ELECTION COULD BE DELAYED FOR SECOND TIME WITH CONTINED STALEMATE Kathmandu, 29 Nov.: President Ram Baran Yadav has convened a meeting of political parties following their failure to assembly a consensus government by four in the afternoon Thursday. It’s unlikely the parties will meet the 10.15 GMT deadline. UCPN Maoist and main opposition NC are in the race. UCPN Maoist, leading the government under Prime Minister Bbaburm Bhattarai, is reluctant to back s a successor government and the opposition is determined to bin the Bhattarai government now in office for 15 month. Elections s;ated for April/May for a constituent assembly (CA) may be delayed with the continued deadlock. Election officials say without amended election laws and appointment of officials to top jobs in Election Commission the coming national election isn’t posibl. nnnn C DAHAL, BHATTRAI, UML SUPPORT RAM BAHADUR THAPA’S PM: CANDIDACY Kathmandu, 29 Nov : At the time when Nepali Congress (NC) is lobbing its President Sushil Koirala for consensus prime minister, CPN-Maoist has proposed its General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa for the post claiming that UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML leaders have given their support for Thapa, Reupublica repots.. CPN-Maoist had held discussion with UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minster Babauram Bhattarai and CPN-UML leaders separately to get their support for Thapa. Bhattarai and Baidya held discussion at Baidya residence Baniyatar on Tuesday. "We are discussing the issue with other political parties. Prachandji [Dahal], Baburamji and the UML leaders are positive to the candidacy of Badalji [Thapa]," Mohan Baidya, CPN-Maoist Chairman, told Republica. He also said that his party will hold discussions with the remaining parties including NC soon. "In the discussions the parties [Maoist and UML] have expressed support verbally but it is yet to be seen in practice," Baidya added. According to Baidya, Thapa is the only suitable candidate from the ´ethnic-identity´ point of view. "We clearly put forward our arguments about the candidacy of Thapa in the meetings with the parties [Maoist and UML] that they cannot not solve the crisis without accommodate new force [CPN-Maoist]," said Baidya adding his party would try till the last. He also claimed Thapa as preeminent candidate for the prime minister post. In the meeting with the parties, CPN-Maoist forwarded various reasons why Thapa should be the new PM. The first reason was that only Thapa could save the spirit of national unity. The party argued that President Ram Baran Yadav was from Madhesi community and Thapa from ethnic Magar community and was a ´capable leftist patriotic leaders´. "Thapa is capable not only to save spirit of national unity but also to address ideological issues," said Maheshwar Dahal, party Central Committee member. According to him, the next reason was UCPN (Maoist), NC, UML and Madhesi alliance have failed to solve political and constitutional crisis. So, CPN-Maoist automatically should get the chance and was capable to address those unresolved issues. The party also argued that since it was the third largest party in the dissolved Constituent Assembly with 95 CA members, it should be the natural choice to lead the government as the largest and second largest parties - Maoist and NC - were fighting among themselves for the post. nnnn Nnnn UDMF NO OBJECTION TO DEADLINE EXTENSION Kathmandu, 29 Nov.:: Leaders from ruling United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) have said that extension of deadline by the president to pick prime ministerial candidate through consensus will not be objectionable to them, Republica reports.. Talking to Republica, senior Vice-chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) Rameshwor Raya Yadav said that political parties would arrive at consensus, if the president set another deadline. "As peoples are losing trust in political parties, they will forge consensus even as a face saving measure," he added. Spokesperson of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Sarvendra Nath Shukla argued that it would be better to extend deadline to nominate prime ministerial candidate through consensus as parties are close to agreement. ´Political developments are seen positive in last six days as UCPN (Maoist) is now ready to accept government-led by others too; this is a break in itself because the Maoist party was not ready to think about a government other than the one led by Baburam Bhattarai," he stated. When asked about their stance on leadership of next government, Shukla said they would extend support to a party that could take other parties into confidence. "We are not going to hinder consensus," he stated, adding, "If Nepali Congress (NC) is going to lead next government, it should take especially UCPN (Maoist) into confidence and if the Maoist party wants to lead the government it should do the same with the NC." However, Vice-chairman of Sadbhawana Party Laxman Lal Karna argued that their support to a particular party would be based on Madhesi issues. "The Madhesi alliance will extend its support to the party which is ready to address Madhesi issues," he added. General Secretary of TMDP-Nepal Dan Bahadur Chaudhari maintained that UDMF should be given the chance to lead the next government. "Major three parties are stuck with their own stance. So, they should be ready to accept Madhesi leadership," Chaudhari argued. When asked if UDMF could be able to pick a prime ministerial candidate that would have the backing of other parties, Yadav claimed, "There will not be any dispute in this regard." He also argued that Madhesi leadership will be able to give passage to the current political deadlock at a time when major three parties have failed to do so. Nnnn ONLY COSTLY HELICOPTER CAN SAVE LIFE IN REMOTE