UPDATE PM BRIEFS PRESIDENT Kathmandu, 16 Aug.:: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai discussed ways to resolve the present political crisis at the Rastrapati Bhawan Sheetal Niwas on Thursday, RSS reports. In the around hour-long meeting, matters relating to giving a way-out to the nation by forging a consensus among the political parties was discussed, said Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, following the meeting. "Very important discussion was held with the President about giving a way out to the political crisis through a consensus", Dr Bhattarai said and added that he told the President that the Government was ready to move ahead by forging a consensus among the parties. On the occasion, the President urged the Prime Minister to move ahead by forging a consensus at the earliest. "As democracy is the only alternative to a democracy, I committed to and working towards forging a consensus among the parties", the Prime Minister said in response. Stating that the federal democratic republican alliance formed among the ruling parties was for building a consensus, Prime Minister Bhattarai made it clear that the alliance was not to foil but build a consensus. Dr Bhattarai also said that the President wished that the Alliance take the initiative to build a consensus. Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai had earlier met the President along with the leaders of the Alliance and followed it up with one-to-one meeting to discuss the present political situation, the ongoing discussion among the parties and ways to resolve the present deadlock. nnnn MORE BACKGROUND ON 21-PARTY FRONT Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: Chairman of the UCPN-Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA) will play a leading and decisive role by unraveling the current political deadlock, RSS reports from Tansen. He claimed that the alliance will be successful in forging political consensus. The UCPN-Maoist chairman said this while speaking in a press meet organised by the Revolutionary Journalists Association, Palpa chapter here on Thursday. Dahal is in Tansen in connection with inaugurating the conference of the UCPN Maoist's Magarat State Committee. He said the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML got fidgety and were now in a hurry to come to a consensus after the parties in favour of federalism with identity, constitution and forward-looking state restructuring constituted an alliance. Dahal also claimed that the alliance comprising a majority of the parties represented in the dissolved Constituent Assembly would be successful in unknotting the political gridlock. Stating that even Mohan Baidya, chairman of the CPN-Maoist, the break-away faction of the UCPN-Maoist, had no other option other than to join the FDRA, he claimed that the newly-formed CPN–Maoist could not ally with the front comprising the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. He termed the Nepali Congress and the UML as anti-federalist parties. ”I have been elected the chairman of the alliance by 25of the 33 political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly. The UML leaders from the indigenous communities are going to announce a new party on August 31 and that party would too support our alliance," he said. Chairman of the FDRA Dahal said that two more parties represented in the dissolved CA were likely to join the alliance. He said even the Nepali Congress and the UML would be bound to support the issues raised by the FDRA. "The alliance has taught the Nepali Congress and the UML the value of sacrifice. The Nepali Congress and the UML have never gone the extra mile and made sacrifices. So, if these two parties make some sacrifices, then constitution is possible," said the UCPN (Maoist) chairman. He accused the Nepali Congress and the UML for the failure of the CA to bring a new constitution. The conference will continue until tomorrow. Over 500 UCPN-Maoist leaders and cadres of the party's Magarat State Committee are attending the conference. Nnnn ACHARYA BALKRISHNA –A TRUSTED AIDE OF YOGA GURU RAMDEV—RELEASED ON BAIL B INDIAN COURT Kathmandu, 16Aug. Acharya Balkrishna, trusted aide of Yoga Guru Ramdev's was released Thursday on bail by Uttarakhand High Court (HC) Balkrishna was born in Nepal. The release comes at a time when Guru Ramdev has launched a campaign to fight official corruption. Nnnn OPINION INDISCIPLINE REIGNS SUPREME Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: One of the distinct changes that the 2006 political changes have brought about in Nepali society is gross indiscipline, immunity and rampant corruption, affecting virtually every sector. With the prevalence of such dire deficiencies, no system of governance can be legitimately called a democracy, Trikal Vastavik writes inPeople’s Review. Yet those most responsible for the painful situation are the ones who cry at the top of their voices that, without their efforts and success, democracy in Nepal would not have been possible. The current crop of politicians and their parties have been in power for 22 years. All they have delivered are unabashed monotony are promises upon promises. Six years of waste and delusion have discredited political parties and their leaders. For four years, “peace making process” and “Constitution” dominated a list of slogans chanted everywhere, even when pockets of sane people raised serious questions about the boast that was destined to Mt. Doom. Even when the CA’s constitutionally stipulated deadline of two years was over and the deadline got extended amidst protests, political leaders went on assuring people that things would be set aright and the constitution would be delivered, notwithstanding “conspiracies by rightists” to derail