GOVT. AMID OPPOSITION PROTESTS PREPARES ORDINANCES TO CURB MONEY LAUNDERING Kathmandu, 15 June: Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachedhar has presented to cabinet three ordinances on anti-money laundering for approval in the absence of parliament where they were presented before its dissolution. Prime Minister Bburam Bhattarai has discussed enforcing them through ordinances with President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav who has ben asked by opposition not to give his approval to a proposal of a caretaker government. Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun discussed the ordinances with leaders of opposition parties Thursday and talks continue Friday. A Financial Action Task Force (FATF). has set a 18 June deadline approval of the ordnances amid threats of being black-0listed by international bodies discussing ways to curb terrorism. The ordinances relate to Mutual Legal Assistance Bill, Extradition Bill and Bill against Organised Crime. nnnn BAIDHAYA FACTION HOLDING NATIONAL MEET AT JORPATI l. Kathmandu, 15 June: The Mohan Baidhaya faction of the UCPN (Maoist) is holding a national meet at Jorpati in the eastern suburb of the capital Friday. Nearly 300 rebels are expected to participate. Baidhaya said the meet was convened to launch a new party amid deep ideological differences broken out publicly. Establishment and rebel factions have proposed six and seven-point proposals for unity. The establishment side in holding a rally far away from Jorpati. nnnn . PM ALSO TELLS VILLAGERS HE’LL RESIGN ONLY AFTER SUCCESSOR FOUND Kathmandu, 14 June: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has said he would quit office immediately after the political parties find an alternative to his government, Republica reports. "I am ready to quit the post within a minute of the parties reaching an agreement on the alternative," the prime minister said during an interaction with the locals at Jhor Mahankal village on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Wednesday. According to the prime minister´s secretariat at Baluwatar, the prime minister reached to the village as part of his campaign to hold similar interactions directly with villagers once in a month. He told the villagers that he had made up his mind to step down on May 27, the day when the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) expired. But his plan couldn´t materialize as the political parties failed to promulgate the new constitution. "I have no interest at all to cling to the post, but I can´t quit leaving behind a void," he explained. Bhattarai termed the opposition parties´ ranting for his resignation without first coming up with an alternative as “childish behavior”. He accused the opposition parties Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML of causing the CA´s dissolution. "They opposed the extension of the CA´s tenure earlier and now they are demanding reinstatement of the CA. It is contradictory," he said. nnnn ________________________________________ FORMER LAWMAKERS STILL CLINCH TO DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS Kathmandu, 15 June: More than 40 per cent of 522 former parliamentarians, who had procured diplomatic passports, are yet to return the document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 10 days after expiry of the deadline set by National Vigilance Centre to do so, Lekhnath Pandey writes in The Himalayan Times.. NVC, an-anti-corruption body, had sent circulars to the Parliament Secretariat and MoFA on returning diplomatic passports within a week of the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. “Till now, we have received diplomatic passports from 291 former CA members, who had procured the document in the capacity of parliamentarians,” said Yadav Khanal, acting chief of the Passport Division at MoFA. The Passport Division has maintained secrecy over the names of former parliamentarians who submitted the document and who did not. A senior MoFA officer, however, told THT that it would make public the names of all those who don’t submit their passports within a couple of weeks. The NVC circular mentions that the red passport can be misused to procure easy visas to go abroad. Earlier six CA members were convicted of misusing their red passports for money. Senior leaders of major political parties — former CA Chairman Subas Chandra Nembang and Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala — have submitted their red passports. Though he was not a member of the CA, Koirala had received red passport in the capacity of the leader of opposition. The government also provides red passports to former prime ministers though they are no longer parliamentarians. Incumbent ministers, secretaries, members of the constitutional bodies, however, can keep the document till they hold the post. “Some of former CA members may not submit the passports because of expiry of their validity,” the MoFA officer told THT. Cancelling her diplomatic passport, Usha Kala Rai, a former CA member from CPN-UML on Thursday applied for an ordinary passport. “Since I am no longer a CA member, I returned the privileged document provided by the government,” she told THT. Ironically, she was flying to Bangladesh to attend a conclave of