REGION Kathmandu, 29 Nov.: With no road connectivity and health care facilities so scarce, people living in the remote villages of northern Gorkha are forced to pay a hefty price when it comes to saving life. Villagers are left with no option but to charter helicopters — an expensive affair for most of the Nepalis — to airlift sick ones to the Capital for treatment, Shiva Prasad Upreti writes in The Himalayan Times fro Gorkha. During medical emergencies, locals of seven remote VDCs — Sardibash, Chunchet, Chekampar, Bihi, Prok, Lho and Sama — have no other option than hiring a helicopter, as the VDCs lack health centres, said Nima Lama of Chum Welfare Committee. On average, locals charter two choppers every month to airlift patients to Kathmandu, said Lakpa Dundup Lama of Nubri Cultural Youth Committee. People spend as much as Rs 150,000 to hire a helicopter to airlift their near and dear ones to Kathmandu, said Nima. The VDCs though have health posts and sub health posts, there are no health workers to attend to patients. “We have a health post in our VDC, but there are no health workers to attend to patients. They don’t have medicines too,” said Sunita Gurung of Lho. “There is a posting for two health workers in the health post, but they are never around,” added Gurung who paid Rs 80,000 to charter a chopper last year to take her ailing son to Kathmandu. Gurung runs a hotel in Lho. “I am not sure if I will be able to pay off my debts.” Nima said locals, already weighed down by helicopter charges, have more expenses to meet in Kathmandu for treatment, lodging and food. “Some have to work their whole life to repay the loan. It’s really a sad situation,” said Nima. Nnnn NEPAL ONE OF TOP REMITTNCE RECEIVERS Kathmandu, 29 Nov.: Nepal was one of the highest receivers of remittance on the basis of per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, The Himalayan Times rsseports.. The large remittance recipient countries as a share of GDP include Tajikistan (47 per cent), Liberia (31 per cent), Kyrgyz Republic (29 per cent) Lesotho (27 per cent), Moldova (23 per cent), Nepal (22 per cent), Samoa (21 per cent) and Tonga (20 per cent) in 2012, according to an estimation of the World Bank. Though the top recipients of officially recorded remittance in 2011 were India ($64 billion), China ($62 billion), Mexico ($24 billion), and the Philippines ($23 billion), remittance sent home by migrants to developing countries are three times the size of official development assistance and can have profound implications for development and human welfare, it added. Remittance can contribute in lowering poverty and to the building up of human and financial capital for the poor, according to the latest issue of World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief. Despite the current global economic weakness, remittance flows are expected to continue growing, with global remittance expected to reach $615 billion by 2014, of which $467 billion will flow to developing countries. Although remittance costs have fallen steadily in recent years, they still remain high in small nations where remittance provides a lifeline to the poor. Reducing the cost of remittance transfers produces significant benefits to migrants and their families, and to receiving countries more broadly as the steady stream of foreign currency improves a country’s creditworthiness for external borrowing. The World Bank has made considerable strides in developing financial instruments for leveraging migration and remittance for national development purposes. Diaspora bonds can be a powerful financial instrument for mobilising diaspora savings to finance specific public and private sector projects, as well as to help improve the debt profile of the destination country. South Asia comes second to Sub-Saharan Africa in the cost of sending money that is one of the obstacles to growth of remittance flows, it said. “The cost of sending remittance is a key driver of remittance flows.” Cost of sending remittance to South Asia stood at 6.5 per cent — in the third quarter of 2012 — though average cost masks variation across countries, it said, adding that Sub-Saharan Africa is the most expensive region to send remittance to, with a transfer costing about 12.4 per cent of the amount transferred. The average cost, however, stood at 7.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2012 for the top 20 bilateral remittance corridors and nine per cent for all countries for which cost data are available, it added. The global average remittance price — average based on all countries for which price data is available — has declined over the same period from 9.81 per cent in 2008 to 8.96 per cent in the third quarter of 2012. Russia is, by far, the cheapest source country with a weighted average remittance cost of two per cent. Likewise, in many large remittance source countries like Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), US and UK, the average cost is around five per cent. By contrast, Japan ranks among the highest cost corridors. As of the third quarter of 2012, the weighted average cost of sending remittance from Japan to its five top remittance receiving countries was about 17 per cent of the remittance amount. Similarly, Germany is the next most expensive country, among the top remittance source countries, with the transfer costs consuming, on average, about 14 per cent of the remittance amount. Likewise, the report noted that regions and countries with large numbers of migrants in oil exporting countries continue to see robust growth in inward remittance flows, compared with those whose migrant workers are largely concentrated in the advanced economies, especially Western Europe. Thus, South Asia, MENA and East Asia and Pacific regions, with large numbers of workers in GCC countries, are seeing better-than-expected growth in remittance. For