PHURBA SHERPA WINS EVERET MARATHN FO THIRD TIME Kathmandu, 29 May: Phurba Sherpa, 24, Tuesday won the Tenzing Hillary Marathon for the third time to commemorate the first ascent of the 8848 meters high Mount Everest in 29 May 1953. . Phurba is a loader at Lukla airport. He completed the highest marathon recognized officially in three hours, 41 minutes and 31 seconds from Everest base camp to Naaaaamche Bazzar. More than 160 long distance runners participated. nnnn . 4G LAUNCH DELAYED WITH GOVT. DELAY Kathamandu, 29 May: The government’s indecision on telecom frequency affairs has delayed the introduction of 4G technology in the country, The Himalayan Times. Ncell and Nepal Telecom have been asking for 4G spectrum for a long time, but the government is yet to take a decision on spectrum allocation. Nearly a year ago, a committee formed by the Ministry of Information and Communications had suggested that the government assign 2.5 GHz and 700 MHz band for 4G technology to interested operators through auction. But no headway has been made so far in this direction. Nepal Telecom was the first to launch 3G in South Asia. As far as 4G is concerned, India’s Bharati Airtel has become first to launch the technology in the region. The largest Indian operator launched the service, also known as long-term evolution (LTE), one and half months ago. 4G is the next complete evolution in wireless communications having a comprehensive internet protocol solution in which voice, data and streamed multimedia services can be offered. In October 2010, Ncell had demanded the 4G spectrum to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) for test. Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen said their plan to introduce 4G technology was affected due to the government’s delay in allocating the spectrum. “By this time, we would have already launched the service commercially,” he said. Nepal Telecom (NT) has also been planning to provide 4G-based services. As part of the plan, NT has included 4G-enabled mobile lines in its 10 million GSM line project. “We always focus on brining new technologies and offer services at competitive prices,” said a senior NT official. The decision on spectrum allocation was delayed after the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) directed that the government assign frequency only after formulating new rules and through auction, according to NTA officials. Currently, a five-member panel under the coordination of NTA Chairman Bhesh Raj Kanel is working to suggest the government on the whole spectrum affairs. “We need a policy for spectrum auction first,” said Kanel, adding that the policy will be devised after the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee under the Communications Ministry will decide on 4G spectrum allocation. The Frequency Determination Committee has decided to set aside 150 MHz bandwidth in 2.5Ghz band (appropriate for -populated areas) for 4G service. However, it is yet to take a decision regarding the 700 MHz band, and the base price for auction. Also, the government is still also not clear whether to assign 4G spectrum to new operators. According to a senior official at the Commun-ications Ministry, auctioning the 4G spectrum only among existing operators may result in manipulation of the auction process. Despite the fact that the 3G service has not been able to attract targeted number of consumers, both the big operators are interested in introducing 4G. “4G has become a mainstream technology in the modern telecommunications sector,” said Koistinen. The International Telecomm-unication Union has described 4G as a family of networking standards that offers data transfer speeds of up to 1 GB per second. It can provide a comprehensive and secure all-internet protocol-based mobile broadband solution to laptop, computer, wireless modems and smartphones. Nnnn NNNN NEXT BUDGET THROUGH ORDINANCE Kathmandu, 29 May: Yet again, the preparation and presentation of the annual budget is being hit by political crisis. The demise of the Constituent Assembly (CA) has raised uncertainty about the timely presentation of next year’s budget, The Kathmandu Post writes.. In the absence of a legislature parliament, which dissolved along with the CA, there are no options but to presenting the budget through ordinance. “There are no alternatives to presenting the budget through ordinance, which remains valid for just six months,” said a senior Finance Ministry official. “The new parliament can bring a supplementary budget for the next six months.” The budget was last brought through ordinance in November 2010 when the UCPN (Maoist) prevented the then Finance Minister Surendra Pandey from presenting budget for fiscal year 2010-11. The current political crisis is also bound to affect the budget making process, major political parties still busy with blame game over the CA dissolution and new election. Finance Ministry officials say as major political parties, including Nepali Congress and CPN (UML), now demanding a consensus government, the budget may not be presented on time. Even if the budget is presented, the government cannot introduce new programmes. All it can do is allocate budget for the new election and ongoing programmes. “The code of conduct of the Election Commission bars a caretaker government from allocating budget for new flagship programmes,” said the ministry official. “And, this code of conduct remains valid even if a new government is formed as demanded by the parties.” The Finance Ministry is currently holding discussions with ministries on