South Asian Women Parliamentarians in the capacity of a Nepali member of Parliament! nnnn FOUR $6 BILLION POWER PRJECTS CLEARED Kathmandu, 15 June: The meeting of the Investment Board today approved the new Project Development Agreement (PDA) template for hydropower projects above 500MW that will not only ensure investments worth $6 billion but also solve current power crisis and generate employment in the country, The Himalayan Times reports. The agreement –– drafted by one of the world’s leading legal firms –– ensures balanced and bankable deals that fully benefit and protect Nepal’s interests. The caretaker prime minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who chaired the meeting, expressed optimism at the accomplishment of the joint efforts of the Investment Board, the Ministry of Energy and related agencies to develop the PDA template, which will now provide a much needed impetus to enable negotiations on the current four priority projects, that will produce 3000 MW of electricity. “Harnessing Nepal’s hydro resources for Nepal’s socio-economic transformation has always been my number one economic priority,” said Bhattarai, adding that the new PDA template will now equip Nepal with the capability to negotiate good hydropower deals and ensure maximum benefits in terms of revenue, spending, industrial and employment benefits, and electricity. “I would also like to assure investors that work on their projects will go unhindered,” he added, asking the investors to invest. “Nepal is open for business and the current political uncertainty will not affect Nepal’s economic activities.” Due to lack of power — the engine for economic growth — the country is facing huge unemployment problems. The new PDA template comes as a response to the previous PDA model that was rejected by developers and financiers in 2010 for not being bankable, according to chief executive of the board Radhesh Pant. “The new template protects the interests of both the people and investors,” he said, adding that it will also ensure fair returns for investors to enable them to get financing at competitive costs, timely approval mechanism, and provide for due diligence oversight to ensure commitments are met. It has also included best practices of international environmental and social standards, and will ensure model community benefits package and fair resettlement and rehabilitation though it is only an agreement template. But the individual agreements will also be negotiated and tailored to project circumstances and economics, local community needs and aspirations, he added. The new template will currently be applicable to the four mega hydro projects — Tamakoshi III (650MW), Upper Karnali (900MW), Upper Marsyangdi (600MW), and Arun III (900MW). “With the approval of the PDA template, we are now on a fast track to move on project agreements that will unlock the country’s vast hydro potential and solve the load shedding problem,” said Pant, adding that the board will present the PDA template to key developers in the next few days to enable both sides to lay the groundwork for intensive negotiations. He also assured the developers that the board will be approaching the negotiations in a constructive and cooperative manner. “We have the opportunity to bring in $6 billion in foreign direct investment, and create new opportunities for Nepali businesses and the labour force,” the chief executive said, adding that it not only solves the load shedding problem, but also addresses the country’s biggest obstacle to investment, business development and economic growth. The Investment Board, as a leading agency representing the government, was set up in November 2011 as a one-window solution for foreign investors and developers investing in hydro projects above 500MW and other Nnnn MAOIST CHIEF TELLS EU ENVOYS HE’S CONSIDERING MECHANISM FOR CONSENSUS Kathmandu, 14 June: UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has proposed forming a high-level political mechanism comprising all the major political parties to take ahead the political process, Republica reports.. During his meeting with EU ambassadors at his residence in Lazimpat Thursday morning, Chairman Dahal said he is mulling initiatives to form such a mechanism in consensus with other political parties. He argued that such a mechanism would help address the current constitutional crisis and chart out a new political course. Dahal told the envoys that the CA had seen its demise without promulgating a new statute as parties could not reach consensus on identity-based federalism. Stating that there is no alternative other than forging consensus, he said formation of a high-level mechanism would help forge consensus among the parties. The envoys during the meeting had also inquired as to how the government would introduce new budget, particularly as the opposition parties have been objecting to the government´s preparations to bring a full-fledged budget through ordinance. Dahal assured the envoys that the opposition parties would eventually help the government bring full-fledged budget. The EU envoys had met President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Wednesday to discuss the constitutional crisis in the country. nnnn ________________________________________