INCOMING GOVT.TO OVERTURN BHATTARAI GOVT. DECISIONS Kathmandu, 2 March: Opposition leaders Ram Chandra Paudel and KP Sharma Oli of UML said Friday the parties will overturn decisions that are being taken hastily by the government of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to make ray for an election government led by Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. The parties briefed President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav on decisions being taken by the outgoing government. NC, UML hope to join a Regmi government to conduct a second constituent assembly poll. Dates are uncertain although the Bhattarai government has floated a proposal to coduct it 5 June as election officials run out of time. Nnnn TRADE WITH TIBET VIA TATOPANI COMES TO A HALT Kathmandu, 2 March: Trade with Tibet via Tatopani came to a halt Friday. Dispute broke out on valuation of imports through the customs checkpoint. Goods valued at Rs,10 million are imported every day through the border crossing linked with the capital by Arniko Highway. nnnn HOAX BOMB THREAT Kathmandu, 2 March: A bomb threat has spread panic in Babarmahal area after a man called identifying himself as Abadesh called up Avenues TV on Friday evening, RSS reports He informed that Nepal Maoist Party (Revolutionary) has planted a bomb near Rato Bhale restaurant. The information is likely to be a hoax. MORNING CAPITAL TEMPERATURE 8 DEGREES CELSIUS Kathmandu, 2 March: Saturday morning’s capital temperature at seven was 8 degrees Celsius. Mercury is expected to rise to 23 degrees Celsius on a clear day. Nnnn NEPAL PLAYS NORTHERN MARIANA ISLAND IN AFC QUALIFIERS GROUP D MATCH Kathmandu, 2 March: Nepal plays Northern Mariana Island Saturday in its opening match of the AFC Qualifiers Group D match at Dashrath Ranghashala in the capital. Palestine plays Bangladesh in another patch. Nnnn PRESIDENT TELLS LAWYERS NEW GOVT. ONLY UNDER CONSTITUTION Kathmandu, 2 March : President Ram Baran Yadav assured representatives of Nepal Bar Association (NBA) that he would press the political parties to reach a political understanding in accordance with the Interim Constitution while forming an election government under the leadership of the chief justice, Republica reports.. The president gave his word to the lawyers as office bearers of the Association called on the head of state at the latter´s office on Friday, urging him not to okay the political parties´ proposal to form a CJ-headed government. NBA, the umbrella organization of lawyers in the country, had vehemently opposed the proposal to form a CJ-led government, saying appointment of the sitting chief of the judiciary to the post of head of the executive would be a blatant violation of the basic democratic principle of separation of powers among the three branches of state-- legislative, executive and judiciary. "The president assured us that he would endorse the proposal only after making the parties work out the political deal in accordance with the Interim Constitution," NBA President Hari Krishna Karki told Republica after calling on the president. Yadav also told the lawyers that he would hold necessary consultations before taking a decision on the issue once the political parties come to him with a formal proposal. Asked what the president can do when the political parties formally suggest to him to appoint the sitting chief justice as head of the executive, Karki explained that the president may take initiatives to convert the political parties´ "unconstitutional proposal into a constitutional one". "It can be various measures such as the president pressing the parties to make the sitting chief justice quit that post before administering him the oath of office and secrecy for prime minister". The NBA office bearers argued before the president that it was completely unconstitutional to appoint the judicial head as prime minister on the basis of just a political agreement, saying that "even parliament can´t take such an unconstitutional step let alone do it on the basis of a deal among political parties". "Even parliament can´t do this because it is an attempt to make an ineligible person eligible for the prime ministerial post," said Karki. Stating that the political leaders are going to suggest to the president to make an unconstitutional move, the lawyers advised the president not to accept the proposal as it is. In response, the president said he would endorse any proposal only if it is in accordance with the spirit of the constitutional provision on government formation under Article 38-1 of the Interim Constitution. "I will take any step only as per my jurisdiction under Article 38-1 of the Interim Constitution," Karki quoted the president as saying. The provision allows formation of a consensus government based on political understanding. A day after the chief justice, in his statement last week, showed readiness to become prime minister, the NBA called an emergency meeting and vehemently opposed the proposal on a CJ-headed government. The meeting concluded that a sitting chief justice can´t be the executive head of the country. NBA and legal experts have also criticized CJ Khilaraj Regmi for allegedly showing interest in power even though "his move may result in a serious problem in maintaining judicial independence". Nnnn CABINET MARCH 28 DEADLINE FOR SURRENDERING ILLEGAL ARMS Kathmandu, 2 March : With a view to providing an opportunity to those in illegal possession of