UN Official Presses for Nepal to Call Elections, Meets Leaders

[struggle4progress]

Source: Bloomberg

By Ed Johnson

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations pressed for early elections in Nepal as a senior official began a four-day visit to assess the Himalayan kingdom's peace process.

Angela Kane, the assistant secretary-general for political affairs, will meet with government officials in the capital, Kathmandu, and visit one of the seven main camps where rebel fighters are barracked under UN supervision.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala plans to announce a date for elections this week, a central goal of the November 2006 accord that ended a decade-long civil war in Nepal.

Under the agreement, the rebel Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which fought to overthrow the monarchy, ended its armed struggle and joined the interim government. Elections have been postponed twice by arguments between the main parties over whether to abolish the monarchy before or after the ballot ...

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a7HnMBgUM_GA&refer=asia

---

EC urges new parties to quickly register for polls

Himalayan News Service
Kathmandu, January 7:

The Election Commission today invited newly formed political parties to rush for registration for the Constituent Assembly election due in April this year.
Political parties, formed in the recent weeks and months, will have to register by January 14 to secure the Commission’s recognition as per Article 142 of the interim constitution.
Article 142 requires any party intending to contest the CA polls to seek the Commission’s recognition by registering its name with the Election Commission.

“This opportunity has been given as a good gesture,” Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel told this daily today.
The government and the EC have, however, not discussed as yet any tentative date for the election. The third amendment to the interim constitution sets mid-April as deadline for the election, which has been cancelled twice so far.

Asked whether the election would be held in a single or multiple phases, Pokhrel said it depends upon the government.

“The EC hopes that the environment would be conducive for polls,” he added ...

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aFanata0wkqzpba7Ra6ra.axamal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20080108

Last Updated: Monday, 7 January 2008, 14:25 GMT
Supporters rally for Nepal's king

Hundreds of supporters of King Gyanendra of Nepal have staged a protest in Kathmandu against plans to abolish the monarchy.

Correspondents say it was the first public show of support for the king since he was forced to give up his absolute powers in 2006.

Nepal is due to be declared a republic after elections scheduled for April.

Gyanendra's dynasty dates back to 1769, but he lost popular support when he sacked the government in 2005 ...

ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7175119.stm

Crisis in Nepal over PLA issue
Anirban Roy, Hindustan Times
Kathmandu, January 07, 2008

... Senior Maoist leader and Minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara on Monday strongly criticized Nepal’s Army General Rookmangud Katawal for showing reluctance in the merger proposal.

General Katwal, who is also a honorary general of the Indian Army, had said on Sunday that the Nepal Army was not keen to allow the “politically indoctrinated” to join the armed formation as it would affect the purity and sanctity of the national army.

The chief of Nepal Army had also said that the national army should be competent, professional, disciplined, impartial and obedient to the order of the military chain of command.

Lambasting the Army chief, Mahara said the reluctance to the merger process might upset the 19-month-old peace process in Nepal. “His (the General’s) public remark contradict the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” the Maoist leader, said ...

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=266fcfdc-01e0-42b9-add7-95de52fb104e&MatchID1=4617&TeamID1=3&TeamID2=4&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1163&PrimaryID=4617&Headline=Crisis+in+Nepal+over+PLA+issue

Integrate PLA combatants in police, APF: Ananta
Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, Jan 5 - Deputy Commander of the Maoist PLA, Barsha Man Pun aka Ananata, said the Maoists were flexible on the issue of integrating their combatants in the existing security forces like the army, police and armed police force.

He said the Maoists were positive even about creating new force like a border security force or industrial security force. "But the spirit of the agreement is integration in the national army," he said.

Pun also said the Maoists want a national security policy that determines the size of the nation's security forces.

"We know the nation cannot afford a huge security force and we also want to mobilize the maximum state resources for construction," the PLA's deputy commander said. "But a decision on downsizing the forces should be taken after serious discussion." ...

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=133332