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Preparations for CA
All the stakeholders including the King, Maoists, mainstream political parties and myriad Madhesi and Janajati groups are now preparing for April 10, the date fixed for the elections to the Constituent Assembly. But the bad news is that while some of them are preparing to contest the election, others seem to be preparing to disrupt it. Keeping the latest developments in mind the Election Commission has drawn attention of the government and the parties to the security problems. The general people, on the other hand, are susceptible whether the election process will really be peaceful.
The Maoists, who have repeatedly said that they would not let the election be held if they are not likely to win, have revived their Revolutionary Council, a parallel state structure that they used to have also in the past and notorious for its kangaroo courts. That was dissolved just before the Maoists were first inducted into the interim government. Together with the revival of the Council, the Maoists have started their election mass meetings presenting their Supremo Prachanda as the ‘first President of the Republic of Nepal’.
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Seven-Party joint mass meeting at Biratnagar |
On his part, the King granted an interview to Japanese journalists and said he is sure the people’s verdict will be in favour of the monarchy. It is being feared that if the monarchists feel that they are not going to win, they too may resort to similar tactics as of the Maoists – disrupt the elections. If the polling in one constituency is disrupted due to violence, the turnout of voters in the repelling will likely to be much less than in the disrupted day.
The cadres of the Nepali Congress and the Maoists have already been in violent confrontations. And the Madhesi groups are trying to get united among themselves. As a result, the separate groups formed by people who left the Nepali Congress, UML, Sadbhavana Party and other mainstream political parties have joined hands with the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum forming a new political party called Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP). By mid-February they intensified their agitation calling an indefinite strike in the entire Terai area thus disrupting the supply of daily necessities to the capital. The latest news is that in a meeting with the Prime Minister the TMLP has agreed to sit for dialogues with the government to meet its demands.
Among the major events of January 2008 was expansion of the Council of Ministers by inducting Prime Minister’s daughter Sujata Koirala known for her pro-monarchy views. However, after Prachanda revealed that he has been meeting the royalists and trying to form an alliance with them, the critics of Sujata for her pro-monarchy stand were silenced to some extent. Meanwhile, the ruling seven-party alliance held joint mass meetings amidst strikes and bomb blasts at various places of the country beginning January 14 in Kathmandu and concluding in Birgunj on January 30.
The parliament passed a bill increasing the salary of the judges. Now the Chief Justice will get Rs. 31,800 as salary and 15,900 as housing allowance plus Rs. 750 per day allowance. The SC justices will get Rs. 25,000 as salary, housing allowance Rs. 12,900 and daily allowance Rs. 500. If this generosity was aimed at turning the judges in favour of the government, it would not yield positive outcome. After hearing a writ, the Supreme Court ordered the government not to distribute fund to the sitting MPs on the name of Constituency Development Programme.
In the month there were three major events in the political economy. On January 21, the Nepal Oil Corporation increased the retail prices of Diesel (9.38%), Kerosene (19.53%) and LP gas (13.63%) and rolled it back on January 23 after violent protests on the streets of Kathmandu by the students affiliated to the ruling parties.
Later the government signed an agreement with India’s infrastructure major GMR Energy to grant license to develop Upper Karnali hydropower project and started negotiation with another Indian government owned Sutlej Jal Bidyut Nigam for the development of Arun III power project.
Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank agreed to grant US $ 137 million loan to the revised Melamchi project supposed to supply drinking water in the Kathmandu valley.
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