Andolan Again

I Support The Civil Society Agitation

The seven party alliance has been dragging its feet on the peace process. That has to change.

These Maoists started out as classic Maoists, true. In classic Maoism, power flows through the barrel of a gun. You kill class enemies in the most public ways possible. And so on. To that either you seek a military solution, or a political solution. I think we have decided to seek a political solution.

If you don't want a military solution, or can not have it, and you drag your feet on the political solution, then what message are you sending?

When the Maoists say the House has to be dissolved, the seven party says no, it should not. The more apt answer would be to demand the Maoist local governments should be dissolved at the same time. The seven party alliance has to get more proactive.

Interim Army: You Can Walk And Chew Gum At The Same Time
Direct Elections, One Seat For Every 100,000 People, Reservations, Primaries
Political Decisions, House Dissolution, Maoist Transformation
New Triangle: Maoists, Seven Parties, Civil Society

The Physically Challenged

First the women got beat up. Then the Kamaiya got beat up. Now the physically challenged have been arrested. This is wrong. Why can't one of the ministers instead come out and meet the protesting crowd? Why can't they instead invite this group in for some tea and some talk?

Arrests like these are an insult to the April Revolution.

In Solidarity With The Kamaiya Movement
Why Were The Women Beat Up?

Truth And Reconciliation Commission

It worries me that noone in the seven party alliance has brought this up yet. I can not imagine a permanent peace without this.

Land Reform, Truth And Reconciliation

All human rights abuses and atrocities of the past years by both armies have to be documented. That might still lead to forgiveness, but all stories have to be heard. There is no short cut there.

This is of fundamental importance.

In The News

Civil society activists take to streets, Maoist cadres join in NepalNews Nearly two hundred students, led by ANNFSU (Revolutionary) president Lekhnath Neupane, joined the sit-in led by civil society leaders Dr. Devendra Raj Panday and Krishna Pahadi. The students chanted slogans against the “old parliament”
Arms of Maoists going to the underworld: India the nature of smuggling along the Nepal-India border has changed from "consumer and industrial goods to arms and ammunition, explosives and fake Indian currency notes" ...... now smugglers employ individuals and smaller groups for supplying contraband..... vehicles coming from Nepal, especially empty oil tankers have been used to smuggle in arms into India....... report mentions Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Myanmar borders used for smuggling arms and ammunition into India
Rayamajhi commission grills eight royal administrators
Three members of ‘high level’ UN team arrives in Kathmandu
PM directs talks team to concentrate on core agenda talks team quoted Koirala as saying the talks would be successful as it was going ahead positively ......
Police arrest nearly two-dozen disabled people Police arrested nearly two dozen physically challenged people from the protest programme organized by the Federation of Disabled People in front of Singha Durbar, the main administrative hub of the country demanding their representation in the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee....... the democratic government had neglected their demands. One of their demands is reservation for disabled people in all sectors.....
SC nullifies EC decision to freeze Rana-led RPP’s election symbol
New Highest Railway Opens All-Round Inter-Regional Link Prospects the first regular railway service to Lhasa was flagged off from Beijing . Covering 4062 KM, the train reached Lhasa after 48 hours ...... 4th of July in 1837 when Grand Junction Railway, world's first long-distance railway, was opened between Birmingham and Liverpool in the UK ...... India and Pakistan, two of the eventual major destinations of the Chinese railway ..... the rail service travels through the highest elevation of 5072 meters from the sea level. ....... the world's highest altitude and longest plateau railway-extending 1956 km from Qinghai province's capital Xining to Lhasa in the south-west.......... About 550 km of this railway track run on permanently frozen earth. ...... the railway uses 1686-meter long Kunlung mountain tunnel, the world's longest tunnel built on permanently frozen earth. The train speed on the permanently frozen earth is designed to be 100 km/hour while this will reach to 120 km/hour on normal track ...... Yunnan-Myanmar and Bangladesh and Tibet-Nepal and the heartland of India (that is, India 's Bihar , UP, Delhi , Punjab and Haryana provinces) ...... has brought Nepal closer to Asia 's Far East (that is, Japan , Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea ) via Shanghai ...... Lhasa these days is abuzz with standardization of new lexicon or gamut of words/phrases relating to train services as they did not exist in the Tibetan language before. And one of these phrases is "Mei Kuo Er" or "railway" though "Ri Li" can also be used in Tibetan oral expression for the train. ...... Nepal , a nation which shares with Tibet the most extensive social, cultural and economic ties.

