Reviving The Constituent Assembly For Good

Between the NC, the UML and the CPN(M) they have over 300 MPs in the constituent assembly. Reviving the constituent assembly for good - not just for a day, but for good, to complete all work on the constitution - might be a pretty good option. Those three parties will have the option to gang up and get rid of the Baburam Bhattarai government through due process, if that is what they might want.

Reviving The Constituent Assembly
Is CA Revival Possible?

कमल थापासंग-26.12.12
कनक दिक्षीत र श्याम श्रेष्ठसंग-22.12.12

FDRA to press for CA revival if no 'package deal' by Jan 9
President Yadav breaches protocol as he visits Indian PM's residence for formal meeting

Nation in grip of pessimism due to 'policy paralysis, lack of leadership', Narendra Modi says
Modi gets rousing welcome at BJP office

Praising the BJP, Modi said it was possible for an ordinary party worker like him to become a chief minister of a state. .... 65 per cent of the country's population under the age of 35 .... "While the government is struggling to achieve a growth rate of 8 percent, Gujarat's growth rate is above 11 per cent"

Too Young to Have a Heart Attack
Exercise and the Ever-Smarter Human Brain

we continue to require regular physical activity in order for our brains to function optimally. .... our bipedal ancestors survived by becoming endurance athletes, able to bring down swifter prey through sheer doggedness, jogging and plodding along behind them until the animals dropped ...... complicated inner-ear mechanisms to maintain balance and stability during upright ambulation. Movement shaped the human body. .... simultaneously, in a development that until recently many scientists viewed as unrelated, humans were becoming smarter. Their brains were increasing rapidly in size. .... the evolution of the brain was driven by the need to think. ....... recent experiments in which mice and rats were systematically bred to be marathon runners. Lab animals that willingly put in the most miles on running wheels were interbred, resulting in the creation of a line of lab animals that excelled at running. ....... physical activity may have helped to make early humans smarter. ....... Eventually, these early athletes had enough BDNF coursing through their bodies that some could migrate from the muscles to the brain, where it nudged the growth of brain tissue. ..... And out of all of this came, eventually, an ability to understand higher math and invent iPads. But that was some time later. ..... if physical activity helped to mold the structure of our brains, then it most likely remains essential to brain health today ..... “regular exercise, even walking,” leads to more robust mental abilities, “beginning in childhood and continuing into old age.” ...... there is a deep evolutionary basis for the relationship between a healthy body and a healthy mind .. a relationship that makes the term “jogging your memory” more literal than most of us might have expected

प्याकेजमा सहमति भए तेश्रो नेतृत्व स्वीकार: गठबन्धन

मिनेन्द्र रिजाल ... ले भने, "ढोका बन्द भएका बेला गरिएको उक्त निर्णयले ढोका खोलेको छ, त्यो निर्णय सहमति उन्मुख छ।"

भट्टराई र प्रचण्डबीच ‘गम्भीर’ छलफल FDRA for CA revival if no package deal by Jan 9

the CA revival would be an easy and the least expensive option to take the constitution writing process ahead. ...... "If the political parties forge consensus on all issues by January 9, the alliance is ready to accept a national government led by any party," said Spokesperson for FDRA Prem Bahadur Singh, adding, "But, if the political parties fail to arrive at consensus by January 9 we will move ahead with the agenda of reviving the dissolved CA." ..... EC has already made it clear that it would be unable to conduct CA polls by mid May if constitutional and legal hurdles were not removed by January 9, stating that the constitutional body needs at least 120 days to make preparations for the election. ...... the meeting stressed the need for reviving the CA also for constitutional amendment. "The Interim Constitution should not be amended through ordinance as it may create problem in future" .... Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar said the alliance should take initiatives to forge consensuses on options other than CA revival.

NC, UML reject CA revival option

"Political parties discussed a lot for a period of one month during August-September over the issue of whether or not to revive the CA," Gyawali told Republica. "But lastly the option of CA revival was closed after the ruling Maoist and Madhes-based parties remained rigid over the single ethnic-based federal model." ..... On Wednesday, NC president Sushil Koirala had ruled out any possibility of his party supporting CA revival proposal.

