Kathmandu, February 7, 2006

Home Minister Kamal Thapa today said the security personnel who will be in charge of providing security for the municipal polls across the 58 municipalities tomorrow could be expected to fire straight away in the event of any threat to peaceful voting. The announcement to this effect came today at a press conference at the Ministry of Home Affairs. Thapa also demonstrated all the commitment to hold the elections n o t w i t h -standing the calls to boycott the election by the seven-party alliance and the Maoists. “Ex p e c t the security personnel to take recourse to the last means available to maintain normalcy. There will not be any exception to this standing rule tomorrow,” Thapa told reporters organised on the eve of the elections. He also made it clear that each and everyone should come up and exercise their right to vote. “Security is foolproof. All the arrangements are in place,” Thapa said. Meanwhile, asked to comment on a newspaper interview carried by a daily today in which the CPN-M supremo has come up with an indirect offer of talks, Thapa said the rebel leadership does not act on what it actually preaches.

Nepal to represent FCTC as an observer

The two health ministry officials are participating in the convention for the effective implementation of Tobacco Control Treaty to be held in Geneva. Dr Nirakar Man Shrestha, chief specialist and Rishi Raj Bhandari, Legal officer of Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) are participating in the Global Tobacco Convention, which is taking place this year. Dr Hari Nath Acharya, spokesperson at Health Ministry said Nepal has not ratified the convention due to the lack of parliament in the country but is one of the signatories so Nepal is participating as an observer. “The participation shows that government is serious about the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) once ratified,” said Dr Acharya. Meanwhile the World Health Organisation (WHO) issuing a press release stated here today that countries around the world are taking effective measures to curb tobacco use, including strong legislation, graphic warning labels and advertising bans. According to WHO, more than 110 countries will participate this week to decide on the detailed implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO, FCTC). Many of the countries joining this first Conference of the Parties (COP) in Geneva have already implemented some of the measures in the convention. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Treaty and serves as the authority to oversee, monitor and evaluate progress of the Treaty, in order to reduce tobacco consumption and tobaccorelated deaths globally.