Nepal donors resume peace and aid talks Hindustan Times, India
Nepal King's aunt received undue medical assistance Zee News
Nepal Naxals aiding underworld? Times of India
Nepal King seeks solace on the Internet Hindustan Times, India After losing his grip on the government and the army and living with the threat of losing his crown, Nepal's King Gyanendra has turned to a new avenue for solace - online gambling. ..... Suffering from depression and fluctuating blood pressure after he was forced to hand over power to a multi-party government and endure the curtailing of his purse and privileges by parliament, the headstrong king is also haunted by insomnia that is keeping him up till late at night ...... he has been playing online poker and blackjack till almost three o'clock in the morning ..... The king is using his international credit cards for the gambling, entering their details online, a move most Internet savvy credit card users avoid to prevent online fraud. ..... though the businessman king engineered a coup with perfect precision last year to seize power, his subsequent actions showed a lack of astuteness and business sense. ..... shutting down services of the state-owned telecom company to help his son-in-law's private telephone firm make a quick profit and trying to borrow money from a shady organisation in a scheme that would have ripped off the apex bank in the country, Nepal Rastra Bank, for billions...... Palace employees have to stay up as long as the playing monarch does to bring him coffee and water.... There are about 900 employees in the royal household....... the king plans to go to another palace in Nagarjuna ..... It would be the first time the king would be leaving the palace since April ..... Chinese vice foreign minister Wu Tawei is leading a 10-member team on a three-day visit to discuss with Nepal's new government "ways to assist in the recent political transformation". ...... visit signifies China's complete desertion of the king, who last year praised Beijing as Nepal's "all-weather friend"
NEPAL: Rebels not ready to disarm until peace process completed ... Reuters AlertNet, UK
Nepal Parliament Asks Govt to Ratify Rome Statute Nepal human Rights News, Nepal
Nepal Police arrest & detain 21 Tibetans for illegal entry Phayul, Tibet

