Maoist Money: Number One Threat To Free, Fair, Fearless Elections

A guy used to cross the Nepal India border on a regular basis. On the back rack of his bicycle would be a huge pile of hay. The custom officials would search frantically inside the hay thinking he might be smuggling goods to avoid custom taxes. He would ride into Nepal day after day. Each time nothing was found inside the hay so he was let go. Finally it occurred to the customs officials that what he was actually smuggling was brand new bicycles.

I think we are so focused on the Maoist gun and muscle, that we are missing the point. The number one threat is not the Maoist gun or muscle, it is the Maoist money.

The Maoists have not stopped their extortions across the country. They have already taken Rs 550 million from the government. That is a lot of money. And now they are demanding 500 million more. 100 crores to the Maoists. For what? The Deuba Congress recently released its annual budget. It was less than 10 crores. How will 10 crores compete against 100 crores come election time? And that is just money the Maoists have taken from the government. What about money from nationwide extortions? What about their 400 jeeps? During election time you could blanket the country with that many jeeps.

Weak-kneed Sitaula and Koirala have given the Maoists everything they have wanted. All that is waiting to happen is the Maoists capture booths all across the country and take over power in Nepal. Their first order of business would be to transform the security agencies to make them their own. After the Maoists have taken over power, you will no longer recognize the Nepal Army, the Nepal Police.

The Maoists are flush with cash, and this is a big, big problem.

It is time we took a stand. No more money to the Maoists, not even to feed their legitimate soldiers if they do not end the abductions and extortions. If they will not hold to their end of the bargain, why should we hold on to ours?

Maoist minors should be sent home without any pay. No money, nothing. Just go home. Go start attending school. To send 17,000 of them home with Rs 5000 a month for six months is to give Maoists full time paid workers to work on their behalf all the way to elections. Why should the Maoists get that special treatment? And if so, why not do the same for the other parties?

And it is very important the interim parliament passed a law that would require all political parties to make their finances transparent immediately. The richest party should not have more than 50% more money than the second richest party. Any extra money should go back to the state. Otherwise if the Maoists are going to be 20 times richer than the second richest party, we are not going to have elections, we are going to have a circus. The Maoists will engineer a sweep of the elections. Then our options to oppose them will be much less. What will we do? Try and organize street protests? They will claim they won the election.

Girija Has To Go

He failed. He has to go.

That sick, old man is everybody's problem. Look at his foul play on the Congress unification issue. All along he knew he did not want unification. But he did not say so. His strategy all along has been to talk unfication so as to prevent the Deuba Congress from doing serious organizational work.

He did not conduct elections within the stipulated time. So he has to resign. If he continues, this guy will be the reason the Maoists will take over Nepal.

I don't care if it is Ram Chandra Poudel or Sher Bahadur Deuba or Madhav Nepal who succeed. Anyone who is physically not incapacitated will do just fine.

In The News

Chaudhary’s son to marry Mittal's daughter Kantipur
Cabinet meeting cancelled after Maoist ministers walk out
13,000 cantoned PLA fighters to be sent home the Maoists have pressed the government to register and issue number plates for some 400 vehicles, which they say were brought illegally from India. .... The Maoists have been using the vehicles that bear their self-issued registration plates in the villages across the country.
Maoist MPs continue to flex muscles, disrupt house proceedings
Maoist victims hold sit-in at PM's residence
Maoist-affiliate transport workers halt traffic in Biratnagar
PM Koirala, Mukherjee discuss Terai
Tough industrial security policy in pipeline
Maoists demand Rs 500m for PLA The CPN-Maoist has demanded Rs 500 million for its People's Liberation Army (PLA) combatants. Maoist Central member Ananta said, "We have demanded Rs 3,000 per month as pocket money for our PLA combatants, besides the regular monthly Rs 1,800 for food." ..... The government has been providing Rs 1,800 per month to each PLA combatant for food. ..... the government has been asking Maoists to submit expenditure details of the previously released amount for the PLA ..... The government had released some Rs 550 million to the Maoists for the management of food and shelter of the PLA. The Maoists haven' t yet submitted expenditure details to the government.
Police seize Prachanda’s vehicle
Airport tax being siphoned off
‘US won't punish people for sins of Maoists’