South Asia, remittance in 2012 is expected to total $109 billion, an increase of 12.5 per cent over 2011. Remittance to developing countries is estimated to have reached $372 billion in 2011, an increase of 12 per cent over the previous year. Global remittance flows, including those to high-income countries, were an estimated $501 billion in 2011. Nnnn NEW ORDER OF PRECEDNCE READY Kathmandu, 29 Nov.: More than four years after the declaration of republic and months-long deliberation and debate among the bureaucracy, the government, at long last, is finalising the new republican order of precedence, which will place the President at the top of state protocol, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post.. Accordingly, the vice-president is second, followed by the prime minister and then the chief justice. Earlier, following the restoration of democracy in 1990, the PM was placed 10th in precedence. Those attending government functions are also included in the new state protocol, with the presidents of District Development Committees (DDC), mayors of municipalities, local development officers (LDO) and executive officers of municipalities at the bottom of the proposed order. The new order of precedence has been under discussion at the Political Committee of the Cabinet for the past six months but little headway has been made so far due to differences between Cabinet members and senior government officials. Senior Cabinet members and secretaries are in a serious quandary over where to place ambassadors to foreign nations in the new protocol and the proper positions for the chiefs of the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force. There is also dilemma over the seniority of the mayor, the executive officer, the LDO and the president of the DDCs. The Speaker of the Parliament is placed fifth with former presidents and deputy prime ministers sixth on the order. However, as a former head of state, the ex-king has not been accorded any rank in the new order of precedence. The deputy speaker and former vice-presidents are seventh, followed by ministers. "But the pressing issue at hand is the row between the two police chiefs. According to past practices, the chief of the Nepal Police (NP) was placed above the chief of the Armed Police Force (APF). Now, according to international practice, the APF, which is considered the firepower, is demanding a higher rank than the NP," said another official. The issue is further complicated by the fact that the APF is younger than the NP and that many junior NP and Nepal Army officers are holding senior positions at the APF. "How can senior police officers respect APF officials that are junior to them," questioned the official. After ministers, justices of the Supreme Court have been placed ninth, assistant ministers tenth and the chief secretary eleventh. For the first time, the position of chief of army staff (CoAS) has been downgraded and now comes after the chief secretary, when earlier the Army Chief was placed above the chief secretary. "As the country is already marching to the republican set-up, civilian supremacy is the buzz word. So according to international practices, we have placed the chief secretary above the CoAS," said a senior government official. The CoAS, attorney general and head of constitutional bodies have been allocated the twelfth. In the initial draft, ambassadors were designated above ministers. Later, government secretaries opposed the ranking and asked Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel and Foreign Secretary Durga Bhattarai to downgrade the ambassadors. "Most likely, in the new protocol, ambassadors will be ranked under government secretaries," said another official. Currently, government secretaries and foreign ambassadors will both be ranked fifteenth but government secretaries will be higher-up in the hierarchy. Nnnn UML FAVOURS CA, LOCAL ELECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY Kathmandu, 29 Nov.:- Supporting the government decision to hold fresh Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in May, a Politburo meeting of the CPN-UML on Wednesday proposed that local polls be held simultaneously, The Kathmandu Post writes. However, the party reiterated its stand of forming a national unity government prior to holding any kind of polls. To materialise the plan of holding elections in May by forming a national unity government, the party formed a talk team headed by senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. The meeting, which started Tuesday, formed the talks team after concluding that only a consensus government that will replace the incumbent government can provide a way out of the protracted political impasse. "The meeting decided to hold both Constituent Assembly and local elections in May," stated a four-point proposal endorsed by the meeting. The party's insistence of local elections may be due to the fact that the development budget allocated for the local bodies is being largely misused. The local bodies have been running without elected peoples' representatives for the last 11 years. The party also formally welcomed President Ram Baran Yadav's consensus call for the formation of a national unity government and criticised the government decision to submit an objection letter to the President, calling his move 'unconstitutional'. "The government decision to submit an objection letter regarding the President's consensus call was an authoritarian decision aimed at continuing in power," stated the proposal. The UML stated that it will play an active role in forming a national unity government for the sake of socio-economic development in the country. However, the UML, which has already proposed that the Nepali Congress take leadership of the national unity government, did not take a formal decision on whom to support to lead a new government. nnnn