Probe Commission grills ex-zonal administrators Kantipur Publications
'Maoists' arms being smuggled into India from Nepal'
Civil societies' role important: Indian leaders Dubbed 'Nepal Chetana Yatra', the unique road mission from New Delhi to Kathmandu was flagged off outside veteran leader Chandra Shekhar's 3, South Avenue Lane residence by Janata Dal United {JD (U)} leader Sharad Yadav and Rastriya Lok Dal leader Ajith Singh..... The automotive 'Yatra' also includes BJP's Pankaj Choudhary and socialist leaders Kamal Morarkia and Ravindra Manchanda. ... Commenting on the Maoist supremo, Tripathi quipped, "He is Pushpa Kamal, he does not need to be Prachanda."
Hundreds hit out at govt to speed up peace process
Maoist cadres approach police for their security . Maoists had kept them in prison since eight days accusing them of indulging in 'cultural crime' i.e. maintaining sexual relations with consent. .... He said their colleagues had chased them all the way. ..... Human rights activists tried to negotiate with Maoist cadres as the latter encircled the police office demanding that the duo be handed back. They agreed go back after agreement was reached that they would not be tortured and dissatisfaction and faults, if any within the party would be discussed. ..... The agreement was reached after Maoist leader Agni Sapkota exerted pressure on the local administration and human rights activists insisting that the rebels should be allowed to take away their cadres. At least 12 Maoist cadres had reached the police office. ... Man Bahadur, a resident of Padampokhari-3 of Makawanpur is a platoon commander with Third Bethan Smriti Brigade. Over 50 Maoists were under his control. Muna, who hails from Banakhu VDC-1 of Kavre district, had joined PLA two years ago.
Tales of abuse and exploitation in Lebanon Smiling she added, "I don't have any money. I don't know how I'll pay the Rs 28,000 I borrowed for my trip to Lebanon." ..... Rina Siwakoti, of Jhapa, who returned after six years of "some domestic" service in Beirut, said none of the Nepali "house maids" working in and around Beirut were happy....... And once in Beirut, a monthly paycheck of $350 (Rs 26,250) too. "But we had to pay [Dahal the agent] $100 from our monthly salary," Prem Bahadur said. What's worse is that the guys in their twenties had to work for 16 hours every day -- and not for 8 hours as promised by the agent. ...... Indra Dhimal, 38, of Jhapa, who worked and lived there for nearly 13 years. They made $ 300 (Rs 22,500) a month. ..... She reached Beirut on June 16, and was making $ 110 (Rs 8,250) a month. ...... Radha Rai, 25 [Menaka's distant cousin], who spent five years in Beirut , confessed she used to steal food in order to survive.
Govt to form foreign employment department
Travel, trekking open to foreign investment
Helen Shah received $57,735 more in aid
सांस्कृतिक अपराध' मा माओवादी दण्ड
प्रचण्डको पत्रले परिस्थिति बिगार्दैन’
प्रतिनिधिसभाद्वारा सरकारलाई निर्देशन
नागरिक आन्दोलन आजदेखि ३० जिल्लामा बुधबारै सडक संघर्षका कार्यक्रम हुने आन्दोलनले जनाएको छ । माग पूरा नभए संघर्षलाई सहर र टोलटोलसम्म पुर्‍याउने योजना छ । आन्दोलनले सात दल र माओवादी आठबुँदे सहमति कार्यान्वयन, शान्ति वार्ताको निष्कर्ष, संविधानसभाको मिति तोक्न, प्रतिनिधिसभा विघटन गर्न, युद्धविराम आचारसंहिता अक्षरशः पालना गर्न र दमनकारी प्रमुख सैनिक अधिकारीहरूलाई कारबाही गर्न माग राखेको छ ।
नागरिक समाजको कार्यक्रममा नजान निर्देशन तनहुँ, साउन ९ - नागरिक समाजले आयोजना गरेको दबाबमूलक कार्यक्रममा सहभागी नहुन कांग्रेस जिल्ला कार्यसमितिले आफ्ना कार्यकर्तालाई निर्देशन दिएको छ । ...... आफ्ना कुनै पनि कार्यकर्तालाई त्यसमा सहभागी नहुन कडा निर्देशन दिएको हो । .... कांग्रेसको यो निर्णयले कार्यक्रममा गम्भीर असर पुगेको स्थानीय आयोजकमध्येका एक नेपाल पत्रकार महासंघका जिल्ला सभापति प्रदीप काफ्लेले बताए । 'कार्यक्रममा मुख्य गरी सञ्चरकर्मी, मानव अधिकारवादी र कानुन व्यवसायी सहभागी हुने निधो थियो,' काफ्लेले भने- 'अधिकांश मानव अधिकारवादी र कानुन व्यवसायी कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ता पनि भएकाले यो निर्णयले निकै असर पार्‍यो ।'
आज चार बजे रत्नपार्कमा

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Congress Unification: Not Possible, Unnecessary

Interim Parliament

Koirala Congress 71, UML 68, Deuba Congress 40, Maoists 40, Civil Society 25, People's Front 5, Sadbhavana 5, DaMaJaMa Organizations 16. Total: 270.

50% of the seats reserved for the DaMaJaMa. These MPs will not necessarily be MPs from the 1999 House. So each party will prepare a list such that 33% of their seats go to women, and overall 50% to the DaMaJaMa.

What do you think?

