Minister and Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala passes away

Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala breathed his last in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, succumbing to Pneumonia, according to family sources. He was 77.

Koirala was suffering Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and he succumbed to the condition. After the news of Koirala’s death, Kathmandu based Nepali Congress rushed to his residence.

Koirala was not able to attend formal events on Monday.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress postponed its electoral process prior to the General Convention, General Secretary Prakas Man Singh said.

Koirala was elected Prime Minister of Nepal on February 10, 2014. Sushil Koirala was elected from Banke and Chitwan constituencies in the second Constituent Assembly election of 2013, November 19.

A devoted member of the Nepali Congress party of which he is currently president, Koirala once spent three years in an Indian prison for his involvement in the hijacking of a plane.

Koirala entered politics in 1954 inspired by the social-democratic ideals of the NC. He was in political exile in India for 16 years following the royal takeover of 1960.

While in exile, Koirala was the editor of Tarun, the official party publication. He has been a member of the Central Working Committee of the party since 1979 and was appointed General Secretary of the party in 1996 and Vice President in 1998.

In 2001, he lost the contest for the NC Parliamentary Party leader to Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Koirala was appointed acting President of the party in 2008 by President Girija Prasad Koirala. On September 22, 2010, the 12th general convention of the NC elected him as party President.

The NC emerged as the largest party in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections under Koirala's leadership. He was elected leader of the NC Parliamentary party securing 105 out of 194 votes against former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's 89 votes.

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Absence of women in leadership level sad: Prime Minister Oli

Emphasis has been laid on giving women who comprise half of the country’s total population leadership roles in the policy making level in the civil service.

At an interaction ‘Women in Civil Service’ organised by the Ministry of General Administration here, participants pointed out that women’s participation in civil service which has surged to 18 per cent from 11 per cent is not enough.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said society must understand that women’s reproductive capacity is a big charity for mankind’s development and that policy should be created on this basis.

The PM said that women could not become shareholders despite being given opportunity to participate in every sector, while adding that absence of women in leadership level of the civil service was sad.

Referring to Cuba, PM Oli said that women had gained access to top positions due to development of education.

He further said that women must be encouraged to seek opportunities in the social sector and policy making level, and be given education.

General Administration Minister Rekha Sharma expressed commitment to implement the issues put forth during the interactive programme and said a mechanism would be formed so that all the ministries could address women’s problems.

She said the Civil Service Act would be reformed for gender equality for all women employees.

Public Service Commission Chairman Umesh Mainali said the plan for women’s participation in civil service would remain defunct unless they were given access to the policy making level.

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Reconstruction drive to begin from Jan 16

President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to launch the national reconstruction campaign by inaugurating Ranipokhari reconstruction project on Jan 16.

The day is also being marked as the 18th Earthquake Safety Day. This information was shared by the publicity subcommittee under the Earthquake Safety Day main organising committee at a press meet in the capital today.

The national reconstruction campaign would be announced with the inauguration of the Ranipokhari reconstruction at 11:56 am, to commemorate the time that the April 25 earthquake struck Nepal with Gorkha as its epicentre.

Similarly, the Prime Minister is scheduled to begin the Bungmati area reconstruction project in Karyabinayak municipality the same day.

A version of this article appears in print on January 09, 2016 of The Himalayan Times.

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Border points will be clear soon: Ambassador Upadhyay

Nepal's Ambassador to India, Dip Kumar Upadhyay, has said Nepal-India relations would be back to normal in the next few days.

Talking to the National News Agency (RSS) on Friday, Ambassador Upadhyay said as the internal problems were being dealt with, a positive message would come soon. "The political issues raised by the Madhesi political parties were being addressed through the amendment of constitution, it will obviously bring positive change", he said.

Saying that the Indian side has wished peace and stability in Nepal with the solution of the internal problems, ambassador Upadhyay said sooner the solution of the internal problems, better the environment.

According to him, the readiness on the part of the government, main opposition and agitating parties in Tarai/Madhes to resolve the issue is a significant achievement.

He further said if the constitution process was initiated on time, the country and the people would not suffer to this extent. "Blaming neighbour does not bring any benefit. Solving internal problems is a wiser step," Ambassador Upadhyay said.

