NEPSE LOSES 10.01 POINTS IN WEEKLY TRADING Kathmandu, May 26: Nepse lost 10.01 points in weekly five-day trading last week to close at 398.60 points Thursday. Total weekly turnover was Rs. 372,390,000 compared to Rs. 369,191,000 the previous week. Altogether 1,124,392 shares of 120 companies were traded in 6,962 transactions. The sensitive index fell 2.59 points and closed at 100.96 points. Altogether 78. 400, 000 shares of Bank of Kathamndu Limited were traded in 657 transactions.. Shares of Bank of Kathmandu Limited were traded for Rs. 78.45 million, Everest Bank Limited for Rs. 31.65 million, Chilime Hydropower Company Limited for Rs. 27.63 million), Sanima Bank Limited for Rs. 17.33 million and Prime Commercial Bank for Rs.15.46 million as they led transactions. nnnn. IS MAOIST CHAIRMAN FACING JAMLETIAN DILEMMA? Kathmandu, 27 May: Amid mounting pressure from different quarters to seek common ground on state restructuring and promulgate a new constitution by Sunday, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal finds himself in an unenviable position, Kamal Dev Bhattaraiwrites in The Kathmandu Post. . According to leaders, Dahal is ready to go for multiple-identity based federalism to cajole the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML but he is under pressure from different ethnic groups and the hard-line faction of his party to remain stick to ethnicity-based federalism. As a Maoist chairman who enjoys tremendous ethnic support and who nurtured expectations of different ethnic groups during the insurgency, Dahal is now struggling to retain the support to ethnic group. During the conflict, the Maoist party had carved out 12 single identity-based ethnic states. He is now seeking common position to strike a balance between the ethnic and non-ethnic sections of the society. Dahal, who himself has projected as a candidate of future chief executive of the country, is trying cajole both ethnic groups and Brahamin-Chhetri community that has put him in a state of indecision and Hamletian dilemma. A leader close to him said Dahal has now realised that it is not possible to name federal states on the basis of ethnic identity in the diverse, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country. Now, he is seeking ways to satisfy both ethnic groups that are struggling for ethnic identity-based federalism and non-ethnic based federalism. “Despite the pressure from different ethnic groups, Dahal has proposed carving out the states on the basis of multiple identities,” said Dahal’s confidante Haribol Gajurel. He said Dahal is ready to provide common and mixed names to the federal provinces. According to his supporters, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai is in dilemma as to whether to agree to dissolve the CA or take harsh decisions that will lose his strength in Janajati politics. Similarly, if the ongoing peace and constitution-writing processes collapse, the hard-line faction led by Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya will prevail in the party. Dahal and Bhattarai have taken the line of promulgating the constitution through the CA—the position opposed by the hardliners. The Baidya faction has maintained that promulgation of a pro-people constitution is impossible through the CA. A senior leader close to Baidya said if the CA fails to promulgate the constitution, they would lose the moral ground to lead the party. nnnn