Congress Unification: Not Possible, Unnecessary

It is better to have two parties than to have one that has two clear factions. A unified Congress was too much bigger than the second largest party, the UML. Now there is a better balance of forces.

I believe Nepal has entered an era of coalition governments, kind of like India has. And the UML and the Maoists and the Jana Morcha will likely be natural allies. So it is curious to see the political competition between the UML and the Maoists right now.

But then, you never know. It is possible to imagine a coalition between the UML and the Sadbhavana. Each election will throw up a slightly different coalition perhaps.

Arms Management: Abolish The Two Armies

That is the best option.

Interim Army: You Can Walk And Chew Gum At The Same Time
Two Armies: What To Do
Okay For Maoists To Join Government Before Arms Management
International Sanctions On Nepal Army Have To Continue
Bodyguards For Prachanda And Baburam
Bahun, Chhetri, Sunni
Abolish The Monarchy, Abolish The Army
Monarchy, Army, Federalism
40 Seats For Maoists, 25 For Others
Shobhakar Budhathoki: Transitioning The “Royal” Nepal Army
Pyar Jung's Toys
Dissolve Parliament Only Two Months Before Constituent Assembly Elections
We Took Care Of The King, Pyar Jung Is Small Fry
Dismantle The Two Armies
Reciprocate The Maoist Ceasefire Immediately
Army Under Parliament, Now

In The News

SC nullifies EC decision to freeze Rana-led RPP’s election symbol NepalNews
House asks government to sign Rome Statute the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ..... MP Parshu Ram Meghi Gurung said signing of the Rome Statute will help to bring criminals to court for punishment....... Minendra Rijal of Nepali Congress (Democratic) said signing of the Statute was necessary at the present situation to discourage unjustifiable killing of innocent people and end the state lawlessness in the country........ Oli said adoption of the Statute will also bind the criminals absconding from punishment by the court...... The statute was prepared and adopted in April 1998 in Rome, Italy and came into enforcement from June 15, 1998. 58 countries are signatory to this statute so far...... Melamchi still 'five years away'; locked project offices opened Nepal : New Portrait of Chinese Pragmatism? pragmatism remains the pivot of Chinese foreign policy ...... Indications of a chill in bilateral relations emerged amid reports that Prime Minister Koirala’s government had moved toward reopening the Office of the Dalai Lama in Nepal . ........ During his meeting in Geneva with Deputy Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing protested the proposed resettlement in the United States of 5,000 Tibetan refugees in Nepal on the basis of official Nepalese travel documents........ Beijing expressed its inability to provide duty-free access to Nepalese exports from July 1 as agreed during the royal regime. ...... The rise in public disturbances within China amid a growing urban-rural economic divide has goaded Beijing toward preventing bolder and coordinated demonstrations across villages and provinces....... its increasingly assertive South Asia policy..... elements of cooperation, competition and confrontation...... For those within the country and abroad tempted to conclude that the Maoist political leadership, neck-deep in the peace process, had reached the point of no-return, the rebels’ northern option must have come as a stunning revelation....... The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized Washington for attempting to play up a “non-existent Chinese military threat.” ....... The contours of a containment strategy were also evident in the Bush administration’s reorganization of the State Department bureau responsible Central and South Asia . Of the 13 countries falling under the bureau, eight border China
“We can work something out.” we actually have an agreement amongst the contending parties. That is often a huge, huge consideration because all too often you find yourself in a situation where one party, or in the case of Darfur, a couple of parties, have not signed up and therefore you don’t have a viable concept for resolution. In the case of Nepal because all the parties have come together on this we should be able to work something out fairly successfully....... in some we observe, in some we certify, in some we monitor, in some we actually help run the elections. ......
Acharya to lead a publicity campaign for republic order Acharya is backed in his drive by intellectuals like Krishna Khanal, student leaders Chandra Bhandari and Gagan Thapa ....... They will meet in the third week of every month till the CA election to assess the progress of the campaign. ...... “It is wrong to assume that going for a republican set up is the agenda of the Communists. Republican order was reported in ancient Greece. Even we had the republican order, prior to 750 BC.”
Some procedural errors in talks: Leaders General Secretary of the CPN-ML, CP Mainali .... the Maoists' proposal of merging their armed forces with the State's would be unacceptable at the national and international levels.......