Prachanda meets Koirala after cabinet row NepalNews after the Prime Minister dismissed the remarks of Matrika Yadav, the Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, who claimed that army officials were involved in tree felling and poaching of endangered animals.
Maoist ministers walk out; cabinet meeting suspended
Election Fallout: Clueless After the Crashing Announcement the lack of seriousness and dexterity of leadership ....... The first open central committee meeting of the party, concluded just before the planned eight party meet, reached to a conclusion that they might have to launch third phase of Jana Andolan for establishing democratic republic. ....... During the meeting of the top brass of the eight parties with the EC two weeks back, Deuba had raised questions on credibility of elections that will be held without first improving the security situation in the country....... Nepali Congress remains the final pillar of hope for the monarchy. Splinter NC-D is much ahead in support for a republic ........ Madhav Kumar Nepal said his party also supports the idea of outright announcement of republic by the parliament ...... Interestingly, in a recent interview with BBC Nepali Service, astrologers said the time would turn in favour of King Gyanendra after July. The astrologers said monarchy would not be removed from Nepal at any cost after July. One can even suspect if this has been one of the factors prompting the Maoists to hurry to declare republic Nepal. ....... Jana Morcha lawmaker Lilamani Pokharel during the Sunday's session of the parliament said deferral of the CA polls means failure of Koirala. Koirala, while taking oath at the parliament on April 1, had expressed commitment to hold the elections on time and promised to resign if he could not do so. Recalling the statement made by Koirala, Pokharel said he now remains with no option than to resign ........ The final punch from the EC came at a time when Koirala had become active in CA polls preparation: from seeking Indian support to addressing mass meetings as part of the NC's election campaigns nationwide.
Maoist lawmakers disrupt House proceeding
Madhesi MPs demand fresh census ahead of CA polls Twenty-six Madhesi MPs ..... "If the CA election is not going to be held in June, there will be ample time to hold fresh census based on which the constituencies should be re-delineated," said MP and vice president of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP-Anandidevi) Bharat Bimal Yadav. ..... They have asked the government to stop implementing the ECDC recommendations if it wants to save the country from disintegration. ...... Kailash Nath Kasaudhan, Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, Surendra Prasad Chaudhary, Birendra Kumar, Amaresh Kumar Singh and Nagendra Kumar Raya of Nepali Congress; Chitra Lekha Yadav, Hari Narayan Chaudhary, Laxman Prasad Mehta, Mangal Prasad, Ram Jeevan Singh, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Umakanta Chaudhary, Ram Janam Chaudhary and Mahendra Yadav of Nepali Congress (Democratic); Mahendra Prasad Yadav, Dr. Bansidhar Mishra, Dan Bahadur Chaudhary and Jagadish Prasad Shah of UML; Hridayash Tripathy, Bharat Bimal Yadav and Gobinda Tharu of NSP-Anandidevi; and Ajaya Pratap Shah of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). MPs Jaya Prakash Gupta, Ram Chandra Raya and Renu Yadav have not stated the name of their party in the statement
Police take into control Prachanda’s vehicle after businessman Raju Shrestha claimed that the vehicle belonged to him. ..... The Nissan jeep with plate number Ba 5 Pa 1718 was in the parking area of Hotel Ashoka at Bagbazaar when Shrestha, a resident of Budhanilkantha, claimed that the jeep belonged to him and it was stolen. He then got into it and started the vehicle using the spare key he still retained. ....... the jeep is normally used to ferry top Maoist leaders, including Prachanda.
Nepali Diaspora calls for attention to Terai problem demanded for formation of an impartial commission to probe various incidents that took place in the Terai over the last few months. ..... Stating that the administration failed to responsibly handle the Madheshi movement, they also demanded resignation of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula. ....... The CPN (M) should immediately stop all acts of extortion, intimidation and violence and should adhere to the commitments made in the Comprehensive Peace Treaty, they said and urged Maoists not to interfere with peaceful programmes and activities of other political parties and organisations and added that Maoists should allow the government to take charge of any law and order problems.
Hollywood actor Gere in Kathmandu "to meet with Tibetan activists" ...... Gere, 57, is a Buddhist and has been a supporter of the Tibetan cause for 25 years and is "very much a hands-on chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet" ..... Over 2,500 Tibetan refugees enter Nepal after adventurous trips across the Himalayas every year. Majority of them later leave Nepal for the Indian town of Dharmashala

