Indifference speaks

With the scheduling of the election for the

Constituent Assembly Constitutional Committee chairman for August 17, all the tall talks for

consensual choice has fallen flat. The major political players—UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, and

CPN (UML)— have all been adamant regarding their choice to receive the approval stamp. None of the parties have budged from their stance creating the necessity for CA Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang to announce the election as a way out to fill the vacant seat. To go to the backdrop, the CC chairman seat fell vacant with Madhav Kumar Nepal becoming the Prime Minister. It was indeed a matter of great concern that no attempts in the genuine sense had been made to get a new man in the prestigious and responsible post. It was all because of the bickering between the major parties that created the obstacles and the delay that is one of the reasons for the statute drafting task lagging behind schedule. And, of all the surprises that the people have been subjected to, every party wants its own nominee to be steering the CC. This is all queer as the CC has the representation from all the parties and the chief acts as a facilitator rather than decide the whole show.

The Constitutional Committee is supposed

to be the most important of the CA committees as it is directly has to deal with the concept papers submitted by the thematic committees and after perusal and thorough study has to prepare the draft of

the new constitution. It is unfortunate that such

an important committee was left to languish for months without the head. With the CA still

dogged by the UCPN (M) bent on not letting it function smoothly, the whole mission of readying the constitution within less than ten months from now would not be possible. However, a headway seems to have been made with all the parties agreeing to

hold the election for the CC chief. There is still hope left for the political parties to decide on a single

candidate, which would set an example of consensus for which they have been making the attention-seeking rhetoric.

This particular issue has brought to the fore the petty partisan interests that still holds sway among the parties. None of them have been able to overcome their party interests and work in the interest of the nation. Whatever that may be, even if an election is to be held it would pave the way for the CC to function in the manner that it has been designed to. However, if the Maoists do not give up their House stalling tactics then there will be further delays in the already cramped up time space for the constitution writing task. The question is high on the agenda if the Maoists are interested in getting the new statute prepared, finalized, approved and enforced at the earliest or not. But, all that it is doing is creating hurdles so that the CA remains a hostage unable to carry out the tasks that are urgent with the days and weeks passing by rapidly. It is the single largest party in the CA that is playing with the mandate of the people who remain bewildered, silent observers only. Maybe some sense comes to the working of the major parties when constitution drafting at the earliest is at stake.

New finds

The eastern Himalayas are considered to be one

of the biologically richest regions in the

world. As many as 353 new species have been discovered here in the past ten years. The eastern Himalayas consist of swathes of territory from Nepal, Bhutan, north-eastern India, Tibet and far-north Myanmar. In Nepal alone 94 species has been discovered. Discovering new species is a laborious process and those who have discovered these deserve gratitude for they are contributing to the conservation efforts, especially considering that much of the flora and fauna are being threatened by the growing population, the increasing demand for them in the global market and also the dreaded phenomenon of global warming and climate change.

More studies should be carried out about

them and also the habitats as studies show that only 25 per cent of the original habitat in this region is now intact. So that more species do not become extinct, all efforts should be made in conservation drives and for this the role played by the conservation experts could prove crucial. Again they deserve the credit for discovering more new species, and there are certainly more waiting to be found.