CPN-Maoist forms hydel to replace GMR from upper Karnali

The CPN-Maoist, which seems hell-bent on preventing India´s GMR Group from developing upper Karnali hydropower project, has formed a hydropower company of its own. .... Humla-based CPN-Maoist leader Lok Bahadur Raut is the chairman of the company that has 205 shareholders. Each shareholder has invested Rs 10,000. ..... The CPN-Maoist has also decided to request the government to grant their company the license to conduct the survey of 900 MW upper Karnali project. “If our company is not allowed to conduct the survey, we will launch protests,” BK said.

Homecoming
Dahal as PM a no-no: Koirala

Koirala also ruled out any possibility of reinstating the Constituent Assembly (CA) that was dissolved in May without producing the new constitution. The CA´s tenure was extended to four years from its original two-year term...... "The issue [whether or not to reinstate CA] has already been decided. We have already decided not to reinstate the dissolved CA but to go for fresh election," said Koirala.

Consensus government the only option in Nepal, says India

Indian companies, including GMR and the Tatas, hope to commission four hydel projects with a combined capacity of about 3,000 MW and part of the electricity would be exported to India. New Delhi is interested in two more mega projects and has offered to construct a smaller hydel plant as a friendship gesture.

Related articles

• Koirala turns down FDRA proposals
• Gachhadhar rules out CA revival‚ clamours for fresh polls
• Reviving The Constituent Assembly
• "Ruling parties prefer Dahal to Sushil Koirala"
• In Nepal, the quest for April elections

Reviving The Constituent Assembly

There might not be a legal, constitutional option to revive the CA. But there might be a political option, a revolutionary option.

Is CA Revival Possible?

For the longest time in 2005 I argued there was no option to revive the parliament. But the parliament was revived in 2006. So maybe the politicians in Nepal know something I don't know. Perhaps the CA can be revived. If it can be, then that might be the best option.

Considering the Maoists have vertically split and the Baidya-Badal group has somewhere between 108 and 115 members in the last assembly, Baburam might be duly ousted as PM. It is curious to me though as to how Vaidya can support Koirala but not Baburam. Baburam is not left enough for Vaidya, but Sushil is?

The best part of reviving the CA is due process will come back on track. The CA can pass all election related ordinances. It can duly oust Bhattarai. The UCPN(M) and the Madhesi parties on their own do not have half the strength, do they?

So if all agreed upon issues can be codified, and all election related ordinances can be passed, and Baburam Bhattarai can be ousted through a no confidence motion, and a new government can be duly elected, and the country can move towards new elections then the option to revive the CA has to be looked at.

What if the CA is revived through political consensus and the Supreme Court declares it null and void? Then the CA will have the option to wash away the entire Supreme Court with two-third decision. Impeach all judges at once.

I am for reviving the CA, if that is an option. That is a no brainer. Of course it would be great to have the CA back. It is a duly elected body.

The parties have had a hard time agreeing on a consensus prime ministerial candidate. But they can perhaps agree to revive the CA. If they can come to that consensus they can say so to the president and perhaps the CA can be revived.

This feels like resurrection. It is a biblical concept.

In a revived CA Vaidya would be leading the third largest party, ahead of the UML.

China launches world’s longest high-speed rail

trains scheduled to run 2,298 kilometres between Beijing and Guangzhou in about eight hours. ..... Travelling at an average speed of about 300 km per hour, the service would cut the journey time from more than 20 hours by conventional trains .... The opening of the Beijing-Guangzhou line brought China’s total length of operational high-speed railways to more than 9,300 km

FDRA proposal for consensus

As per the third option floated by the senior leaders, a new constitution should be promulgated from a revived Constituent Assembly (CA) by accommodating the issues that have already been resolved and then the new govenrment should be formed under the leadership of the opposition party...... "A new government led by opposition party will conduct elections for the CA or parliament that will resolve the remaining issues of new statute," Singh told about their proposal. ...... According to the fourth option floated by the leaders, a national consensus government can be formed under the leadership of an independent person comprising political parties. ...... The meeting concluded that the CA must be revived even if political parties want to go for CA polls. "We should not go for polls by removing constitutional hurdles [through the president]," Singh said, adding, "Revival of the CA even for announcing new polls is the safest way."

