GKPN

HLPM OPPOSITION ALLIANCE TALKS THURSDAY

Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: A meeting of the HLPM chaired by NC President

Sushil Koirala with 33-party opposition alliance led by CPN Maoist on

election issues in being held Thursday.

Two rounds of talks have been inconclusive.

CPN Maoist have adopted a double pronged strategy of talks and poll

boycott.

Opposition has pushed 18 demands and has threatened to boycott and

disrupt the 19 November vote.

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SUSHIL KOIRALA  SAYS ELECTIONS INCONCEIVEABLE WITHOUT CPN MAOIST

Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: President of Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala today ruled out the possibility of deferring the Constituent Assembly elections saying it would be tantamount to inviting disaster, The Himalayan Times reports..

Talking to a group of journalists, Koirala said deferral of poll date at a time when anti-election elements were hell-bent on preventing CA elections would be disastrous for the country.

Stating that his party had no intention of excluding any party from the poll process, Koirala said he was confident all agitating parties, particularly the CPN-Maoist would eventually join the poll process. “We cannot even imagine that the CPN-M will not join the poll process,” he said and added that he would try his best to bring the party on board the poll process.

Koirala, however, said UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was least hopeful the CPN-M would join the poll process. “Dahal has been saying from the beginning that the CPN-M will not join the poll process and there is no need to hold talks with that party, but I have been trying my best to bring the CPN-M on board,” Koirala clarified.

He said that all the parties had already taken the ownership of the agreed agendas of the last CA, and therefore, looking for consensus on the contents of the new constitution as sought by the CPN-M was not possible.

“The CPN-M should clearly state what their demand for an all-party meeting means,” Koirala noted. “I do not think that an all-party meeting of parties in the dissolved CA, agitating parties and civil society organisations as sought by the CPN-M can give an outlet to the problems.

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POLICE INVESTIGATION OF ADHIKARI MURDER RESUMES

Kathmandu, 2 Aug.: Chitwan police have initiated investigation into the murder of Krishna Prasad Adhikari. A local of Bhujel VDC-7, Gorkha, The Himalayan Times reports from Narayangarh..

Adhikari was allegedly murdered by Maoist cadres nine years ago in Ratnanagar of Chitwan.

The government formed a seven-member probe committee under the chairmanship of DSP Sanjay Bahadur Raut yesterday. Informing that he had received a letter from Chitwan District Police Office, probe committee chairman DSP Raut said his committee had initiated investigation into the murder of Krishna Prasad Adhikari as per the rights and responsibilities delegated to the committee. “Though the incident is old, we have started investigating it,” Raut added.

According to Raut, the committee will study the documents, then make field observation and issue an arrest warrant against the murder accused as per the principle of necessity. “When time comes, we shall arrest the guilty and keep them in custody,” Raut said.

After the Human Rights Commission wrote a letter to the government to investigate Adhikari’s murder, the government had directed Police headquarters in this regard last week.

Chitwan police have launched the investigation following a directive from Police Headquarters. Chitwan police had written to the prosecutors’ district office seeking suggestion as to how police could launch investigation as the Adhikari murder case had been closed a long time ago.

After the government decided not to proceed with cases related to conflict-era on June 12, 2006, Chitwan police had halted investigation of Krishna Prasad Adhikari’s murder.

The sit-ins and fast-unto-death by Nanda Prasad and Gangamaya, the deceased’s parents, had piled pressure on the government to reinvestigate the incident. The Adhikari couple has been kept at the ICU in Bir Hopsital from Tuesday after their health deteriorated.

Nur Prasad Adhikari, the deceased’s brother, is in Chitwan to help police with investigation. Nur Prasad welcomed the police probe into his brother’s murder. “Police have to investigate and bring the guilty to book,” Adhikari demanded. Stating that his parents would not break the fast-unto-death until the guilty were arrested,

Adhikari clarified that he had been to Chitwan to support police with the investigation process. “I want to see the guilty put in jail,” Nur Prasad said.

Adhikari was murdered a day after his abduction on June 6, 2004 at the age of 18 by cadres of then CPN (Maoist) when he had gone to Chitwan to meet his relatives.

Police had been compelled to close the case after the then government and major parties agreed to form the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look into cases related to incidents

the occurred during the insurgency.

Nur Prasad had filed an FIR at the District Police Office, Chitwan, against Januka Paudel, Chhabilal Paudel, Bhimsen Paudel, Parsuram Paudel, Bishnu Tiwari, Kali Prasad Tiwari, and Sita Adhikari on June 7, 2004.