committed costs such as salaries and regular expenditure on ongoing projects and programmes. Over the last four years after the CA election, only once (last fiscal year), the annual budget was presented on time. Delay in the government formation saw the Maoist-led government present the budget on September 19, 2008, two months behind the schedule. Despite tabling on time, the 2009-10 budget was endorsed after four months due to the UCPN (Maoist)’s obstruction. The resignation of the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal just ahead of the budget presentation forced the country to wait until the third week of November for 2010-11 budget. This vicious cycle of delay in budget presentation and endorsement has taken a toll on development and economic growth of the country. There has been a huge gap between the projection and actual economic growth over the last four years. A progress report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC) on last year’s budget said that only 70 percent of the capital expenditure was spent in 2010-11. This year, despite the budget coming on time, capital expenditure has remained low, with only 40 percent spent in the first ten months. With the next year’s budget coming through ordinance, it will not contribute much to country’s economic growth, say economists. “Even if the next budget is presented timely, it will be very difficult to implement at local levels as our government mechanism is not strong enough to deliver services,” said economist Bishwombher Pyakuryal. “In the absence elected bodies at both centre and local levels, corruption will be rampant.” nnnn ENACTMENT OF THREE AML BILLS HIT SNAG WITHOUT PARLIAMENT Kathmandu, 29 May: Unexpected termination of Constituent Assembly (CA), which was also functioning as Legislature Parliament, without due outcome has ran cold water on Nepal´s chances of formally enacting three anti-money laundering (AML) related laws, something which are crucial for the country to prevent itself from blacklisting when the global AML body meet in Rome in June, Milan Mani Sharma writes in Republica.. Going by the commitment that the government made in the February meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global AML body, Nepal was required to enact Extradition Bill, Mutual Cooperation Bill and Bill to Control Organized Crime through the Parliament. Top Nepali officials in their recent face-to-face meeting with the regional wing of the body had briefed them that the bills were already tabled in the parliament and the country would enact them through the parliament as soon as the last session of CA ratify the new constitution. “Not only did the country not get the new constitution, unexpected demise of CA and the Parliament has closed the possibility of formulating those crucial laws,” said a member of a high-level AML Coordination Committee. If the country failed to adhere to June deadline, officials said the country will certainly face the wrath of the international community and will be blacklisted in Rome meeting, which has been slated through June 18-22. If that happened, the international community would instantly stop honoring letters of credit and payments issued by Nepali traders. While that will seriously jeopardize country´s overseas trade, donors too might stop issuing aid and foreign investors would be encouraged to pull out their investments. Failing to fulfill commitments made at the international forum, Nepal found itself on the verge of being blacklisted by the FATF in February itself, but escaped the action at the last minute after Prime Minister Babu Ram Bhattarai personally promised to enact the laws and comply with the directives issued by the global body. “It was our good luck that FATF gave us one more chance. And we are worried now because it has made clear it is the last chance to comply with the international AML norms,” said the official. Given the situation, officials said there is one way through which the country can salvage its position: enforcement of those laws in the form of ordinances. “It is apparently the only feasible option,” said the source. The option appears an easy way out too because the three bills tabled in the parliament had drawn strong criticism and protest from various political groups, including the Baidya faction of the UCPN (Maoist). “But our concern is, such a move might only add fuel to current chaos,” said the source. Considering the situation, officials in the high-level AML Coordination Committee said they will wait for a few days for current political imbroglio to settle, and start approaching the government as well as leaders from various political parties for building an environment to issue ordinances. “PM Bhattarai is already aware of the risks ahead. Hopefully other officials will understand the country´s situation and act sensibly,” said the source. nnnn ________________________________________ ________________________________________ LEADERS BLAME CHAIRMAN NEMWANG Kathmandu, 29 May:: Former lawmakers and leaders from various political parties have accused Subas Nembang, chairman of the dissolved Constituent Assembly, of not playing proactive role to save the CA from its unceremonious dissolution on Sunday, Republica reports. They said if Nembang had played an effective coordinating role, the CA could have been given a new lease of life by promulgating a framework constitution and handing over all the remaining tasks and unresolved disputes to the transitional parliament. As per the existing constitutional provision, the 601 Assembly´s role as CA