दमनको जिम्मेवार राजा ः रानाभाट Kantipur Publications
जातीय मुक्तिको मुद्दा
प्यारजंगको सफाइमा गिरिजाप्रसाद
मनुवादी जालोभित्र महिला
जनताका प्रश्न

Righting the Wrongs of Nepal’s Peace Process Nepalnews.com, Nepal
SPA Taskforce Sets Agenda For Summit Talks With Maoists Himalayan Times
The Bipolarity That Really Matters In Nepal NewsBlaze, CA
The Background of Maoist Strategy NewsBlaze
Nepal Alliance Leaders Admit Procedural Errors in Peace Talks Nepal human Rights News, Nepal

Rayamajhi commission grills four including ex-CJ, RanabhatNepalNews
Government dissolves military secretariat "security coordination office" under the Ministry of Defense will now take care of the security arrangements within the royal palace. ..... around 3,000 security personnel—including military police-- are stationed at the royal palace providing security to the royal family round the clock. ......
Dozen students arrested from protest in front of Education Ministry
Transport strike cripples eastern Nepal
70 percent people in favour of voting rights for NRNs a opinion poll survey has said that seventy percent respondents expressed the view that Nepalese living in other countries should get a chance to vote at the CA election. ...... the task of out-country voting is not a difficult task if the government makes a political decision as the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), which has expertise in out-country voting has expressed its willingness to assist Nepal in its historical moment of making a new Nepal. ..... placing ballot boxes in the different areas in the countries like India, South Korea and some gulf countries, where the number of Nepalis living is high and by placing the ballot boxes in the embassies in rest of the countries. ...... though the process is costly, the IOM will find donors for funding so the country need not pay any money for the process ..... more than three million Nepalis abroad ...... seventy one percent of the respondents among the illiterate groups said that they are not aware about the CA election. Majority of the ethnic groups, 64%, also said that they are not aware about the CA election......... Thirty one percent farmers, 32 percent ethnic groups and 46 percent illiterate groups are ignorant about the technical aspects of the CA election. They don’t know the differences between this election and past elections held in Nepal ....... 60%, have expected peace from the Constituent Assembly elections ..... More than 42% respondents said that there should be new voters registration. ..... For free and fair election, 46% respondents said that the Maoist party has to be disarmed under the supervision of the United Nations before the election.
SC seeks clarification from government for not suspending security chiefs for not taking action against the Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS), Gen. Pyar Jung Thapa, acting Inspector General of the Armed Police Force (APF) Bashu Dev Oli and APF DIG Dilip Shrestha for their role during the Jana Andolan (people’s movement) II. ...... accorded top priority to the case, asked the government to furnish replies within 15 days. .....
Prabasi Nepali service committee submits 27-point memorandum to govt.

Members of National Assembly demand to activate upper house NepalNews Of the total 60 members of the upper house, the tenure of 18 members is yet to complete.
Agitating freed Kamaiyas call off protests over 35,000 freed Kamaiyas...... the agitating freed Kamaiyas have also announced the reopening of padlocked land reform offices in Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts...... agreed to form a high level commission within a month to expedite the process for their rehabilitation...... Deuba in July 2000 had freed a total of 35,621 Kamaiyas. Despite the government's commitment to provide them land, over 19,477 Kamaiyas are yet to get any land
Differences with the Maoists should be resolved before forming an interim government: Oli Krishna Prasad Sitaula, has said that the interim government should only be constituted after management of Maoist arms. ...... Maoists have been saying that they will join the interim government once the interim constitution is adopted and the issue of arms management will be discussed later.
Ensure NRN's right to vote in elections of the CA: Lawyers He said that the fate of monarchy should be determined before the election of the constituent assembly.
Royal ministers admit making cash handouts to journos
Probe panel grills three ex-ministers; interrogation of ex-CJ, Ranabhat on Monday