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24 constitution amendment proposals registered in House

Altogether 24 amendment proposals on the Bill on First Amendment of Constitution of Nepal were registered at the Secretariat of Legislature Parliament today, the last day for filing amendment proposals on the bill.

The proposals would be tabled at the House meeting slated for 1:00 pm on January 13.

Six separate amendment proposals were registered by 84 lawmakers from main opposition Nepali Congress.

Three of them were registered at the behest of NC leaders Bimalendra Nidhi, Minendra Rijal and Farmullah Mansur with two choices for constituency delimitation.

The three proposals were registered in consultation with party leaders, while the other three proposals were registered separately by Prakash Sharan Mahat, Romi Gauchan Thakali and Sanjay Kumar Gautam.

No lawmaker from the ruling CPN-UML or the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front registered any proposal on the bill.

The proposal registered by Nidhi-led group proposes allocating 83 constituencies for Tarai-Madhes region and 82 constituencies for hills and mountains . Rijal-led group has proposed creating 79 or 80 constituencies in Tarai-Madhes and 85 or 86 in hills and mountains.

“The first alternative closely reflects the demand of the agitating Madhesi parties. But if it cannot be agreed upon, the second alternative would accommodate the concerns of all,” said NC lawmaker Ganesh Kumar Mandal. NC lawmakers’ proposals were registered after holding consultations with the agitating UDMF, according to NC sources.

Farmullah-led group has proposed 11 clusters instead of existing 17 for proportional inclusion in state mechanisms.

The 11 clusters women, Dalits, indigenous nationalities, Madhesis, Tharus, Muslims, disabled persons, backward groups, sexual minorities, people belonging to backward regions and Khas Arya, however, should be from backward regions.

Mahat has proposed reserving at least one constituency for all mountainous and remote districts and equally sharing the remaining constituencies between the hills and the Tarai on the basis of population.

Similarly, Thakali seeks to secure at least one constituency for each mountainous and geographically remote hill district. Gautam wants all Tarai districts to be called Tarai-Madhes instead of only Madhes.

Eleven lawmakers from UCPN-M registered separate proposals on the bill at the behest of lawmaker Ram Narayan Bidari, though most of them seek almost the same thing.

They have proposed two clusters one for proportional inclusion and another for inclusion.

Their proposals seek to include nine clusters women, indigenous nationalities, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim, people of backward region, poor peasants and laborers for proportional inclusion.

The UCPN-M lawmakers have proposed 12 other clusters aboriginals, minorities, disabled persons, marginalised, backward groups, sexual minorities, youth, peasant, laborers, oppressed and economically disadvantaged Khas Arya for inclusion in the state mechanisms.

Yogendra Chaudhari of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Democratic) has sought 51 per cent constituencies for Tarai-Madhes and 49 percent for hills and mountains.

Prem Suwal and Anuradha Thapa Magar of Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party have sought free education and employment to all.

Durga Paudel and Mina Pun of Rastriya Janamorcha, Jay Dev Joshi of CPN (United) and Rukmini Chaudhari of Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch (Tharuhat) also registered their proposals.

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4.6m Nepalis without citizenship, report claims

As the citizenship provision in the new constitution is being contested on the grounds of gender equality, a new report suggests that around 0.9 million individuals, who are eligible for citizenship, are living with single parent.

The citizenship law requires a woman to prove that the whereabouts of her husband are unknown to pass on citizenship to her child, while the provision is silent on the case of single male parent.

Census 2011 has recorded 161,231 widowers and 498,606 widows (around 0.65 million single parents). There are also an estimated 23,000 divorced and 40,000 separated couples.

A report titled “Acquisition of citizenship certificates in Nepal: Estimation and projection” released on Tuesday by the Forum for Women Law and Development, an NGO, has also revealed that 4.6 million people above 16 years of age have no citizenship certificate. The number accounts for 22.82 percent of the total population.

According to Sabin Shrestha, one of the researchers, the report is based on the number of individuals who lack citizenship certificates that has been estimated using the population growth rate determined by the 2011 census and the total number of citizenship certificates distributed each year. The population growth rate was also was taken into consideration.

The report has used the census data of the Central Bureau of Statistics, records of citizenship certificate distribution from 1952 to 2011 from the Home Ministry, National Population and Housing Census, and Population Perspective Plan 2010-2031 of the Ministry of Health and Population, among others.