would come to an end while it continued as interim legislature parliament if a new constitution had been promulgated. But the CA was dissolved as it failed to bring out even a draft. UCPN (Maoist) Secretary and former Tourism Minister Post Bahadur Bogati, who was closely involved in the inter-party talks, believed that Nembang didn´t play as active a role as he could. "He can´t simply remain innocent by passing the bucks to the leaders from major political parties alone," said Bogati, who worked closely with Nembang as chief whip of the Maoist party before he became the minister. According to Bogati, Nembang´s performance was unsatisfactory in the final days of the CA when his role as a catalyst would have been crucial to find an amicable solution. "Nembang himself should introspect whether or not he played an effective and active role as the chief of the CA during the crucial juncture," Bogati further said. Brijesh Kumar Gupta of Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) said Nembang shouldn´t be held totally responsible but he can´t remain blameless either because he was one of the "main actors" responsible in the entire constitution making process. "We believe that he could have coordinated better," said former Minister for Law and Justice Gutpa. Hemraj Bhandari of UCPN (Maoist) said had Nembang worked seriously in the final days, the CA wouldn´t have faced the unceremonious end. "Had he prepared the draft of new constitution by incorporating all those parts that were resolved through consensus, the CA could have been given continuity. But it was only yesterday [Sunday] we found that the CA secretariat hadn´t done the job as well," said Bhandari. Also, Navodita Chaudhary of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) criticized Nembang for failing to prepare a draft constitution and to save the CA by tabling it in the CA meeting. "It is the CA head´s utter failure," she said. However, Nembang termed the blames baseless. He claimed that all the leaders involved in the talks were well aware of his continuous and all-out efforts to find solution. "I tried my level best to stop the impending political void. I even offered several alternatives that could have saved the country from the present situation, but it was all in vein as the leaders were not ready to forge consensus," Nembang told Republica. He claimed that he presented various options in writing to all the leaders involved in the negotiations. According to him, after knowing that the government was preparing to go for fresh elections, he reminded the prime minister and other leaders about the need to amend the constitutional provisions before going for those options. "I have given it in writing to the leaders," he said. Also several lawmakers from various political parties fiercely criticized Nembang for not even holding a House meeting before the CA came to an end. Chaudhary, Bhandari, Gupta and Mangalsiddhi Manandhar of CPN-UML, among others, said they felt humiliated to return home at midnight from the CA building in New Baneshwar without even attending a meeting. They criticized Nembang for not turning up at the CA building, where hundreds of lawmakers had been anxiously waiting for hours. "We were not given a notice and we came to know about the developments through the media," said Chaudhary. "We felt insulted by the way the head of the CA behaved ." Nembang claimed there is no point in criticizing him for not convening a meeting on Sunday as there was no business at hand due to leaders´ failure to resolve disputes in constitution writing and table the constitution bill in House. nnnn ________________________________________ PARTIES ASK PRESIDENT TO DECLARE ELECTION CALL UNCONSTITUTIONAL Kathmandu, 29 May: The four-year-old CA died yesterday at the stroke of the midnight without delivering a new constitution, however, its demise has given birth to a maze of legalistic complexities. And a call for fresh polls in November by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai yesterday, minutes ahead of the expiry of the CA, has invited a raft of legal and constitutional questions, with experts suggesting that Bhattarai’s decision to declare elections was out-and-out unconstitutional, Ananta Raj Luitel writes in The Himalayan Times.. Former attorneys general today called on President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and told the latter that the decision to declare polls was unconstitutional and that holding elections to a new Constituent Assembly would not be easy without addressing some serious legal issues. “The decision to hold elections to a new CA itself is unconstitutional,” Badri Bahadur Karki, a former attorney general, told THT. Former attorneys general Mahadev Yadav and Yuba Raj Sangroula also had called on the President, who had sought suggestions from the experts on current political situation that has entailed serious legal complications. According to Karki, declaration of polls by the PM even before the expiry of the CA was against the sovereignty of the constitution-making body because constitutionally, the CA itself was the only authorised body to do so. In reply to the President’s query on political impasse the country has sunk into, the experts said it was because of the hasty decision of declaring polls even without letting the CA know about its dissolution. “PM had no right to decide on polls when the sovereign body was still alive,” said Karki. Nonetheless, there are several other questions that are now rearing their heads. With the dissolution of the CA, the PM has lost his