TOP MAOIST COMMANDERS LEAVE SHAKTIKHOR IN CHITWAN Kathmandu, 9 July:: Amid growing dissatisfaction among former combatants over the ongoing integration process, all the top commanders of the third division at Shaktikhor, Chitwan have left the cantonments stating that they had failed to address the frustrations of the Combatants, Republica writes from Chitwan.. While division commander Dhan Bahadur Maski Magar left the cantonment last night, brigade commanders Pradeep Balachan, Govinda Bahadur Batala, Ram Ji Thapa and another brigade commander identified by his first name Sabin left the cantonment on Sunday morning, according to sources at the cantonment. With their top commanders leaving the cantonment, former ex-combatants have been left in the lurch. "All top commanders have left the cantonment. Other members are also leaving," said a former combatant, expressing frustrations over their uncertain future. The integration process has been stalled after the former combatants expressed dissatisfaction over their selection for recruitment in the Nepal Army. They have claimed that the integration process is not being carried out in a respectable manner. "There is no sentry from our side," the former combatant told Republica about the situation in the cantonment after the commanders left the cantonment. Another former combatant from the cantonment said, "I do not know whether they will provide us food." nnnn ________________________________________ NO GOVT. HOMEWORK FOR ELECTION Kathmandu, 9 July Though the government decided to go for the election of the Constituent Assembly on November 22 more than a month ago, following the CA dissolution on May 27, the said election still remains in the backburner as the government is yet to make any preparations to create an environment for the polls, Kiran Chapagain writes in Republica. . Even the Election Commission (EC) had written to the government a month ago to amend the Interim Constitution and election related laws, without which the election is not possible. The EC had told the government that the elections would be feasible only if the constitution and the laws are amended before 120 days since the election date, which is July 22. However, the government is yet to come out with any solutions to create an environment for the polls. "We are yet to receive any instruction from the government for amending the Interim Constitution and other election-related laws," senior officials at the Prime Minister´s Office (PMO) and Council of Ministers and Ministry of Law, Justice and Constituent Assembly Affairs told Republica on Sunday. "No work has yet been started in responding to the demands of the Election Commission," a senior official at the PMO said. The EC has sought the amendment to the constitutional provision that requires re-drawing of the election constituencies on the basis of the new census of 2010. The EC has also asked the government to amend the provision related to the term of the Constituent Assembly, which says the term of the CA will be four years. In addition, the constitutional body has also demanded the government to amend the constitutional provision related to adult franchise as it says only those citizens who turned 18 by November 2006 will be eligible for voting. It has also asked the government to amend election related other laws by July 22 if the elections were to be held on November 22. "The issue of amending the constitution requires consensus among political parties," a government secretary said, adding, "That is why the government has not taken any initiatives as of now." The government, however, has not been able to make any preparations due to lack of political consensus, and chances are slim that it would be able to meet the EC´s deadline with the opposition parties demanding for prime minister Baburam Bhattarai´s caretaker government. With no consensus in sight, the EC is now gearing up to actuate the government and the political parties for the election. The EC has called the prime minister and members of the cabinet for discussions on Monday, according to Sharada Prasad Trital, spokesperson of the EC. Another meeting with the head of the parties represented in dissolved CA is being held on Tuesday. Trital said the commission will discuss all the issues related to the election, including the constitutional and legal issues that need to be resolved in the next two weeks. As there is no parliament to amend the constitution and the statute cannot be amended through ordinance, all the eyes are now with the president who has power to remove constitutional difficulties. But senior government officials at the prime minister´s office and law ministry point out difficulty in excercising that power as well. According to them, the Article 158, which relates to power to remove constitutional difficulties, says that the power can be invoked only if there is a parliament. The provision requires that any move by the president to remove constitutional difficulties requires to be ratified from the parliament within one month. However, Dr Bhimarjun Acharya, an expert on constitutional affairs, says, "Even this difficulty requires to be removed by the president." nnnn ________________________________________ PM, PRESIDENT AGREE ON BUDGET THROUGH ORDINANCE Kathmandu, 9 July: President Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today reached an agreement to bring budget through ordinance for the fiscal year 2012/13, respecting constitutional spirit, Ananta Raj Luitel writes in The Himalayan Times.. In a meeting held at Shital Niwas, the Head of the State and the Prime Minister took the decision to resolve the financial crisis facing the country. “They reached the conclusion that the government will bring a budget as per the spirit of the Constitution,” Rajendra Dahal, Press Adviser to the President, told The Himalayan Times. Dahal, however, did not clarify whether this meant that the government would bring one-third of the current fiscal year's budget, but said ‘the budget will respect the constitutional spirit.' The government needs to bring the budget this week. At a time when the major political parties have been opposing the full-fledged budget and the Supreme Court had directed the government last week to bring one-third of the current year’s budget, the prime minister assured the President to respect the spirit of the Constitution. The Head of the State has been insisting that the government should bring a downsized budget as per Article 96(A)(1) and (2), as it had failed to forge consensus among the major political parties for full-fledged budget. During the meeting, the PM and the President also discussed the current political and constitutional crises, economic and social issues and elections. The PM spent more than two hours with the President. The meeting began around 8 pm. Earlier, UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal also met the President and told mediapersons afterwards that the government would bring a full-fledged budget. Dahal had met the President the morning and told journalists that the budget will be brought with the political consensus. “Efforts are being made to forge consensus among the opposition parties to bring the budget.” Dahal had said. • nnnn FREQUENCY POLICY IN LIMBO Kathmandu, 9 July: The Ministry of Information and Communications will not be able to finalise the frequency issue anytime soon, according to it, The Himalayan Times reports.. Public Accounts Committee of the dissolved parliament had directed the concerned government authorities not to allocate frequency without formulating a policy, said joint secretary at the ministry Surya Bahadur Raut, adding that the frequency allocation process has remained undecided since then. “Even the microwave frequency distribution has remained undecided due to the lack of a policy,” Raut added. The 16th meeting of the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee was expected to take a decision regarding microwave frequency, he said, adding that the frequency issues remain in ad-hocism since the meeting could not take place. The ministry cannot take any decision regarding frequency unless the meeting of the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee comes up with a clear decision, according to him. However, the committee is yet to fix the date for its 16th meeting. Overall revenue mobilisation will be affected due to the lack of a clear frequency policy, he said, adding that new foreign investment will also be affected if the government fails to enact uniformity in its policy. nnnn