JORPATI VEHICLES VANDALIZED AFTER GIRL ON MOTORCYCLE HIT, KILLED IN TANKER l Kathmandu, 16 June: Angry Jorpati locals smashed a water tanker and four buses and minibuses after Amrita Tamang who was pillion riding won a motorcycle with her brother was hit and killed by the tanker. Amrita was driving around town with her brother distributing sweets after passing SLC examinations; the brother is undergoing treatment at hospital after suffering serious injuries. Two buses and two microbuses were also vandalized. Nnnn PRACHANDA SAYS NO FORWARD MOVEMENT WITHOUT CONSENSUS Kathmandu, 16 June: UCPN-Maoist Chairman Puspha Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has stressed consensus among political parties to give outlet to the political crisis created after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, The Rising Nepal reports. He urged all party leaders and cadres not to be guided by impulse and realize that we can go nowhere without forging consensus. "This is a time to go ahead with wisdom and rational thinking, not for impulsive action. This is time to proceed with patience and restraint," Prachanda said. I have urged Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala, chairman of CPN-UML Jhala Nath Khanal and UML leader Madav Kumar Nepal to come forward for consensus because nothing can be achieved without agreement, Prachanda said. Addressing a mass meeting organized by the Maoist party at the Open Air Theatre on Friday, Chairman Prachanda said that there is no alternative to Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution. We cannot think beyond the CA because only the popularly elected CA can guarantee the rights of Dalit, Janajati, Madeshi, Women, minorities and oppressed, he said. Prachanda said that there is an element that finds fault with whatever I say and do. They distort what I say and use the media for false propaganda. "I don’t how the media will report when I am speaking right now," he added. Emphasising the importance of party unity, Chairman Prachanda said that the large mass at this meeting shows that they are in favour of unity, not division. When we are united, we can meet the aspirations of our people, he added. I can see how grand the meeting would have been if it was if comrade Kiran and comrade Badal had attended it, Prachanda said about the leaders of the dissenting faction who wee absent. Prachanda said that he has shown utmost flexibility for the sake of party unity. We have even started the discussion on reviewing the party leadership, he said and urged the dissenting faction to come up with a unity proposal. Party Vice-chairman and Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that all parties should come for consensus forgetting all past shortcomings and go for a fresh election of the CA. Parties are trying to repeat the royal moves of the past by propping the President. But I am confident the President will take heed of his constitutional boundaries, he said. He appealed NC and UML also not to violate constitutional path because that will not lead to solution. Such a move will only invite counter move and the situation will backfire. At a time when we are under political transition, political parties should not create hurdles in the nation’s economic progress. All the development projects should go ahead smoothly, he said. We may be obliged to make laws on organized crime and extradition treaty through ordinance, Dr Bhattarai said. He urged opposition political parties to cooperate with the government. Referring to the party unity, Dr Bhattarai said that the Maoist party cannot split as it was built by the blood and tears of thousands of people. "Debates may be resolved in a negotiated manner and the party unity should be given top priority. The party leadership is ready to review its earlier decisions to make unity a reality," he said. He reiterated that he is ready to tender his resignation from the post of Prime Minister for the sake of party unity. Secretary of National Indigenous Federation Nepal Aang Kaji Sherpa blamed that the government and major political parties are against the rights of Janajati and indigenous people. He blamed the NC and UML that they had created hurdles not to let the 14 federal states proposal be endorsed from the CA. "The CA was dissolved after the oppressed groups formed an alliance to pass the proposal of federalism based on identity in CA," he said. Sherpa claimed that the Maoist unity can only guarantee the new constitution based on identity and appealed to the dissenting faction to come forward for party unity. He warned that monarchist people will go into prison if they tried to revive monarchy in the country. He termed May 27 as a black day in the history of Nepali politics and added that the politics was focused power sharing in the last phase of the CA. Maoist vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha, politburo member Hisila Yami, Dalit leader Padmalal Biswakarma, Madeshi leader Tula Narayan Shah and Newa leader Malla K Sundar said that it is not possible to backtrack from federalism when writing the new constitution. Nnnn PRESIDENT SAYS INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF DEMOCRACY HAS FAILED WITH RESULTANT EFFECT Kathmanu, 16 June: President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav Friday reiterated that consensus among political parties was the only way out to end the current political deadlock in the country, The Rising Nepal reports. Launching a book entitled "Revisiting the Nepali Peace Process", written by Professor Dr. Birendra Prasad Mishra, here, President Yadav said that he was committed to remaining within the constitutional boundaries by bringing all the political forces to one platform for reconciliation. "We have come to this situation because we have time and again failed to institutionalize democracy in the country," he said, adding, the civil societies’ role had shrunk when it came to pressurize the political parties in the recent times.1 Praising the book as highly relevant in the present context, President Yadav said that it would provide a comprehensive insight to all who were keen to know about Nepal’s peace process. CPN-UML leader Pradeep Gyawali said that Mishra’s book came at a time when political crisis loomed across the nation following the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. He said that the book had perfectly coined the flaws of the peace process and contained good analysis about the reasons behind its failure. "It is unfortunate that the political parties treated the peace process as a strategy to gain power rather than serving the people’s interests," Gyawali said, adding that there was no alternative to political consensus for ending the political stalemate. Ramesh Lekhak, leader of Nepali Congress, said that the book had the capacity to serve as a strong documentary evidence of Nepali peace process in the future. ly. He said that the book had perfectly coined the flaws of the peace process and contained good analysis about the reasons behind its failure. "It is unfortunate that the political parties treated the peace process as a strategy to gain power rather than serving the people’s interests," Gyawali said, adding that there was no alternative to political consensus for ending the political stalemate. Ramesh Lekhak, leader of Nepali Congress, said that the book had the capacity to serve as a strong documentary evidence of Nepali peace process in the future. He said that Mishra had balanced himself to remain supportive and critical on analyzing the various aspects and components of peace process. "The book offers insight about both positive and negative features of the peace process in a rational manner," he added. Lekhak also insisted that Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai’s decision to dissolve the CA was an unconstitutional move and said that there was no alternative to constitutional amendment. Speaking about his book, Mishra said that it was merely his effort to show the people what he had seen and experienced about Nepali peace process over the years. He said that the political unity after the 12-point agreement had turned into a power struggle following the CA election. He added that the procedures regarding the CA election and its working approach and formation of monitoring committee had all gone awry. nnnn