SUPPORT FOR CJ GOVT. A COMPULSION SAYS MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL Kathmandu, 2 March : CPN-UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the consensus to from an election government led by Chief Justice was a compulsion to end political deadlock and hold fresh Elections, RSS reports from Myagdhi.. At a press conference organized by Press Chautari Myagdi on Saturday morning, leader Nepal said the process of constituting sitting CJ-led election government after removing legal and constitutional hurdles was moving ahead in a positive manner. ´A compulsive situation was emerged to accept CJ leadership to hold fair election when political parties failed to reach consensus on any of the names from the political sector´. Former Prime Minister Nepal added, ´We are cautious to defend democracy from crisis being alert to the principle of separation of powers and possible risk of totalitarianism´. He further said that it would remove doubts if the Chief Justice resigned from his post before taking charge of Prime Ministerial berth for the safeguarding of democracy and avoiding risks of totalitarianism. All political parties are moving ahead positively to enable election-friendly environment by removing constitutional hurdles and addressing other pertinent issues of voters´ name list, appointment to constitutional bodies and constitution of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he added. Nnnn RED SANDALWOOD CONFISCATED IN BARA Kathmandu, 2 March: A man was arrested with 285 kilograms of red sandalwood from Golagunj VDC of Bara district. A joint team of police led by Birbhadra Shrestha, Inspector of the Armed Police Force and Police Inspector at Ram Prakash Chaudhary arrested Parmananda Shah, 45, of Uchidiha VDC Ward No. 9 at Friday confiscated the valuable sandalwood timbers following a tip-off, according to the Area Police Office, Simraungarh. Police confiscated the sandalwood worth Rs 400,000 and was hidden in a shed in Golagunj VDC Ward No. 5, said Inspector Shrestha. Police have arrested Shah while the seized sandalwood was sent to the District Police Office, Kalaiya, for necessary action. Nnnn DAHAL PUTS VICTIMSS IN A FIX Katahamandu, 2 March: The committee representing the 2005 Bandarmudhe bomb victims has accused UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal of driving a wedge between the people affected by the incident, Bimal Khatiada writes in The Kathmadu Post from Chitwan . Muktinath Neupane, chairman of the committee, said on Friday that Dahal’s pledge to provide Rs 6 million in aid to the suffering party does not address their chief demand for justice. He claimed that the aid announcement was a political move of the Maoist party to divide the victims, who have not received any support from the government or the Maoists till date. Nearly eight years after the incident that killed 39 people and injured more than 70 others, the Maoist chairman had announced the relief sum to the victims during his visit to Madi in Chitwan on Thursday. The aid would be released in the name of the committee for distribution, Dahal had said. Neupane, however, said the committee will not receive the aid and risk conflict among the victims during the distribution process. “We will not accept the offer. It is a ploy to divide us and deny us justice,” he said, adding that some of the victims had already started calling him to inquire how much aid they would be receiving. Prior to Dahal’s Madi visit, local UCPN (Maoist) leaders—Basu Sapkota and Madhu-sudan Sapkota—had met the victims and announced Rs 100,000 to the deceased family; Rs 60,000 to the seriously wounded; and Rs 10,000 to those who suffered minor injuries in the incident. They had told the victims that the aid would be distributed by the local administration, contrary to Dahal’s suggestion of providing the money to the victims’ committee. nnnn