CA membership, which reduces him to caretaker status. “In this case, the government shall move forward through political consensus and understanding,” added Karki. “The government must have sought political consensus before declaring the elections.” Mahadev Yadav, also a former attorney general, said the Head of State can seek resignation from the PM and then call for formation of an all-party unity government. According to legal experts, with the dissolution of CA, the post of the CA chairman is also nullified and hence CA chair, also the Speaker, as the CA doubled as Parliament, ceases to hold office. nnnn OPPOSITION WARNS UPRISING Kathmandu, 29 May: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s unilateral call for fresh elections has raised opposition parties’ hackles, Prakash Acharya writes in The Himalayan Times.. Furious over yesterday’s polls declaration, almost all the parties, save the Unified CPN-Maoist and those Madhes-based ones which are in the government, today warned that they would launch political movement if the Bhattarai government went ahead with its decision to hold elections. At a meeting held at Nepali Congress party headquarters in Sanepa, NC, CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Rastriya Janashakti Party, Rastriya Janamorcha, CPN (Marxist Leninist), Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekta Party Nepal and Nava Nepal Nirman Party concluded that the decision to hold fresh polls was unconstitutional and that the legitimacy of the PM had ended with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly yesterday. The parties today suggested that PM Bhattarai should step down to pave the way for formation of a unity government and to make some arrangements in provisional constitution so that fresh polls could be held to bail the country out of political crisis, which according to them was created by the prime minister’s wrong move. The parties also concluded that letting the CA dissolve even though there were possibilities of promulgating the new constitution and announcing the elections by ignoring constitutional provisions and major political stakeholders were the blunder made by the PM. The Interim Constitution ‘does not have any provision to hold CA polls for a second time’ and in such a case other election-related provisions need to be amended, the parties said. “That’s why the decision to declare polls cannot be legitimate,” they added. “Amendments (to the Interim Constitution) are possible through national consensus. A unity government can make an appeal to the President to use his power to remove constitutional difficulties,” said a senior Congress leader. “CA polls cannot be held until Prime Minister Bhattarai resigns and a national unity government is formed. Only a unity government can remove political and constitutional hitches,” said NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula. “If the government decides to move ahead unilaterally by ignoring our concerns, we will launch political movement,” said Sitaula. UML Chairman Khanal said, “We will jointly challenge Maoists’ anti-people and anti-constitutional move. We will also counter their bid to disturb social harmony.” UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said, “The Maoists’ are eying at securing a two-thirds majority by misusing state powers. We will jointly counter their move.” Other political parties will also join the movement at tomorrow’s meeting, said NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC. Political coup, says Congress A majority of Nepali Congress leaders on Monday termed the unilateral announcement of elections to a new Constituent Assembly a ‘political coup’. The NC leaders, who held an informal meeting at party President Sushil Koirala’s residence in Maharajgunj, concluded that Prime Minister’s Baburam Bhattarai’s move to call for polls was unconstitutional. The Broader Madhesi Front demanded that PM Bhattrai step down to pave way for a unity government. ‘Step down’ The hardline faction of the Unified CPN-Maoist led by senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya on Monday said Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s decision to call for fresh polls was unconstitutional. The faction concluded that party chairman was responsible for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. Baidhya said his faction would join hands with NC and UML to topple the Bhattarai-led government. nnnn PM SAYS NO ALTERBATIVE TO FRESH POLLS Kathmandu, 29 May: The 5th Republic Day was marked Monday in the presence of President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav by organizing a special programme at the Nepal Army Pavilion here, The Rising Nepal reports,. Addressing the function, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai apologized to the nation and the people for the failure of the political parties to promulgate the new constitution by the stipulated deadline of May 27. Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai said that the new constitution could not be promulgated due to the disagreement among the political parties on some contentious issues of the new constitution which could not be resolved even at the last moment of the CA. The Prime Minister said that the people’s aspiration for a new constitution was aborted due to power games during the four-year term of the Constituent Assembly. Dr. Bhattarai stated that he had no alternative but to announce the fresh elections. He also appealed to the people of all communities, religions, regions, class and sexes to make the next CA elections grand success. He further urged all the political parties and civil societies to move ahead by building minimum political understanding and to strengthen national unity by maintaining social harmony, peace and security. Dr. Bhattarai said that the country people should feel proud for the republic though the failed constitution writing process shadowed this historic day achieved through various struggles and contributions. Vice-President Parmanand Jha, Chief Justice Khilaraj Regmi, Nepal Army Chief Chhatraman Singh Gurung along with high-ranking army and police officials, civil servants and representatives of the diplomatic missions were present at the function. However, leaders of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML did not attend the function. Meanwhile RSS adds that Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has claimed that the government’s announcement to hold fresh elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA) on November 22 this year was constitutional. Speaking at a Radio Nepal monthly programme "Prime Minister with the People" on Monday evening, the Prime Minister claimed that he announced fresh CA elections abiding by the constitutional jurisdictions. He said the announcement was made in line with the Supreme Court’s verdict and as per the Article 63 (2) of the Interim Constitution of Nepal. Stating that ‘apathy’ on the part of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML) towards going for federalism led the Constitutional Assembly to dissolution, he claimed that the CA elections would be held on the basis of consensus among all political parties. Apologizing to the people for being a failure to give the new constitution within the slated date, he accused the Congress and the UML of causing obstructions in the constitution drafting at the last hour. The Maoists was not for devising province based on ethnicity but for giving rights to people from all classes and suppressed communities, he said, adding that it was the weakness of the top leaders of major political parties rather than of 601 CA members for not bringing constitution. Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai claimed that his party would gain two-third majority in the coming CA. nnnn PRACHANDA WHO IN PAST OPPOSED LFOREIGN FORCES, SAYS THIS TIME NO FOREIGN HAND Kathmandu, 29 May: UCPN-Maoist chairman and former Prime Minister Puspha Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ Monday said that conservative forces which wanted to maintain status quo in the national politics prevented the Constituent Assembly from accomplishing its historic tasks, The Rising Nepal reports. Speaking at a press conference held at his Lazimpat residence, he however said that the CA dissolution was not his failure. "We have now entered the new stage of our struggle to guarantee equal rights to all," he said. The CA dissolution has paved a way to uplift the suppressed Dalit, Janajati, indigenous, Muslim, Madhesi and minorities groups, Prachanda said. "The UCPN-Maoist adopted maximum flexibility to promulgate the new constitution timely but it failed, however, the campaign of promulgating the pro-people constitution has not been stalled," Prachanda assured. He said that the CA could not promulgate the new constitution owing to the power-centric attitudes of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. "The anti-federalism elements were terrified by the unity amongst the suppressed groups within the CA. NC and UML even feared to enter the CA hall before the dissolution of the CA," he said. NC and UML stressed power sharing at the final phase of the constitution writing process though they had assured to conclude the constitution process within few days after the completion of peace process, he said. "This has proved that the two parties were the key hurdles in the constitution writing process," he said. Stating that his party had never fought for a mere constitution as the struggle for the CA was to eliminate monarchy, set up republic, federalism, secularism and participation of all people in decision making levels, Prachanda said that he never compromised for mere constitution by ignoring the dreams, demands and interests of Janajati, Madeshis, indigenous, Dalit and deprived groups. He also ruled out presence of constitutional crisis after the announcement of the fresh elections and said that the government called for fresh election as per the Supreme Court’s recommendation. He also expressed his confidence that a fresh election would guarantee the new constitution. Referring to the disgruntling faction of his party, Prachanda said that the party had no alternative to unity and asked the leader of the rival faction to give up all prejudices. Prachanda, who used to claim presence of ‘foreign Prabhu’ for any political happening in the past, said that no foreign force had their role in the CA dissolution and appealed to all not to have doubts of foreign influences in any national decisions. Referring to the movements of the Brahmins and Chhettris, he said that the Maoist party always fought for equality not for ethnic conflict. "Maoists stressed inclusion of the Brahmin and Chettris in Khas Araya group that even was not provisioned by the Interim Constitution," he added. Prachanda also stressed the need of consensus government citing that political parties had no alternative to consensus. He also hoped that NC and UML would join the government adding that he was ready to think about the leadership of the consensus government if the parties agreed to form one. nnnn