RADIO, TV JOURNALIST PRABIN GIRI DEAD Kathmandu, 29 July: Radio and television journalist Prabin Giri died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He died in hospital Sunday morning. Giri was 61. nnnn PRESIDENT TO PUT ON HOLD TWO ORDINANCES OF ELECTION Kathmandu, 29July: President Ram Baran Yadav plans to put electoral ordinances forwarded by the Cabinet ‘on hold for the time being’ to pile pressure on the government to seek political consensus, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post... Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Friday handed over two ordinances seeking to amend electoral laws to the President for endorsement. Given a lack of consensus among major political parties and the government’s plan to postpone the CA elections slated for November 22, there are no immediate possibilities of the ordinances being okayed, according to sources close to the President. A deadline given to the government by the Election Commission to amend the Interim Constitution and four electoral acts expires on Sunday. “The idea of proposing only two ordinances by ignoring political consensus required for conduction of fresh Constituent Assembly elections is just an eyewash,” said an aide to the President. “The president will draw the attention of the government to agreement among parties to hold the elections,” the aide added. The aide further said the President is ‘cautious’ and feels that delaying the ordinance could invite criticism against him for not supporting a Cabinet decision. The aide said the government’s decision to forward only two ordinances is an attempt to “shy away from its responsibility to bring the parties together on polls and put the blame, if any, on the president.” President Yadav plans to start holding consultations with legal experts from Sunday on the introduction of the proposed ordinances. “The President’s Office will thoroughly examine the ordinances to ensure they match the letter and spirit of the Interim Constitution. The process may take another three to four days,” President’s Press Advisor Rajendra Dahal said. The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML have mounted pressure on the President against introducing any ordinance without political consensus. President Yadav had last week publicly said that running the country through ordinances was against the ‘rule of law.’ The president will only promulgate the ordinances once he is satisfied with the contents therein, President’s Legal Advisor Surya Dhungel said. Article 88 of the Interim Constitution states that the President can promulgate ordinances, if they do not contravene with the constitution, and if he is satisfied with the circumstances under which they are proposed. Legal eagles at odds PRANAB KHAREL ADDS The legal fraternity remains divided on the ‘utility’ of two ordinances related to Electoral Acts that the government has forwarded to President Ram Baran Yadav. While some say that the ordinances and the subsequent acts to be formulated would be “meaningless” until and unless the Interim Constitution is amended, others maintain it is only through such ordinances—in the absence of the parliament—that the government can formulate election laws. The interim constitution does not envision new elections and legal eagles argue that the suggestion to amend the constitution is “baseless”. The Cabinet on Friday forwarded two ordinances related to the Electoral Roll Act and the Election Act to the President’s office for endorsement. However, some say that amending the constitution will be important for holding the elections. The Election Commission has given the government until Sunday to amend all the electoral laws and the Interim Constitution to hold fresh Constituent Assembly election that has been scheduled for November 22. Constitutional lawyer Chandra Kant Gyawali said formulation of acts through ordinances will not make sense unless provisions in the Interim Constitutions are amended. Gyawali dismissed the argument that the provisions in the constitution can be taken care of after the President, on the recommendation of the Cabinet, removes constitutional difficulties. “The constitution requires such procedures undertaken by the President to be ratified within a month in the parliament. But as the House has been dissolved, where will they endorse it?” Gyawali said. He said another option could be reviving the CA. Advocate Purnaman Shakya said an amendment to the constitution will be necessary to hold the polls. However, the “acts formulated through ordinance would pave the way for the Election Commission to do the necessary ground work”. Constitutional lawyer Bhim Arjun Acharya said the talk of amending the constitution does not hold ground as “the constitution does not envision a new election”. He said to hold any election not envisioned by the constitution, the government has to introduce laws for it. “As there is no parliament, the only way to introduce such laws is through ordinance,” Acharya said. He maintained that such Acts will not be in contradiction to the various provisions regarding the CA elections in the constitution as those constitutional provisions would have been rendered ineffective. nnnn NTA TO TAKE ROYALTY NON-PAYMENT BY NT TO BOARD Kathmandu, 29 July: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) is preparing to take the committed royalty issue of Nepal Telecom (NT) to its board with the latter refusing to pay the fees. The state-owned telecom utility owes Rs 3.27 billion in royalty to the government for operation of mobile services. However it has refused to clear the dues, saying it is not supposed to do so as per the laws. Two weeks ago, NT said that since it has not acquired licence on the basis of Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 24 of the Telecommunications Act, it is not liable to pay the royalty. Clause 3 says that the NTA may fix the licence fee, renewal fee and royalty by negotiations with persons or firms and issue the licence. According to Clause 4, the regulator may notify all eligible persons or firms for bidding in connection with the licence fee, renewal fee and royalty and will issue the licence to the one who quotes a maximum amount in the bidding. NT has said it obtained the GSM mobile operating licence on the basis of Article 18 of the act that allows the government to operate or cause to operate the telecom service by itself. The NTA says NT must pay the royalty. “NT must pay the royalty based on its licence conditions that clearly hold NT responsible to pay the same,” said Bhesh Raj Kanel, the NTA chairman. He said they will discuss the issue with legal experts. As per the licence condition No 15 (W) of the NT, it requires to pay the royalty, licence and renewal fees as committed by fellow operator Ncell. Chet Prasad Bhattarai, the general manager of the then Nepal Telecommunication Corporation and Bhup Raj Pandey, the chairman of the NTA in 1999 had also signed an agreement to pay the royalty to be committed by future mobile service operators. “The issue will be discussed in the NTA board after holding consultations with legal advisers,” said Kailash Neupane, the spokesperson of the NTA. “We need to study the claim of the NT in a legal way to see on what basis it refused to pay the fee.” Based on the agreement and licence condition, NT has to pay Rs 3.90 billion in royalty, the committed fee by Ncell (the then Spice Nepal) while acquiring licence for mobile service in 2004. Of the total royalty for the first 10 years of GSM mobile service, NT has paid Rs 635 million in the form of four percent of its total annual incomes for the 10-year period. T says it had paid the 4 percent royalty as per Clause 26 of the Telecommunication Regulation. “Law clearly states that the royalty and agreement or conditions are minor things,” said an NT official. The board is likely to come up with a decision to direct NT to pay the royalty first. If the operator disobeys, NTA can issue an ultimatum of 35, 70, or 105 days after which NT could knock the doors of the Appellate Committee, according to NTA officials. The telecom companies can file appeals against the decision of the NTA in the committee under the Ministry of Information and Communications. Last year, in a similar case of committed royalty issue, United Telecom Limited (UTL) had filed a petition in the committee, which later came with a verdict in favour of the NTA holding UTL responsible to clear the dues of Rs 1.26 billion as of fiscal year 2010-11. nnnn UCPN MAOIST TO PROBE PERSONAL ASSETS OF CENTRAL LEADERS Kathmandu, 29 July: UCPN Maoist hast week began started collecting information on personal assets of its central leaders, including Chairman Prachanda, charged at the just concluding plenum—the first in 18 months of living lavish lifestyles and collecting amassing fortunes in office UCPN Maoist is the country’s richest party, according to independent estimates and lifestyles of former guerrillas have changed after joining the political mainstream. A notice and an appeal have asked workers to report and even complain to a three-member probe commission headed by Amik Serchan. The personal assets of central leaders were to be handed over to the party . But apparently the order was never executed . Nnnn .