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UCPN MAOIST BELIEVES IT HAS GAINED GROUND IN

ELECTIONS

Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: An internal assessment made by the UCPN (Maoist) has shown that the party’s position has strengthened relatively in the Madhes and the Kathmandu valley, while it has relatively weakened in the hill regions, Kamal Dev
Bhattarai writes in The Kathmandu Post..
The party’s preliminary election evaluation shows that it will win 10-15 more seats in the Madhes under the Fast- Post- the- Past (FPTP) category, while it is likely to lose the same number of seats in the hills, according to leaders.  In the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, the UCPN (Maoist) won 34 of the 116 seats in the Madhes in the FPTP system. Leaders claim that the party’s consistent position on federalism contributed to its position strengthening in the Tarai region.
“In the 2008 election, people in the southern belt projected us as an anti-Madhes force, but now they have realised that the Maoists can address their concerns over federalism,” a leader told the Post.
Further, the party has managed to sort out the longstanding organisational disputes in the Madhes, which had been plaguing the party for long. Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal himself sorted out several state and district-level disputes. The influx of Madhesi leaders from other parties into the UCPN (Maoist) also played a crucial role in the party’s good show in the Madhes.
However, dissatisfaction among some Madhesi Maoist leaders remains as, according to them, the party gave Ram Chandra Jha ‘more space.’ Jha recently defected from the CPN-UML and joined the UCPN (Maoist) .
“With Jha’s entry, the party’s position got a boost in Bhojpura and Mithila,” said the party’s Madhes in-charge, Haribol Gajurel.
Dahal is out on a tour of the southern region. On Tuesday, he held an interaction with Madhesi people, while he has already announced that he will contest the upcoming election from the Madhes. “I need the Madhesi people’s backing to draft a federal constitution that fulfills their aspirations,” Dahal said in Janakpur.
With a view to strengthening its base in the region further, the party is holding consultations with Madhesi intellectuals.
The latest census shows that around 50 percent of the country’s total population lives in the Madhes. “The strengthening of the UCPN (Maoist) ’s position in the Madhes means it will win more seats in the upcoming election,” said advocate Dipendra Jha, who closely follows Madhes politics.
Leaders, however, said the party’s position in the hilly region has weakened after Mohan Baidya left the UCPN (Maoist) last year and formed a separate party, CPN-Maoist.
Leaders sent to assess the situation in the hill region have reported to the party headquarters that the split has adversely affected its hold in the hill region. Further, cadres in the hill districts are ruing the ‘communication gap’ after the 2008 election. To strengthen the party’s hold in the region, the UCPN (Maoist) is desperately trying to forge an election alliance with the Federal Socialist Party Nepal (FSPN).
“The CPN-Maoist’s main mission will be to defeat us in the election. So, they will create obstacles for us in the hill region,” said Gajurel.
In the Kathmandu valley, leaders said the party will secure more seats this time in the three districts of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. The leaders claimed that a significant number of the ‘middle class’ people in the Valley are supporting the party. The UCPN (Maoist) had won in seven of the 15 constituencies in the Valley in 2008.
The party is scheduled to hold its Central Committee meeting next week to prepare a strategy for the November 19 polls.
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MADESH PARTIES HUNT FOR CANDIDATES
Kathmandu, 22 Aug.: In view of the upcoming Constituent Assembly election, the Madhes-centric parties have sought the names of possible candidates from their district units. Most of the parties have asked their district chapters to submit at least three names, including an inclusive list, The Kathmandu Post writes,
While the Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) has asked focal persons in various constituencies to send the names by August 31, the party has asked its district committees to send the names by August 26.
“We have asked the leaders in different constituencies to send the names of three candidates, one of them female,” said TMLP spokesperson Sarvendra Shukla. He said any proposal sent by leaders from constituencies would contain a note from the respective district party chief.
In the same vein, the Sadbhawana Party has already asked its district committee chiefs or coordinators (where a party committee is yet to be formed) to submit the names of three candidates in the expanded Central Committee meeting scheduled for August 24-26. “Shortly thereafter members of the parliamentary committee will be dispatched to various districts to find out the status of the recommended candidates. Based on the finding the party will take a final call,” said Sadbhawana leader Upendra Mahato. The expanded meeting, according to Mahato, will also chalk out a poll strategy.
A similar circulation has also been issued by the Upendra Yadav-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal (MJF-N) and Bijaya Gachhadar’s Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik (MJF-L). While the MJF-N has sought names of up to five candidates, the MJF-L has sought at least three candidates. The upcoming national gathering of the MJF-L in Biratnagar is expected to finalise the poll related issues, said party General Secretary Jitendra Narayan Dev.
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