Nepali students at Virginia Tech shocked but safe NepalNews
CIAA summons Tulsi Giri, 10 others
Over 2 million citizenships distributed in four months 1,055,869 citizenship certificates have been issued in Terai, 1,022,286 in the hilly region and 173,421 in the mountainous region
Army Chief briefs PM about security situation
No CA elections if snail's pace continues, says Nepal if the government works on present "snail's pace," Constituent Assembly elections might never be held. ..... we must change our pace and working style ..... Nepal also said that parties should forge a common understanding and go for referendum to decide the fate of monarchy.
Madhesi MPs seek consensus on key issues The Madhesi MPs of the Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (Democratic), CPN (UML), Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi) and others also had held a meeting on Monday in an attempt to reach a common understanding ..... Though the Maoist Madhesi MPs did not attend the meeting Monday, they are expected to join the discussion today. ...... the Madhesi MPs had decided to oppose the ECDC recommendation saying that it does not encompass the commitments of the eight parties expressed through prime minister's address to the nation weeks earlier.
JTMM kills one in Bara, attacks police post in Rautahat Around four dozen armed members of the JTMM Jwala Singh attacked the police post at Chet Nagar.
Prachanda, Sitaula discuss latest political developments

YCL pickets DAOs to protest police raid

Sujata accuses YCL of training on 'booth capturing' accused that each YCL cadre possessed a weapon and were preparing to capture booths during elections by using those weapons ..... she obtained the information after touring villages of Sunsari district. "The reason why elections could not be held on June is the Maoists" ....... Koirala further charged that despite bagging plum cabinet portfolios and enjoying government allowances, the Maoists were yet to stop collecting 'donations.' ..... She said the Maoists were still running parallel government and refusing to return seized properties. She added that before improving the security situation and resolving Terai problem, elections cannot be held.
Sadbhavana Parties prepare to unite The NSP factions – one led by Anandidevi Singh and another led by Laxman Lal Karna – have claimed that unity process has come to final phase. The NSP leaders have claimed that the unity was being forged in order to bring together all pro-Madhesi forces....... the unity would come to fruition before the deadline for registering party at the Election Commission scheduled for April 27. Rajendra Mahato, general secretary of NSP (Anandidevi) and Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, also informed that the unity would materialise in a few days. Karna even added that they were urging Upendra Yadav also to join the united Sadbhavana instead of running the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF).

Janjatis withdraw valley blockade NepalNews
Prime Minister proved incompetent: Lawmaker
Police raid YCL offices The Metropolitan Police has simultaneously raided the offices of Maoists' Young Communist League (YCL) in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts on Sunday afternoon. At the instruction of Home Ministry, teams of police raided the offices in Balaju, Gathhaghar and Balkumari in search of "unauthorised weapons" and "abducted persons", according to Metropolitan Police commissioner AIG Deepak Thangden.
Maoists reactivate parallel local governments, issue life threat to IDP According to local cadres, their party has directed the to launch a nationwide campaign for opening such council offices. ..... the party’s central committee has directed them to open parallel offices at par with government offices at district, municipality and village levels. ..... “We will be opening ward, municipality and district level offices much the same as the government. We plan to open our offices adjoining government offices.” .... the offices are meant to solve problems unsolved by the state. ..... in Bardia, Maoists have threatened to kill Mukti Bahadur Swar of Gola village of Bardiya district if he ventures to return home. ...... According to Swar, who has been living at the district headquarters for five years, the Maoist cadres had threatened to chop him into pieces if he attempted to return home.
NC asks MJF to withdraw bandh
DEO says his abduction a warning against CA polls

PM Must Take Lion's Share of Blame: Sahana Himalayan Times Pradhan said Koirala and his party (that holds major portfolios, including the home, defense and finance ministries), must take the responsibility for not being able to hold the elections. .... Pradhan hit out at what she called "lack of coordination and lack of seriousness" on the part of the eight parties, the government and the legislature-parliament. ...... Vice president of Janamorcha Nepal, Leela Mani Pokhrel, however, suggested formal announcement of an "end of monarchy" and the start of a republic from the parliament to "compensate" the poll postponement. Pokhrel also blamed Koirala and the NC for failing to hold the polls. ...... NC leader Narahari Acharya, however, ruled out any possibility of holding the elections if the "current situation continues," while human rights defender Daman Nath Dhungana expressed the hope that political parties would show the guts to declare a republic from the legislature-parliament.