New Protests to Begin in Nepal OhmyNews International, South Korea The Civil Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP) in Nepal has announced that it will hold a series of protests beginning July 26 to address the delay in holding elections for the Constitutional Assembly. It has accused the government of failing to include Maoists in major decisions and making an issue out of weapons management..... "This government is back to the pre-movement era when they fought each other for posts. They have forgotten the mandate of the nineteen days people's movement. ..... "Parliament has declared Nepal is without discrimination... The ground realities show discrimination everywhere. Let them put words into action. The present parliament can never speak in favor of Dalits as there are no Dalit representatives [in Parliament]," said Suman Pariyar, who is a Dalit and a graduate student at Tribhuwan University. Dalits make up one fourth of Nepal's population........ This political maneuvering by the present government, which is what all past governments did, is unbearable to them.
Nepal to announce monetary policy to mop up excess liquidity People's Daily Online, China
Chinese Arms to Nepal's Maoists? NewsBlaze, CA
China's 'secret deal' with Maoists? Daily News & Analysis Wang, who arrived in Kathmandu on a Thai air flight from Bangkok, was met by two Chinese intelligence agents who flew from Lhasa by Air China and the group proceeded to a resort in popular tourist destination Dhulikhel, where they met Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal, his deputy Baburam Bhattarai and former member of parliament and Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara. ....... The Chinese officials and the Maoist leaders then visited Kavre district near the capital to watch the guerrilla army, the People’s Liberation Army, practising its manoeuvres. ...... The international community says the poll would not be free and fair unless the guerrillas disarm. ...... Last year, when King Gyanendra established direct royal rule, Beijing stepped up arms sales to the royal regime and made a whopping profit while Nepal’s major donors curtailed assistance and India, the US and UK suspended military supplies. But when King Gyanendra’s government fell after 15 months due to nationwide protests, China, realising it had backed the wrong horse, rushed its envoys to Kathmandu to woo the opposition parties as well as the Maoists. ....... With recruitment and buying of arms stopped, the hemmed-in army can only watch with mounting unease the Maoist guerrillas stepping up their recruitment and donation drive, taking advantage of a ceasefire.





H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York.


Dear Mr. Secretary-General,

This is to draw your attention to the letter sent to you by the Government of Nepal on 2 July 2006 and to register our strong protest and disagreement over certain crucial points of the letter.

Firstly, the letter was written & sent unilaterally and secretively without any consultation with us in utter violation of the spirit of ongoing negotiation between the Government of Nepal and the C.P.N (Maoist). We came to know about the letter through the media after nearly three weeks, and hence this delay to register our disagreement over it.

Secondly, and more importantly, the content of the letter, particularly as stated in points nos. 3 & 4, is in complete violation of the 12-point Understanding of 22 November 2005 and 8-point Agreement of 16 June 2006 reached between the two sides. For your kind recollection, clause-3 of the 8-point Agreement clearly states: "To request the United Nations to assist in the management of the armies and arms of both sides (emphasis added) and to monitor it for a free & fair election to the constituent assembly". Against this, the said letter self-professedly and provocatively talks of "Assist in the monitoring of the combatants of the Maoists and decommissioning of their arms" and "Monitor to assure that the Nepal Army is inside barracks" etc. Such arbitrary and unilateral application of two different yardsticks to the two armies is highly objectionable and totally unacceptable to us. Particularly any talk of "decommissioning" of arms of only the PLA before the election to the constituent assembly is just unthinkable. As everybody knows, the so-called Nepal Army is still loyal to the autocratic monarchy and its democratic restructuring and keeping under credible international monitoring is more imperative & important for free & fair election to the constituent assembly.

We would like to reiterate our appreciation to the United Nations and to you personally for the positive role played so far in favour of democracy, peace and progress in Nepal and expect the same in future. We shall be happy to co-operate in any manner with the UN team planning to visit Nepal soon.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration.




