifying matches of AFC U-22 Cup scheduled to begin in Kathmandu from Saturday is in limbo due to uncertainty surrounding the political situation of the country, RSS reports. Five Asian countries including host Nepal, Bangladesh, Jordan Yemen and Uzbekistan were scheduled to compete in the tournament to qualify for the final round to be held next year. Top two teams from the group secures direct berth for the final round of the tournament introduced in the age group for the first time by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). However, Nepal is yet to announce its final squad. "We have regularly been updating the AFC about the political situation. The tournament will be held in the stipulated time in Kathmandu if normalcy is restored," ANFA Vice president Lalit Krishna Shrestha told Republica. "We have completed all the preparations for the event," Shrestha said. According to Karma Tshering Sherpa, the vice president and manager of the U-22 team, the future of the tournament rests on whether the political situation turns favorable. "If the political situation improves, the event will be held in Nepal on the stipulated date," Sherpa said. Meanwhile, with only six days remaining for the tournament, Nepal is yet to finalize the squad for the event. The team´s coach Krishna Thapa said he has submitted a list of 24 players to ANFA but the final squad is yet to be announced. The national team´s assistant manager Madhusudan Upadhyaya said, "ANFA has not announced the final list of players due to uncertainty regarding the tournament date." nnnn ________________________________________