MOTHER GIVES BIRTH TO FIVE IN SALYAN AT HOME ; ALL BABIES DEAD Kathmandu, 15 July: A 28-year-old mother gave birth to five babies at home in a village in Salayan, a radio report said Sunday morning.. All the babies died. The mother has returned home from hospital where she was rushed after excessive bleeding. Nnnn CAPITAL RECORDS 66MM RAIN Kathmandu, 15 July: The capital recorded the highest rainfall of the year Saturday. Altogether 66mm rainfall was recorded. nnnn . PM CHARGES PARTY ADOPTED DUAL STANCES OF PEACE, CONSTITUTION Kahmandu, 15 July: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, who is also a UCPN (Maoist) vice-chairman, said on Saturday that the party’s path of peace and constitution was affected due to the dual stance of the leadership on the same as endorsed by the Chunwang meet in 2005. Speaking at the party’s ongoing Central Committee meeting, the Maoist ideologue said that the peace and constitution-writing process would have been completed had the party implemented its decision without vacillating between peace-constitution and revolt. The Chunwang meet had decided to join peaceful politics by accepting multi-party democracy. In the sixth plenum of 2010, Dahal did not firmly support the line of peace and constitution to cajole the Mohan Baidya faction of the party which was pushing revolt as the ultimate strategy. Bhattarai, however, was in favour of peace and constitution. Dahal firmly followed the path of peace and constitution only after the party’s Central Committee meeting in 2011. On Saturday, Bhattarai was hinting at Dahal’s failure to toe the peace and constitution line on time. In the meeting, Bhattarai argued that the Baidya faction created hurdles in implementing the official line set by the Chunwang meet. He stated that the party should not repeat the “past mistake” by leaving the government without agreement among parties on the disputed contents of the new constitution. “Quitting the government without ensuring a new constitution will be suicidal,” a leader quoted Bhattarai as telling the meeting. The CC meeting will conclude on Sunday as the plenum beginning on Monday will chart the party’s future political course after the Baidya faction defected on June 18. In the ongoing Central Committee meeting, some Maoist leaders also demanded party’s clear India policy. Leaders Amik Sherchan and Lila Mani Pokhrel said the party should not raise the issue of Indian interference in Nepal. Nnnn NO GOVT. INITIATIVE TO CLEAR HURDLES FOR ELECTION Kathmandu, 15 July: With only eight days to go for the deadline given by the Election Commission (EC) to the government to clear legal hurdles for holding fresh Constituent Assembly elections and the constitutional body sending frequent reminders to the government to take initiatives to fill vacant posts of election commissioners, the government is still at sea when it comes to going about doing all this, Bhandra Sharma/ Pranab Kharel write in The Kathmandu Post. . The government’s delay in clearing the legal hurdles within July 22 and appoint new commissioners at the EC is likely to further lessen chances of holding the polls. “We have been drawing the government’s attention to the possible leadership void in the commission,” said EC Secretary Shankar Koirala. While the term of Acting Chief Election Commis-sioner Neel Kantha Uprety is expiring on November 8, commissioners duo Ayodhi Prasad Yadav and Dolakh Bahadur Gurung are retiring on January 11 next year. The posts of two commissioners in the EC are already vacant after former EC chief Bhoj Raj Pokharel and commissioner Usha Nepal retired. The EC has been saying that it will not be able to hold any election until April next year if polls are not held on November 22, the poll date announced by the government. The EC will not be able to hold elections in 16 mountain districts in the winter season. Despite all this, the government is in a state of confusion on how to clear the legal hurdles and fill the vacant posts. “We are still considering on how to deal with the case. A Cabinet meeting on Sunday is likely to take up the issue,” Minister for Information and Communications Raj Kishor Yadav said. In the absence of a parliament, the government lacks a Constit-utional Council, a body authorised to recommend the election commissioners, and the parliamentary Special Hearing Committee for the endorsement. “Calling a meeting of the Council is not possible and there is no possibility of a parliamentary hearing. The provision of ‘power to remove difficulties’ is an option for appointing the commissioners,” said constitutional lawyer Purna Man Shakya. Article 158 of the Interim Costitution states that if any difficulty arises in implementing a constiutional provision, the President, on the recommendation of the council of ministers, may issue orders to remove such difficulties. hakya said appointment through the President’s orders is also a distant possibility as it requires endorsement of the parliament within a month. “It is possible only if there is consensus among all the parties,” he said. “Another option can be that the outgoing commissioners can delegate their authority to bureaucrats as has been the case with the CIAA,” he said. He, however, expressed doubt on the idea as the delegation of authority to bureaucrats could raise the question of accountability. Another Constitutional lawyer Bipin Adhikari said the only alternative is the president exercising his prerogative to issue orders to remove difficulties and retaining incumbent commissioners for a while. “The government and the President should work in unison to make this happen,” said Adhikari. Countering Shakya’s argument, Adhikari said an appointed commissioner cannot delegate his power to bureaucrats. “The delegated power cannot be re-delegated by an appointed official. It is against the constitution,” he said. nnnn