FDRA bats for CA revival
1,000 to participate in CPN-Maoist general convention

Then UCPN (Maoist) leader Mohan Baidya split the party after it adopted "peace and constitution" as the party´s line against his demand for a "people´s revolt". .... around 100 representatives will participate from India, Europe, America and other parts of the Asia. A total of 44 central committee members and 30 central advisory committee members will participate in the general convention as organizing committee members. .... The party has completed conventions of the village, municipal and district levels. Bhusal informed that the state committee conventions will be completed by 1 January. .... Both UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-Maoist had announced their convention dates after the split. UCPN (Maoist) general convention scheduled for February 2, 2013 is overdue for two decades. Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been leading the party since the 1992 general convention held in Chitwan.

I won't kowtow to become PM: Koirala

While rejecting the conditions set by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai for handing over government leadership to the party .... Koirala also warned of stringent protests if there was no consensus through negotiations. He asked all the regional presidents to be ready for election, fresh protests against the government and the challenges ahead. ..... Koirala along with other senior NC leaders also ruled out the possibility of joining the Bhattarai-led government at any cost. ..... He also vented anger over the party´s youth leaders´ meeting with the prime minister, whom the party decided to boycott, and acting as Bhattarai´s “messenger”. ..... All top leaders including senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, Vice President Ram Chandra Paudel, general secretaries Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Prakash Man Singh were very critical of the prime minister. ..... The regional presidents have also demanded that local level election be held together with the CA election by mid-May to help strengthen the foundation of democracy.

Ball now in PM's court

Bhattarai has already floated a proposal to nominate Dahal as the next prime ministerial candidate from the party if the NC and UML refuse to join the present government for a brief period..... But he will be termed anti-federalist if he proposes Koirala and will also be blamed for throwing out a government of his own party. The Bhattarai faction has been projecting Koirala as anti-federalist all along. ..... The president will only nominate a new prime minister in accordance with Article 38(1) of the Interim Constituent, i.e. at the recommendation of the political parties.

EC wants legal hurdles removed by next week to hold polls by mid-May
Bhattarai turns to NC youths to convey his stance
Prez again extends deadline till Dec 29

FDRA not to let oppn has its way

“I do not think Dahal alone can take decisions now. He will have to back down,” the source said and added a majority of the FDRA parties blasted opposition parties in today’s meeting, saying they were as anti-federalist and status quoist as the forces that stood against the change brought about by the 2006 People’s Movement. ..... Representatives of the alliance took stock of three proposals floated for a package deal: the nine-point riders set by the UMDF, three point decisions of the UCPN-M and five-point proposals of the 14 fringe parties within the alliance. ..... Fourteen fringe parties have proposed to amend the Interim Constitution through a revived CA. “If we have to amend the constitution, we must revive the CA even for a day,” said FDRA Spokesperson Prem Bahadur Singh, highlighting the five-point proposal presented by the fringe parties.

PM urges leaders to morph incumbent govt into natl govt

Bhattarai said that the Nepali Congress (NC) will get the leadership only after the national unity government formed under his leadership resolves the contentious issues attached to the much hyped constitution and fixed the date of fresh polls.

FDRA reiterates for Bhattarai led consensus govt

A meeting of the Federal Democratic Republic Alliance (FDRA) has decided to form a national consensus government under the leadership of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.

Dahal tries to woo ruling alliance to be open on PM candidacy

a separate meeting of 14 fringe political parties came up with a five-point proposal with regard to formation of new government and ending the ongoing political deadlock. ..... They want that all the political parties represented in the erstwhile Assembly be included in the election government. ..... "We will take a decision based on the three separate proposals floated by UCPN (Maoist), UDMF and 14 parties" Alliance´s Spokesman Prem Bahadur Singh

The great Maoist game
Govt to give Birendra's land to tillers, tenants

A senior government official said on the condition of anonymity that the government decision was intended to distribute public properties to cadres of political parties.