the constitution-making process. Maoist boss Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Speaker of the dissolved Constituent Assembly Subash Nemwang and others repeated endlessly that the constitution would come on time. In contrast, independent lawyers and opinion-makers had been raising strong doubts that a new constitution would be drafted by the Constituent Assembly. And those who spoke the most about constitution-making process and development are the ones who continue to be at their party leadership. They continue making promises which now most Nepali people dismiss in contempt. If stripped of shame and public duty, and allowed to run reckless, the picture what a society gets is that of Nepali politicians. The scale of corruption in the Maoist parties, for an instance, is hinted by the several hundred ex-fighters’ demand at the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led Maoist party in July that a thorough probe be made into “misappropriation” of funds collected from the former rebels and other funds collected on their behalf. According to a source maintaining close contact with both the camps, the Mohan Baidya group had deliberately left behind some of its loyalists in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal camp for a regular supply line of information and also for creating period stirs. In other words, the aim is at creating disturbances within the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led Maoists. Trouble is bound to stir up in the coming days as rumors fly fast and thick that the Baburam Bhattarai-Hisla Yami couple has been amassing money for funding future activities if and when Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other rivals are to be put in place assertively. People are already trying to assess whether there is anything to do with the fact that as much as a quarter of the entire national budget was spent in four weeks (mid-June to Mid-July, 2012). Why such rush and speed for a prime minister whose policy of “regional development” was thought to be pleasantly different? Or is this the sort of financial discipline that the lame duck government defines? Questions do arise as to what might be the quality of the related projects with such free spending and no questions asked officially. With the rise in the politicization of academic institutions educational standards have suffered a steep decline. State-financed universities and their constituent campuses are beehives of politics while the quality of administration has plummeted to the worst level ever. Bachelor’s level exams results took more than 11 months to be published. Medical doctors resort to strikes, with the government, as usually, remaining mute. One thought that health services were categorized as essential services and hence the need for preventing such pressure tactics. But then all “major” political parties have been politicized the hospitals across the country. Such politics are the answer to questions as to why the government does not intervene in a tough manner. Some medical doctors are reported to have besieged the office of a chief district officer as well. Next time when some patient’s relatives and family members unleash similar tactics, those in the medical profession might have far less sympathy and support that they used to previously. For quite some time private school administrations pressed for declaring schools as a peace zone so that strikes did not affect the running of these educational institutions. But teachers themselves went on strike, torpedoing their own earlier demands for peace zone. All the “major” political parties had similarly pledged that Nepal Tourism Year would receive their big boost by ensuring that they would not call for political strikes. Within weeks, the pledge was shattered, once again reiterating how our politicians say one thing publicly and flout the same soon after without any qualms. Corruption no longer makes big news. The only hope is that even party members in an organization have begun raising voices of concern over the problems of their peers amassing wealth through unknown sources. Bhattarai’s party members have expressed the loudest voices in this regard. This is a welcome development and one only wishes that it will not fizzle out without any concrete measures. Members of parliament are supposed to spend the money they are individually given for special development activities in their respective constituencies are suspected of not handling the taxpayers’ money judiciously. Newspaper reports regularly narrate examples of how squander millions upon millions of rupees is squandered thus, although the money from the taxpayers is supposed to be spent in well-intentioned public projects. Numerous millions of rupees are doled out by the Home and other ministries. But the names of the recipients and organizations are not disclosed. But the Commission for Investigating Abuse of Authority seems to be too busy to look into such transactions. Similarity with the intention and familiarity with the ropes and issues reinforced the greed for power, personal profits and corrupt patronage. The appointment of the chief secretary of the government, Lila Mani Poudel, can be taken in this light. Politics plays foul often. In previous instances since 2005, Bimal Koirala and Madhav Ghimire superseded other senior secretaries to land on the top bureaucratic job. Poudel is the latest example. Needless to say, none of those thus favored can be described as “bilakshyan prativa”, or outstanding talent. It is, therefore, no surprise that party activists infest the bureaucracy in the hope that they can extract special favors whenever their “party” is in power or can pull strong strings in the corridors of power stirred by indiscipline. Nnnn