CHANDRIKA PRASAD YADAV DEAD Kathmandu, 23 Nov.: Candrika Prasad Yadav died overnight. He was 60. Tadav was leader of MJFn Ganantrik of ruling alliance. He was just released from hospital after heart treatment. Nnnn NRT PLAYS AGAINST BANSBARI CLUB IN FOOTBALL LEAGUE Kathmandu, 23 Nov.: New Road Team (NRT) plays against Bansbari Club in the Martyrs’ Memorial A Division League Champsion ship at Dashrath Rangashala Fridau. Tribhuvan Club of Nepal Army plays against Friends Club. Nnnn PM WIIHDREW RESIGNATION . Kathmandu, 23 Nov.:: The rumor that spread like wildfire all day on Thursday that Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was resigning was true till noon, but he later changed his mind under pressure from the Madhesi parties in the coalition government, Gani Ansari writes in Republica. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai proposed at a meeting of the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA) that he would resign his position to pave the way for national consensus, a minister said, requesting not to be named. The meeting was held at the prime minister´s residence at Baluwatar. "He had made up his mind to step down in a bid to forge national consensus among the political parties, but later changed his stance following strong pressure from other coalition partners," the minister told Republica. Following the resignation proposal from the prime minister, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal suggested instead that he quit within the next 15 days. However, senior leaders of the ruling Madhes-based political parties took strong exception to the proposals of both Bhattarai and Dahal, stating that there was no need to step down as the government has already in a caretaker capacity. "Why set a deadline for the resignation of a caretaker government? It is better to mention that the government will step down ´at the earliest´ once the political parties arrive at consensus on all issues," a minister quoted Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, who is also chairman of the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D), as saying at the FDRA meeting. According to another minister, also speaking on condition of anonymity, the leaders argued that there would be a power imbalance if the present government resigned. "There are only two elected institutions in the country: the president and the government," the minister quoted Madhesi leaders as saying. "If the government steps down, the entire power will be with the president and this will create imbalance in the country." Following strong objection from partners, the coalition concluded the meeting directing the government to appeal to all political parties to come together for national consensus in order to end the current political and constitutional deadlock. The coalition also entrusted the UCPN(Maoist) chairman with the task of holding serious dialogue with the political parties for consensus, according to Prem Bahadur Singh, spokesperson of FDRA. OPPOSITION VIEW While terming the prime minister´s speech ´meaningless´, various opposition parties have said that the speech was a manifestation of his desire to prolong his stay in power in the name of consensus. NC leader Minendra Rijal said the prime minister´s speech has failed to remove the trust deficit that exists among parties. "If he was honest enough about quitting his post, he could have appealed to the parties for consensus by first announcing his resignation. This could have created a congenial environment for consensus," he said. Likewise, CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal termed the prime minister´s speech ´meaningless´. "The prime minister has denounced the opposition parties and put all the blame on them to cover his own incompetence. This has proved that Bhattarai is not accountable to the people and wants to stay put in office at any cost," he said. CPN-Maoist Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal said the prime minister´s speech had come with the intention to prolonging his stay in power. "This is an exercise in totalitarianism. It will invite confrontation instead of creating an environment for national consensus," she said. Bhusal said since consensus seems elusive under the status quo, the prime minister is bent on prolonging his stay in power in the name of consensus. Nnnn THIS TIME AROUND, DONORS NOT TO ALLOW AID FOR VIOLENCE Kathmandu, 23 Nov.: : Two days after government´s announcement for fresh elections of Constituent Assembly (CA), which is expected to further deepen political and social polarization, 13 development partners have reiterated they would not allow civil society organizations receiving their aid to use the assistance to spur violence or secure political gains, Republica repots. “We are committed to the Basic Operating Guidelines (BOG), which among other things, commit for impartiality of our aid and promise no support to activities that lead to violence. We will strictly adhere to it,” said Thomas Gass, ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal and co-chair of the 13 BOG signatories, interacting with journalists. His statement came at a time when many believe the fresh elections of the CA would lead to further split in the ethnic and other communities. Some even throw allegation that donors have been flaring up this divide. “Elections times are bad times for BOG, for opinions of the civil society can polarize. But we will make sure no one uses our aid for triggering violence or securing political gains,” said Robert Piper, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, another Co-Chair of the 13 BOG group. Piper also denied donors were flaring polarization. “Our assistance focuses on reducing poverty. We support marginalized and underprivileged communities because we aim to tackle discrimination and social exclusion, the main cause of poverty. But if some groups receiving our aid cross the line and act like a political group, we cannot be held responsible. Rather, we ourselves stop providing assistance to them, because we do not support political groups,” said Piper. The BOG signatories include bilateral and multilateral donors like the European Commission, Department for International Development (DfID), Danish International Development Assistance (Danida), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and United Nations and Association of International NGOs in Nepal, among others. Together they provide US$ 1 billion in aid to Nepal every year and work closely with the marginalized and underprivileged communities. Both Piper and Dass agreed that all the aid coming in Nepal should follow the government´s priority. “I even agree with the Nepali officials when they say all the aid should be spent through government channel, though practically speaking, it might be a difficult thing to attain,” said Piper. Of the total aid pledged by the 13 BOG signatories, Piper said some 60-70 percent is spent through the government channel and is reflected in the government´s Red Book. Nnnn ________________________________________ ________________________________________