PM threatens to boycott opposition

"Kishunji was a Gandhian. He would turn the other cheek if someone slapped him. But I believe in Marxist ideology. Therefore, I belief in tit for tat [principle]," the prime minister said. .... "If the opposition parties extended their hands of consensus toward me, I will follow suit. But if they want to incite conflict, it will go up," he further said. ..... The prime minister also said that his party could become a part of national consensus government to be formed under NC only if the NC and other opposition parties joined government under his leadership for some time. "Since my government is an elected government, the opposition parties in consensus should participate in my government first. And after that NC as the second largest party should get government leadership," he added...... the prime minister offered an alternative of the government leadership of small parties or independent personalities for holding the polls by mid-May

Egypt's draft charter gets 'yes' majority in vote

Madheshvani
मधेशी मोर्चा जिम्मेवार होऊ
मधेशी दलहरू आफ्ना जनता र मुद्दाप्रति इमान्दार छैनन् : मातृका प्रसाद यादव, संयोजक–नेकपा माओवादी
प्रचण्ड र प्रधानमन्त्रीको टकरावले राष्ट्रिय राजनीतिमा असर : निधि
मोर्चामा विवाद छैन : देव
दहेज प्रथा बहिष्कार गर्न र्याली प्रदर्शन

Related articles

• FDRA not to let oppn has its way
• Popular struggles in nepal
• "Ruling parties prefer Dahal to Sushil Koirala"
• Nepali parties fail to meet fourth deadline
• UCPN-Maoist repeats consensus cliche
• The Next President, The Next Prime Minister
• In Nepal, the quest for April elections
• Ruling alliance in bid to turn the wheels back?

In The News

'Pro-federalists' alliance is long-term strategy: Dahal

"This force may work as an electoral alliance or may go for protests jointly in future if need be." ..... The alliance has said its immediate plan is to form a broader political force with the objective of garnering an overwhelming majority in the next CA polls, to promulgate a constitution ensuring a federal democratic system based on ethnic identity and to expose the elements that are against ´a forward-looking and progressive constitution".

Dahal heads 26-party 'pro-federalist' alliance

Finance Minister Barshaman Pun from UCPN (Maoist), Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hridayesh Tripathi from Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), Jitendra Dev of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D), Prem Bahadur Singh of Socialist People´s Party and Bishwendra Paswan of Dalit Janajati Party are in the taskforce. ..... Parties represented at the meeting include UCPN (Maoist), Madhesi People´s Rights Forum, Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic, Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Republican, Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party, Federal Sadbhavana Party, Rastriya Sadbhavana Party, Sadbhavana Party, Nepal Democratic Socialist Party, Nepal Family Party, CPN-ML (Socialist), Churebhawar Rastriya Ekta Party, Tamsaling Nepal Rastriya Dal, Nawa Janawadi Morcha, Nawa Nepal Nirwan Party and Nepaa Rastriya Party, among others.

UML spawns more divergence on federalism

The CPN-UML has failed to rescue itself from a morass of intra-party disputes over state restructuring, with the failure of its central committee (CC) to come up with any unanimous official position on federalism. ..... At least five divergent views emerged at the conclusion of the CC meeting and these were officially registered at the party secretariat. .... the number of members lobbying against federalism is on the increase in the UML.

