DEUBA TO ATTEND OFFICE EVERY DAY Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: NC Senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba said Tuesday he’ll send sometime every day at the party office in Sanepa. The former prime minister is seeking to establish himself in the main opposition s successor of President Sushil Koirala and is being challenged by Vice-chairman Ram Chandra Paudel. Deuba has been boycotting party meetings following differences with the establishment after a general convention more than two years ago. nnnn NC FRICTION LIKELY TO PROLONG NATIONAL CRISIS Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: Differences between two rival factions in the Nepali Congress over how to deal with the ‘deepening political and constitutional crises’ are likely to prolong the status quo in national politics, Kamal Dev Bhattarai reports in The Kathmandu Post. . The party is struggling to come up with a clear position on key political issues such as the President’s role and either to go for revival of the Constituent Assembly or hold fresh elections. The CPN-UML is seeking an “active role” from the President to end the political deadlock, while factions in the NC are divided on it. This is making the party a “prisoner of indecision,” NC leaders say. While the UML officially supported President Ram Baran Yadav’s rejection of two election related ordinances, the NC has not officially spoken about it. Party President Sushil Koirala wants the President to invite parties to form a national consensus government as the incumbent one has already taken a caretaker’s shape. He also wants the President to amend the Interim Constitution and other laws on the basis of political consensus to hold parliamentary elections. However, according to leaders, Koirala is facing pressure from the faction led by party’s senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, some of his close aides and “other international actors” against favouring the President’s active role in ending the deadlock. They have told Koirala that the crisis could spiral out of hand if the President sacks Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, as the UCPN (Maoist) and Madhes-based parties will take to the streets, questioning the legitimacy of the President’s move. The Deuba faction has suggested that the CA be revived for the time being to amend the Interim Constitution and other laws, rather than having these tasks performed by the President. The faction is insisting that the party stand for CA elections and not parliamentary polls as stated by the Koirala camp. “We need to revive the CA even to hold fresh elections, while the constitutional and political deadlock should be ended by reviving the CA,” Deuba said on Tuesday. “Under pressure from different quarters, it has become very difficult for Koirala to say what is the best alternative,” said NC leader Puranjan Acharya. “This is one of the reasons for the deferral of the Central Working Committee meeting until next week.” Koirala on Monday embarked on a visit to eastern districts after postponing the CWC meeting that was deliberating on the current deadlock. Differences between the two factions have also surfaced on making alliances with the CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist). However, despite the differences, the Deuba faction believes that the party should not bypass the Maoists and should strike an alliance with them. The Koirala camp says that as the UCPN (Maoist) is moving ahead so as to capture state power, there should be an alliance with the UML. Some leaders close to Koirala have also said that the party talking only about unseating the PM and forming a party-led government and not playing a role in ending the deadlock will send a negative message across. Second rung leaders of the NC have already criticised the leadership for their failure to patch up the differences and come up with a clear position on the deadlock. “Even neighbouring countries have suggested Koirala work to make an environment of free and fair elections than engage himself in trying to remove PM Bhattarai, which will trigger further political tension,” said a leader close to Koirala. nnnn COMPLICATIONS AS TENURE OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE ENDS Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: The tenure of the prime minister-led Special Committee has expired, further complicating the process of integration of former Maoist combatants that has stalled, Phanindra Dahal writes in The Kathmandu Post.. The government is yet to propose a term extension for the cross-party committee, the tenure of which expired last Thursday. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was the coordinator of the eight-member constitutional committee formed in October 2008 and responsible for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of the former PLA combatants. PM’s Political Advisor Devendra Poudel said the term will not be extended until a new agreement is had among parties. “The Special Committee is not needed until the seven-point agreement is revised,” said Poudel. He added that the committee will remain defunct and top leaders will hold talks to strike a deal to resume the integration process. A term extension requires a Cabinet decision and the PM’s office is responsible for tabling a proposal to this effect. In the second week of May, the Cabinet had extended the term of the committee for three months.The non-extension of the term will create uncertainty over the future of 3,123 combatants awaiting integration into the Nepal Army. These combatants are living in NA-supervised cantonments, awaiting resumption of the selection process that was stalled in July following differences over age and educational criteria. Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal said the government inaction will invite further constitutional and political crisis. “This shows the government does not want to see political consensus. They just want to paralyse the constitutional bodies and forcefully take control of state mechanisms,” said Rijal, also a member of the Special Committee. All four prime ministers after the 2008 CA elections—Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Bhhattarai—headed the committee, which held its first meeting in Jan 16, 2009. The committee took over the responsibility of monitoring of arms and armies after the departure of UNMIN on Jan 15, 2011. The integration process was stuck after the Army said that 892 of the aspiring combatants failed to meet the age requirement. The government pressed for further concession, but the Army refused it, arguing that they can do nothing until there is a fresh decision at the Special Committee. The reluctance to give continuity to the committee comes against the backdrop of the government’s preparation to amend the Nepal Army Regulation to incorporate flexible criteria on integration. PM Bhattarai last week directed officials of the Ministry of Defence to start the process to amend the regulation that is pending in the Bill Committee for the past two years. Rijal argued that the government cannot ‘arbitrarily’ execute the integration process. “None of the articles of the Interim Constitution gives authority to the government to take decision on integration. We will not accept any such effort,” he said. The term extension issue has also raised doubts over the future of the Special Committee Secretariat led by retired General Balananda Sharma, a body responsible for implementing the decisions of the Special Committee. Members of the 12-member secretariat are still performing their duties. The cross-party committee failed to hold a single meeting after technical issues like rank, age and education were agreed upon in April 14. Secretariat Coordinator Sharma is optimistic that the government will extend the tenure of the committee. nnnn