……………………
Prachanda
Chairman
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
24 July 2006

Full text of the letter written by the Nepal govt. to the UN

July 2, 2006

Dear Mr. Secretary-General,

I have the pleasure of informing you that the government of Nepal has taken a decisive step to consolidate achievement of the successful people's movement that restored democracy and made the people of Nepal supreme and sovereign once and for all. This has set in motion Nepal's determination for real and lasting peace based on the national unity and reconciliation and move towards stability by strengthening and institutionalizing the democratic process in the country.

On June 16, 2006, the Seven Party Alliance and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) concluded an eight-point agreement covering steps that are needed to create conducive environment to elect a Constituent Assembly to ensure permanent peace in the society. Earlier, on May 26, the government reached an agreement with the CPN (Maoist) on the 25-point code of conduct to be observed during the ceasefire between two sides.

In view of the firm commitment of the United Nations to promote sustainable peace and security, economic and social development and human rights around the world on the basis of fundamental principles of respect for sovereignty of nations, mutual cooperation and peaceful resolution of conflict, the government of Nepal decides to request the United Nations for the following:

1. Continue monitoring of Human Rights through the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal.

2. Assist to monitor the code of conduct during the ceasefire.

3. Assist in the monitoring of the combatants of the Maoist and decommissioning of their arms in order to ensure a free and fair election to the Constituent Assembly.

4. Monitor to assure that Nepali Army is inside barrack and is not being used for or against any side in order to ensure free and fair elections to the Constituent Assembly.

5. Observe the election process to the Constituent Assembly.

As we plan to hold the election of the Constituent Assembly by end of current Nepali year (mid-April 2007), I will be grateful if you could start extending the necessary support of the United Nations on the above mentioned issues at your earlier convenience.

I would like to take this opportunity to express sincere appreciation and gratitude of the government of Nepal to the United Nations and to you personally for the consistent support for a democratic process and continued interest in the peace-building in Nepal. Please accept Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.

Girija Prasad Koirala
Prime Minister

H. E. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General
The United Nations
New York

Visitors

23 July

15:29

DAXNET Tele2 Norge AS, Norway

23 July

16:50

Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany

23 July

19:28

Pacific Bell Internet, Irvine, United States

29.	23 July	20:00	Cox Communications Inc., Phoenix, United States
30.	23 July	21:32	United States (nyct.net)
31.	23 July	21:36	University of Adelaide, Australia
32.	23 July	21:39	Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, United States

36.	23 July	22:05	Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd., Nepal
37.	23 July	22:08	Finland (formin.fi)

23 July

22:44

Nepal (wlink.com.np)

10.	24 July	02:08	Global Crossing, United States
11.	24 July	02:28	Jippii Club, Finland

13.	24 July	02:55	Nepal (wlink.com.np)
14.	24 July	02:59	Charter Communications, United States
15.	24 July	03:00	Bharti Enterprises, India
16.	24 July	03:03	Department of State, Washington, D.C., United States

18.	24 July	03:41	UUNET-HK Allocation, Hong Kong S.A.R.
19.	24 July	04:03	Sustainable Development Networking Programme, Bangladesh
20.	24 July	04:09	Deutsche Telekom AG, Germany
21.	24 July	04:10	United States (loralorion.com)
22.	24 July	04:14	Deutsche Telekom AG, Germany

25.	24 July	04:45	Columbia University, United States
26.	24 July	05:05	Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany

24 July

05:34

Philippine LD Telephone Comp., Philippines

33.	24 July	06:28	Comstar, Russia
34.	24 July	06:55	MTU Intel, Russia

36.	24 July	07:02	Nepal (wlink.com.np)
37.	24 July	07:08	TurkTelecom, Turkey

38.	24 July	07:18	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Muenchen, München, Germany
39.	24 July	07:50	M-net Telekommunikations GmbH, Germany
40.	24 July	07:58	Deutsche Telekom AG, Germany
41.	24 July	08:25	Sasknet, Canada

24 July

08:50

Salomon Smith Barney Inc., United States

24 July

10:52

State University of New York, Geneseo, United States

24 July

11:06

Citi Corporation, United States

Indigenous Nationalities Peace Commission Nepal: Interim Constitution

Proposed Constitution
Interim Constitution Draft























Plus Points

1. I greatly appreciate the proactive approach.
   
2. I appreciate the commitment to a democratic republic in the preamble. The country has to be declared a republic now so we can focus on more substantial issues in the assembly.
   