No alternative to federalism with strong identity basis

Some parties were ready to accept the death of CA, but not to accept federalism. .... At one point, we collected up to 407 signatures of CA members in favor of federalism. But even then, we could not save the CA. What we learned from this was that although the vast majority of the CA members were in favor of federalism, there were other spoilsports who would commit to agreements but back off when it came to implementing them. ..... federalism is the necessity of the traditionally marginalized communities like Madhesis, Janajatis, Adhiwasis, women and Muslims ..... Those who have been benefitting from the existing state structure are reluctant to address the identity question of the marginalized groups. The reason federalism became such a contested topic was not over the issue of demarcation or nomenclature of states, but because of the reluctance of the old elites to let go of their traditional powers and privileges. .... Even now there are many forces that say the next election should be for a parliament as the CA has already proven to be a failure. But how will such a parliament be elected and what rights will it have? Until NC and UML can come up with clear answers to these questions, this option will not be acceptable to us. The constitution must come through a CA proper. ..... The opposition parties cannot create national consensus by leaving aside the forces in the current ruling coalition. .... The other important point is that all the major parties are suffering from various internal problems. The reason they are demanding the government’s resignation is to try to divert attention away from these in-party divisions. This is also one of the main reasons we have not been able to arrive at meaningful agreements. The noise about resignation is purely for public consumption. ..... If we are to go for reinstatement, we will need to settle contentious issues beforehand because we have seen how political leaders who were not even the members of CA were trying to forge vital agreements outside the formal CA mechanism. ..... These players were determined to abort the CA because they didn’t want a mechanism that didn’t include them to promulgate the constitution. .... the opposition parties had been saying that they would solve the constitutional issues in a matter of days as soon as the issue of integration of PLA was settled. But when there was a major breakthrough in integration on April 10 and only some technical issues remained, the same people made a U-turn. They now started nitpicking .... There can be no alternative to federal Nepal and federalism with strong identity component.

President rejects ordinances

While rejecting the ordinances, the president´s office argued that the they are not "relevant" in light of the cancellation of the November 22 polls. ..... the President may, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, promulgate any Ordinance as required without prejudice to the provisions set forth in the Interim Constitution. .... the president has already approved the budget, two ordinances on anti-money laundering and another on the perks and facilities for former VIPS. .... The president has already publicly spoken against the government move to rule the country through ordinances. And Dahal said the president decided not to promulgate the ordinance related to the election as they lacked "minimum political understanding".

Prez urges Dahal's role to break deadlock

President Ram Baran Yadav has once again asked Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal to play a special role in his capacity as the leader of the largest party, to find a solution to the present political and constitutional deadlock. ..... The president urged the chairman of the Maoist party during a meeting with leaders of the newly formed pro-federalist alliance led by Dahal, at Shital Niwas on Thursday evening. ..... "You are the leader who should and can take on a special responsibility, after the death of Girija Prasad Koirala, to find a solution to the present political deadlock"

NC backs Khum Bahadur to the hilt

A Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the party that began Thursday termed the court verdict ´unjust´ ..... At the outset of the meeting, President Sushil Koirala had told that NC was under attack from various quarters. While putting the issue of court verdict against Khadka an agenda for discussion in the meeting, Koirala had argued that the verdict had put Khadka into ´injustice´. ..... argued that only NC leaders were victimized as the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed graft cases selectively against NC leaders during the direct rule of then King Gyanendra also. Earlier, the court convicted Govinda Raj Joshi, Chiranjeevi Wagle and former NC leader J P Gupta of corruption. ..... Deuba also alleged that courts and anti-graft bodies were biased against NC leaders and spared the leaders from other political parties. .... decided to call the party´s Mahasamiti meeting from October 10 to 13 in Janakpur.

Leaders agree on mixed system of governance

a mixed system of governance in which the executive powers will be shared between the directly-elected president and parliament-elected prime minister. During discussions led by top leaders of political parties at CA building in Baneshwar on Sunday evening, the leaders also agreed on directly-elected vice-president. ..... “As far as the possibility of conflict between the two power centers is concerned, the constitution will define the jurisdictions and the parliament will be mandated to arbitrate in disputes between the head of state and the head of government.” .... Tripathi said such a system is already practised in Finland .... leaders discussed other contentious issues such as state restructuring, electoral model, judicial system and the provisions of citizenship to be enshrined in the new constitution. ..... form the constitutional court with a mandate to arbitrate in disputes between the federal and provincial governments or between one province with another or between the province and local bodies. ..... UCPN (Maoist), Madhes-based political parties and ethnic leaders have been lobbying for the constitutional court but Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and some other small political parties opposed the idea saying creating a body parallel to the Supreme Court would invite unnecessary friction in the judiciary. ..... such a court would have a defined jurisdiction and would have a five-year term after the promulgation of the new constitution.