The study has the limitation of not verifying the persons who received the certificate in one district and moved to another district later. The Census has also not taken this into account. The next is the Home Ministry not taking the mortality data into account, said Shrestha. 

The report also projects that the number of people without citizenship certificates will be between 4.9 million and 6.7 million in 2021.

Citizenship certificate is the primary identity and is the basis for acquiring other identity documents, enrolling on the voter list, registering marriage, buying or selling land and even opening a bank account.

Stakeholders claim that the constitution has made some headway in ensuring citizenship and that the laws that will be formulated on the basis of the constitution must also ensure that children of either a Nepali father or mother are not left stateless.

The new citizenship laws should have no discriminatory provisions on the grounds of gender that have created a huge gap between the number of stateless women and men, said Sapana Pradhan Malla, a lawyer. Articles 10 and 38.1 of the new constitution guarantee the right to citizenship. The report also suggests that the government continue integrated mobile camps and citizenship certificate distribution campaigns which it had conducted in 2013. More than 1,126,430 individuals had benefited from the mobile citizenship certificate distribution campaign.

However, the Home Ministry has questioned the data and sampling of the research. “Those eligible should go to obtain the citizenship. The government

does not distribute citizenship without verification. It’s an issue only if the state has denied citizenship,” said ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal. Those attaining 16 years of age should go to obtain citizenship, he said. “If there is an issue of birth certificate, it can be discussed.”

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Congress organisation structure to be attuned to federal shape

The Nepali Congress has started homework to restructure the party in view of the country going federal after the adoption of the new constitution. The party is preparing to form its organisation in the seven federal states.

However, according to leaders, there will not be a complete overhaul of the party organisation immediately. Work towards that end will begin during the 13th General Convention while the next convention will complete the mission. The NC is the first party that will hold its convention in the new political set-up.

The convention scheduled to be held in March will take a final decision on the party’s new organisational structure. As party President Sushil Koirala and senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba are at odds over the number of office bearers, amending the party statute in the spirit of the federal structure has become a contentious issue.

Some have advised increasing the number of general secretaries and assigning them the responsibility of organisation in each federal state.

But there is no agreement on the idea. NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said in an interview earlier this week that there were calls to have two vice-presidents and seven general secretaries.
Currently, the party has two general secretaries—one elected and the other appointed by the president.
NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC said the party structures should be attuned to the
federal shape for an effective organisation. “Discussions are going on in the party but we have not reached a conclusion,” said KC.

KC said the convention should appoint heads for the seven states and they should be elected directly by the convention representatives. He is for making the party’s local committees effective and transparent.

According to leaders, there has already been an agreement among the top leaders to elect two Central Working Committee members from each federal unit.

Earlier, there was a provision of electing one CWC member from each zone.
The zonal structure is now irrelevant. According to leaders, it is not possible to make changes in the district, municipality and village committees due to the time constraints. The dispute between the Koirala and Deuba factions regarding the changes has also created problems.

“Federalism has not been truly implemented. So there won’t be drastic changes in the party organisation,” said Ram Hari Khatiwada, a leader close to Deuba.

Rival faction leaders allege that the Koirala group is trying to manage the aspirations of senior leaders from the establishment camp in the name of making the party “federal-friendly”. Khatiwada said another convention will take decisions regarding federalism.

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SLMM drops a hint of deal on 4-pt plan

