Cruel “foresight”

The month-long seeming respite that the House had been witness to is being given the rude shock by the UCPN (Maoist), as it has not seen its demands being fulfilled by the CPN (UML)-led government. The government had come to an understanding with the Maoists who have their status as the opposition and the largest single party in the parliament, that the four-point demands would be looked into for a fitting and amicable resolution. However, the preoccupations of the government are so many that it has not fully been able to delve into the issues which are of greatest interest to the UCPN (M), particularly the issue of discussion on the issue of civilian supremacy and the President’s move on the reinstatement of the army chief on whom the then Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had initiated the dismissal action. And that was the prime reason for the Maoist-led government to pave the way with Dahal’s resignation for a new government to step in. It is true that the Maoists were compelled to assert their dominant role, but it proved to be merely a mirage.

The present government with Madhav Kumar Nepal of CPN (UML) as the Prime Minister has the Nepali Congress as a prominent participant. And, NC has a big say in political matters as is evident with the role played by its chief Girija Prasad Koirala. Former prime minister Koirala has the knack to get going with all the other party leaders. With such a stature that he possesses, it is but natural that prominent leaders belonging to the major parties make it point to hold discussions with him on issues of political importance. So, when the idea of the high level political mechanism was floated, the Maoists were skeptical but Girija convinced them of its importance in the present crisis-like state where mutual trust and cooperation among the three major political parties needed a boost. It is now a week since the task force was formed to prepare the ground for the said mechanism which is making recommendations that would enlighten the top leadership of the parties. This must be considered as one of the achievements in recent days among the three parties, with NC and CPN (UML) in the government, and UCPN (M) sitting in the opposition. Urgency is in the air all because the Maoists have announced their phase-wise protest programme beginning today, though they have already gone ahead with some of their disruptive action plan.

These are testing times now for all the parties represented in the CA as they have the whole burden of taking the country forward. But the way some of the parties, particularly the Maoists, are behaving shows the lack of respect for the mandated tasks that

came upon their shoulders as related to the drafting of the constitution and the peace process goals.

With the delay tactics that is being played with the regular obstruction of the House proceedings, it seems impossible that the deadline for the statute

to be will be met. This leads to the question as to what will be the political scenario if the constitution

writing deadline cannot be met. In fact, the Interim Constitution is clear on the issue, and the UCPN (M) knows it very well!

Matter of life

From time to time we get to hear about spurious medicines being sold in the market. These ruin the reputation of the manufacturers, not to talk, more importantly, about the risks they pose to the sick who take them. The Nepali pharmaceutical industry is growing and manufacturing many types of medicines. Now, with reports that a sealed bottle of medicine with the name Ofloxin used as an antibiotic containing ants was found in a pharmacy in Nepalgunj shows a height of negligence on the part of the manufacturer. So it is with trepidation that those who have to take medicines will be taking them, especially if they are manufactured in the country.

The manufacturers should realize that by being careless while manufacturing medicines they could be playing with the lives of the people, at the same time losing their credibility. The finding in Nepalgunj of this contaminated medicine should now sound the red alert and people and pharmacists should buy the medicines manufactured by reputed manufacturers, assuming that they have been strictly checked for quality. Meanwhile, the pharmacies should be constantly monitored by quality control experts so as to protect unsuspecting consumers.