3. I like the provision of getting the interim constitutoin promulgated by a large national conference, and not by the current parliament.
   
4. I like it that the document is comprehensive.
   
5. I like the idea of a new flag, although I am open to the option of other designs for the flag. (Republic Of Nepal Flag)
6. I like the idea of the tri-lingual policy for government work. This is close to my own proposal. I am glad Nepali has not been named. But this language thing is tricky. This draft does not take care of all the details. But it will sure start a debate.
   
7. The provision for a new national anthem is important. (भूपि शेरचन, गोपालप्रसाद रिमाल, प्रवर जिसी)
8. The 2036 voter rolls to award citizenship papers in the Terai is a good point.
   
9. I like the provision of honorary citizenships. Let's award one to Dr. Brian Cobb.
   
10. The provision for reservations is a good one. It is about time.
    
11. Untouchability has been made unconstitutional. That is important.
    
12. I like the idea of parental property not automatically going to children.
    
13. I like the special provision for the land rights of the indigenous peoples.
    
14. The provision to be able to fire generals is important, and it should be used.
    
15. I like it there is a retirement age set for the Supreme Court justices at 65. In some countries they stay there until they die.
    
16. I like the provision of 50% seats for women.
    
17. People 16 years and older can vote. I like that.
    
18. The provision not to ban parties is important. It is called right to peaceful assembly.
    

Minus Points

1. The group should also draft a Proposed Constitution that it would like to see the country adopt. This would be a document that would compete with the one that might come out of the constituent assembly. Now is not too early. There the various states would get demarcated.
   
2. The document is a little too long.
3. The provision that the fundamental rights can be suspended under certain circumstances is alarming, to say the least.
   
4. The provision for citizenship is not clear and comprehensive enough. And there is no mandate to issue citizenship papers to all before the constituent assembly elections. That is not okay.
   
5. The language issue is really tricky. I am glad this draft challenges the status quo fundamentally. But I think the alternate being proposed has to be refined. There are many practical details to be looked into.
   
6. The provision against religious conversion is weird. It clashed with the basic human right of religious freedom.
   
7. I am highly skeptical of the idea of a self reliant economy. You instead want an export-driven economy that trades a lot.
   
8. There are elaborate discussions on the national economy that will be better off being part of some party's manifesto rather than the country's constitution.
   
9. The draft talks of a repubic, and then of a Prime Minister. Should we not be talking of a president? The interim president should move into the Narayanhiti.
   
10. The formation of the interim parliament is too vague. Because it is that interim parliament that will decide on the ground rules of the constituent assembly elections, it is important that parliament be reflective of the Nepali society in terms of ethnic and gender composition.
    
11. The constituent assembly elections should take place within a year of the April Revolution, not within a year of the interim constitution getting promulgated.
    
12. There is a suggestion to not having direct elections. That is alarming. Everyone who ends up in the constituent assembly has to be directly elected by the people, I think. The proposal of parties contesting with "lists" gives too much power to the party leaders.
    

Omissions

1. This document has to be circulated widely to the masses. It is not enought to just hand it over to the commission. Only a wide circulation will help ensure it will get heard by the powers that be.
   
2. The issue of languages remains the trickiest. There has to be an elaborate discussion on this topic.
   
3. There is no provision for a census. There is a need for a fresh census.
   

Direct Elections, One Seat For Every 100,000 People, Reservations, Primaries
Federalism: Competing Maps