Deuba goes with EC, welcomes polls deferral decision Kantipur
CPN-UML holds PM responsible for polls delay criticized the PM for "incessantly parroting" assurances to hold timely polls without an objective analysis of the current situation and "lying to the public".
EC announcement razed basis of eight party unity: Prachanda "Now, a new foundation for unity can be laid only if the House itself proclaims the country a republic," Prachanda opined.
We are ready for talks if govt creates favourable climate: MPRF
Maoists smell rat in CA polls deferral
जुम्लामा मोटर
दलहरू अन्योलमा तोकिएको मितिमा चुनाव नहुने निष्कर्षा आठै दल पुगे पनि त्यसको जिम्मेवारी क-कसले लिने भन्ने आरोप-प्रत्यारोप चलेको छ । प्रधानमन्त्री निवास बालुवाटारमा मध्याह्न बसेको बैठकमा प्रधानमन्त्री गिरिजाप्रसाद कोइरालाले आयोगको पत्र पढेर सुनाएका थिए । ..... घोषित समयमा निवर्ँचन गराउन नसक्नु कार्यकारी प्रमुखको अक्ष्ँमता भएको आरोप अन्य दलले लगाएका थिए । ..... 'अहिले चुनाव हुन सक्दैन भन्ने आयोगको बहाना मात्र हो । कुनै तयारी गर्न नलगाउने यो सबै कांग्रेसको षड्यन्त्र हो,' माओवादी वरिष्ठ नेता डा. बाबुराम भट्टर्राईले भने । ...... डा. भट्टर्राईले भने- 'यो सात साल दोहोर्‍याउने षड्यन्त्र हो । त्यसलाई रोक्न गणतन्त्र घोषणा गरेर जानर्ुपर्छ भन्ने हाम्रो प्रस्ताव हो ।' ...... डा. भट्टर्राईले भने- 'तीनवटै मोर्चा -सरकार, सदन, सडक) बाट संर्घष्ा गर्ने कि बाहिर रहेर गर्ने भन्नेबारे हामी तयारी गर्दैछौं ।'
चुनावलाई समय पुगेन

CA date debacle fallout: Deuba welcomes; UML blames govt; Maoists want republic NepalNews The Standing Committee meeting of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), however, has concluded that the inefficiency of the government, particularly the Prime Minister as the chief executive, is to blame for the delay in the polls. ..... majority of Maoist leaders have advised that the parliament should now declare republic if there is no possibility of holding the CA polls on time.
King says he appreciates peace process
MJF sets two conditions for dialogue with govt The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) has said it is ready for talks if the government suspends the process to delimit electoral constituencies for the forthcoming constituent assembly polls and guarantees security in Terai region.
PLA men leave camps to protest EC announcement
50 locals injured in Maoists attack Even after they joined the interim government, Maoist’s excesses remained unchecked. At least 50 persons were injured, four of them critically — when Maoists and locals clashed at Betali VDC-6 of Ramechhap district on Friday afternoon. According to locals 50 Young Communist League cadres led by Maoist area in-charge Madan attacked the locals at Betali bazaar with pistols, khukuris, sticks and iron bars. ..... Maoists from adjoining villages also joined their colleagues in attacking villagers. They also looted a CDMA phone set from Ram Chandra Basnet, locals said. ..... Some houses also sustained minor damage in the attack and treatment of the injured was hampered as health worker at the village health centre Arjun Karki was also injured in the incident.
DEO Joshi freed by police A joint team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force (APF) have freed the abducted District Education Officer (DEO) Nibharaj Joshi. ..... DEO of Saptari district, Joshi, who had been kidnapped by activists of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (Goit faction) a week ago, was freed from a house of one Yug Narayan Yadav at Bathnaha VDC-2 of Saptari district. .... there was no clash during the search and rescue operation.

Nepal: India to build postal-roads Telegraphnepal.com, Nepal Ambassador Mukherjee is learnt to have asked Koirala as to what were being done by the government to assuage the Madhesi movement. The Indian envoy also expressed his government’s desire to build “postal roads in the villages” in Nepal. The ambassador is also learnt to have met UML chief Madhav Nepal, Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan, Supply Minister Rajendra Mahato, Wednesday.
Nepal: Election Impossible says Pokharel Telegraphnepal.com, Nepal the government is yet to prepare good atmosphere for the CA elections. .... He point blank told the reporters under the existing security situation the election was impossible. Until and unless the people feel that it is safe and secure to participate in the elections, the CA polls cannot be held.
Election Chief In Nepal Says CA Polls Can Be Held On Time All Headline News Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokhrel on Wednesday said the interim government can hold elections as scheduled. .... the elections can be held even under "unfavorable" circumstances. ... Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Tsutomu Hiraoka handed over 60,000 semi-transparent ballot boxes to the EC amidst a program on Wednesday.