weapons, the government has issued a notice to submit such weapons by March 28, 2013. The government has also warned them of legal action under the Arms and Ammunition Act-1963 if they do not comply, Republica reports. Shankar Prasad Koirala, Joint-secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said, “We have requested illegal weapons holders to submit the weapons to the District Administration Office (DAO), District Police Office or the nearest police station, within the deadline.” The cabinet on 27th February had decided to provide the public an opportunity to submit illegally held weapons. The government has so far issued around 35,000 licenses to individuals for keeping firearms for personal use. Though the authorities don´t have proper records on such weapons, they have now begun maintaining the records along with the renewal of licenses provided, said Chief District Officer (CDO) of Kathmandu, Chudamani Sharma. Kathmandu District Administration Office alone has records of more than 1,500 weapons as of last week, but with the latest notice on submission of weapons they are expecting some more weapons to be registered, he added. This will probably be the last opportunity for the illegal weapons holders, CDO Sharma warned. If someone is found in possession of such a weapon after the deadline, the individual will be slapped a five-year jail term, fined Rs 100,000 or both, according to the Home Ministry. According to the Ministry, many people are not familiar with the legal procedures for submitting weapons or registering weapons to be keep legally. The government begun a campaign to collect illegally possed weapons in order to maintain peace and security in the country, an official said. But because of lack of coordination among the authorities, the issue of arms management has become a headache for the government, he said. Last September, the Supreme Court had directed the government to put in place a mechanism for the management of small arms. Nnnn CPN-MAOIST TO GET 30 PERCENT OF PARIS DANDA Kathmandu, 2 March:: The Unified CPN-Maoist today agreed to withdraw a recent case filed against the cadres of the CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of the UCPN-M, and give about 30 per cent of the total value of its party headquarters in Paris Danda to the splinter party within next 10 days, The Himalayan Times writes.. According to CPN-M Secretary Dev Gurung, a meeting of top leaders of both parties today agreed to implement the decision on distributing the mother party’s properties in proportion to the number of central committee members in both the parties. The meeting also decided to withdraw the case filed against CPN-M cadres in Chitwan. “Our major agenda was Chitwan’s fake case against our cadres, but that issue brought to the fore a decision made a long time ago by the two chairmen of the parties in relation to the property distribution,” said Gurung, adding that the two top leaders have agreed to implement both the decisions within 10 days. CPN-M leaders claimed that the party, before breaking away, had estimated the total value of the party headquarters at more than Rs 25 crore. Rs 3 crore was taken as loan when the building was purchased, and the CPN-M now needs to bear 30 per cent of it. Cadres of both parties have scuffled on several occasions over the ownership of property since the party was declared split last year. - See more at: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=CPN-M+to+get+30+pc+of+Paris+Danda&NewsID=367912#sthash.3cITqJ0s.dpuf Nnnn EDUCATIONAL STRIKE 3, 4 MARCH Kathmandu, 2 March:: Association for Private Educational Institutions Nepal (APEIN) and UCPN-Maoist-aligned All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) today [Ftoday] announced a nationwide educational strike on March 3 and March 4, respectively, affecting lakhs of students. The announcement comes a day after ANNISU-R cadres set ablaze a bus belonging to the Battisputali-based Golden Gate International College (GGIC) for preventing the formation of the college’s ANNISU-R chapter. On February 25, teachers of DAV Sushil Kedia Bishwo Bharati Higher Secondary School and CPN-Maoist-aligned All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union-Revolutionary had vandalised two more school buses. AEPIN is an alliance of HISSAN, PABSON, NPABSAN, Association of Engineering College, Purbanchal University College of Nepal, Pokhara University College Forum, Technical Institutes, Association of Private Medical and Dental College and Forum for Health and Technical Sciences. It has formed a 25-member struggle committee under the coordination of Yuba Raj Sharma, HISSAN general secretary, to press for action against those involved in burning the school bus yesterday. They have also filed an FIR naming six students involved in the incident. APEIN plans to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister, leaders of political parties, Home Minister, Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB), universities and other organisation from March 4 to 8 as part of its protest programmes. Sharma, coordinator and struggle committee member, said their bandh is meant to put an end to the bandh culture. Meanwhile, Himal Sharma, ANNISU-R president, said their protest is against the strike that the education mafia has announced. He said, “ANNISU-R vandalised the school bus after the school obstructed the students’ move to form their organisation there and also warned against their