Pressure is building on the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM), whose protests in the Tarai for the last four months now are receiving criticism more than praise. And signs of building pressure are getting clearer. The SLMM, which had earlier outright rejected the government proposal on redrawing provincial boundaries through a mechanism in three months, has indicated that it could accept a cross-party committee for the purpose. It has, however, set two riders: A certain timeframe must be set for such a mechanism and there should be assurance that the recommendation(s) made by the mechanism will be implemented. Even with the preconditions, leaders say there is the likelihood of an agreement on government’s four-point proposal. What the Morcha now wants is “clarity and assurances” on the Terms of References (ToR) of the proposed cross-party mechanism. SLMM leaders have said that the proposed mechanism should finish its work in 15-30 days, instead of three months that the government has proposed. The main opposition Nepali Congress and government coalition partner UCPN (M) though are ready to do so, the ruling CPN- UML has said it will be meaningless to allocate less time (15-30 days) now and extending it later. Leaders from the SLMM, two major parties in the government and the main opposition say a meeting point on time period for the mechanism can be worked out. The SLMM’s call for assurances “that the recommendation(s) made by the mechanism must be implemented” is related to “political legitimacy” of the mechanism. If the mechanism fails to have “political legitimacy”, the SLMM fears there will be no guarantee of its recommendation(s) being implemented. Or in worst-case scenario, the Morcha fears, there will be no agreement at all within the time period set for the mechanism, given the hardened positions taken by the major parties. When it comes to redrawing provincial boundaries, only the UCPN (M) so far has been positive. The NC and UML do not seem to be very keen to revisit the current boundaries under the seven-state federal set-up. Here is where SLMM leaders are hemming and hawing around; they have not been able to decide whether to withdraw their protests or continue with them. Regarding “political legitimacy” of the mechanism, the NC has already proposed setting up a parliamentary committee instead of a cross-party committee. But the UML has said the move to set up a parliamentary panel will carry with it some complications, as disputes could arise over who all will represent. UML leader Pradeep Gyawali, however, has said his party is not against forming a parliamentary panel if it could give a way out to current crisis. Yet another concern that is plaguing the SLMM is whether the cross-party mechanism will work on redrawing boundaries of all Tarai districts or only five districts that have remained “disputed” in terms of boundaries. Besides, SLMM leaders have long been seeking a commitment from parties for two provinces in the Tarai. The SLMM, an alliance of four Madhes-based parties, is also under pressure from India to accept the proposal of forming a cross-party mechanism. Besides, there is a clear trust deficit between the SLMM and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. “We do not have much trust in PM Oli, so NC President Sushil Koirala and UCPN (M) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal should guarantee that there will be two provinces in Madhes and that issues will be settled within a certain period of time,” said SLMM leaders who have been engaged in extensive talks with Dahal and Koirala of late. “There is a trust deficit between two sides. The SLMM should trust the three parties,” said Gyawali. On Saturday, UCPN (M) Chairman said that there will be a deal with SLMM on constituency delineation on the basis of population and inclusive representation.

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DPM Thapa's China visit: Nepal, China ink 8-pt agreemen

Dec 25, 2015- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, who is currently on a five-day official visit to China, has signed an eight-point agreement with the Chinese government. The agreement has paved the way for speeding up preparations to ink a deal to import petroleum products from China. 

A foreign ministry level meeting held in Beijing on Friday agreed to give momentum to the proposed fuel import deal. According to a member of the Nepali delegation, Deputy Chief of Nepal Oil Corporation Sushil Bhattarai and Under Secretary Navaraj Dhakal of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies have been called to Beijing to reach an agreement on importing petroleum products from China. Both Bhattarai and Dhakal have reached Beijing on Friday.    

The 8 point agreement states that long-term deal for petrol and gas will be encouraged hinting that a permanent agreement is in the pipeline. The agreement has opened doors for Nepal Oil Corporations and Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to finalise a deal in the coming days. 

Moreover, the Chinese authorities have lifted the travel restrictions for Chinese tourists imposed after the devastating earthquakes in Nepal. After the bilateral agreement, the Chinese government through its consular office has promised to inform its citizens that Nepal is now safe to visit. After the quake, not only Chinese tourist but workers working on various projects in Nepal were also barred from going to Nepal.    

Likewise, the assistance pledged by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the reconstruction and extension of Araniko Highway during annual Boao Forum in China has also been mentioned in the agreement. 

Furthermore, China has assured of giving priority to the Nepali products. China has been assuring to put Nepali products on high priority at South Asia Expo held every two years in China.       

Although the decision to waive customs duty on import of Nepali products was already agreed on principle, Nepali businessmen have complained about different hassles while exporting. But in today’s agreement, the Chinese government has decided to adopt a lenient policy to ease the flow of Nepali products in the Chinese markets. With this, China has also agreed to provide help in setting up industrial system as per Nepal’s necessity.

China has agreed to provide further facilities on bilateral trade.  Although China has been placing Kerung border point on high priority after Nepal’s request, China has agreed to resume the Tatopani customs point. Moreover, China has also agreed to open more border points with Nepal. It has been said in the statement that opening more borders will increase bilateral trade between two countries.
China has also invited Prime Minister KP Oli on China visit next year. In reciprocation, Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa handed over an invitation letter by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to Chinese President Xi Jinping for Nepal visit.

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