involvement in politics.” “GGIC CEO and HISSAN Vice-president Ramesh Silwal is not only against forming any student organisation in the academic institution. He hired bouncers to beat students for forming the college unit of ANNISUR-R a few days ago,” he added. Meanwhile, Suprabhat Bhandari, president of Guardian’s Association of Nepal, urged both sides to withdraw their strikes. He said, “The strikes will affect around nine million students, therefore, both parties should sort out their misunderstanding through dialogue.” INSEC flays attacks Informal Sector Service Centre on Friday condemned the recent attacks on college buses calling it hooligans’ motive to cause panic among educational institutions. Issuing a press statement, INSEC said such acts violated the children’s right to education in a peaceful environment. “We strongly call on the government to bring the culprits to book and ensure children’s rights to read and write without any obstruction.” Nnnn PRESIDENT CALLS FOR SPEEDY OUTLET Kathmandu, 2 March: Top leaders of the four major political forces – UCPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front - Friday met president Dr. Ram Baran Yadav and briefed him about the latest headway regarding the formation of the interim election government under sitting chief justice (CJ) Khilaraj Regmim The Rising Nepal writes.. During the meeting, held at the President's office, Sheetal Niwas, the top leaders assured President Dr Yadav that they would succeed to form a chief justice-led government by March 7. President Yadav urged the top leaders to strike a deal in a package soon to hold fresh Constituent Assembly elections by mid-June. Talking to journalists after the meeting, NC vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said that they informed President Yadav about the latest political discussions and developments regarding the formation of the non-partisan election government. UCPN-Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the country would get a way out of the current political deadlock by March 7. UDMF leader Mahantha Thakur said that the major parties were closer to political consensus regarding the formation of interim election under the sitting CJ. Earlier, the top leaders of the four major parties held a meeting at Prime Minister's official residence, Baluwatar and discussed the thorny issues of the report prepared by the cross-party taskforce and the ways to resolve the constitutional and legal hurdles. However, they failed to short out the remaining issues like formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, distribution of citizenship certificates and update of voter's list. During the meeting, the NC leaders, according to NC vice-president Poudel, opposed the latest decisions of the cabinet and asked the ruling parties-UCPN Maoist and the UDMF to scrap all the cabinet decisions taken after the agreement among the four parties to form the CJ-led government. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), an umbrella organization of lawyers across the country, met President Dr. Yadav and urged him not to go for a CJ-led government, arguing that it would be against the spirit of the Interim Constitution and principle of separation of powers. During the meeting with President Dr. Yadav, the NBA office bearers reiterated that they were firmly against forming the next government under the sitting CJ. Emerging from the meeting, NBA chairman Hari Krishna Karki said that they stuck to their earlier stance that forming a CJ-headed government would be against constitutionalism and principle of separation of powers. NBA has been opposing the proposal of forming a government under the sitting CJ, saying that the move would go against the concept of free and fair judiciary and the established principle of separation of powers. nnnn UML DRAGGED INTO MAOIST TRAP SAYS MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL Kathmandu, 2 March:: Senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal Friday said that his party was swayed away by the UCPN-Maoist on forming a government under the leadership of the chief justice, The Rising Nepal writes from Pokhara. Speaking at a cadres’ meet organized by the CPN-UML, Kaski, constituency 3 here, he said that the process should not be halted as it had already been initiated forward. He said that the chances were there that UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai would prolong the tenure of the current government if the ongoing process of appointing the CJ to lead the government was obstructed now. “CPN-UML should never have agreed to the proposal of CJ-led government as floated by the Maoists,” said Nepal, adding that his party had fallen into the trap laid by the UCPN-Maoist. He said that the doubts still lingered on successfully holding the Constituent Assembly (CA) election as the intention of the Maoists was still doubtful. Stating that his party was compelled to agree on the CJ-led government to oust the current government and to win the popular votes through elections, Nepal said that it was the only one option left at the moment. He said that the situation arose after making several unsuccessful attempts to form the government under the political leadership of any other individual outside of the Maoist party. Nepal blamed the UCPN-Maoist as pushing Madhesh-based parties at a time when the political parties were trying to forge consensus on the CJ-led government to halt the election. nnnn