Kathmandu, September 11, 2007

Officiating Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri has failed the test of the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee as parties were divided on his appointment as the Chief Justice of Nepal. The lawmakers of Nepali Congress, Nepali Congress (D) and RPP supported his appointment while MPs of the leftist parties — the CPN-UML, the Maoists and the Jana Morcha Nepal — opposed the same. The House Regulation requires unanimous decision to approve any recommendation. Only 11 of the 28-member PHSC supported his appointment, nine were against Giri as CJ while eight were absent. This is the first time that the candidate for the post of CJ faced the hearing and the House committee was divided on his appointment. The PHSC will forward the complaints, the lawmakers’ stance and its recommendations to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala-headed Constitutional Council soon. CC can exercise its discretion whether or not to accept Giri as CJ as per Rule 113 of the House Regulation 2007. “The PHSC position has created a serious problem for us because this is the first instance of its kind. We will hold a fresh meeting and decide what should be done,” a member of the CC told this daily. “We will go into the merits and demerits of the case and will take a decision,” he added. Though PM enjoys the backing of majority, there is a practice to pass its decision unanimously.

Sitaula talks to Maoists in bid to make them withdraw protest plan

Kathmandu, September 11, 2007

The Maoists have decided to await the response of the Nepali Congress, NC (D), the CPNUML and others before taking a final decision on whether to launch an agitation from September 18.

Home Minister and the government’s troubleshooter Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Maoist ministers — Minister for Local Development and Forest Dev Prasad Gurung and minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara — today held talks on resolving the deadlock over the Maoists’ insistence that the demands raised in their 22-point charter be addressed before the Constituent assembly polls.

The main demand of the Maoists is that the Parliament declare the country a republic straightaway. The meeting was held at the residence of Mahara. Mahara told this daily that they discussed “issues ranging from our announced protest programme to eightparty unity.” “Whether we withdraw our pre-announced protest programmes or not will depend on what the parties have to say on the issues we have raised.

We will be talking with Nepali Congress, NC (D), the CPN-UML and others in the next few days before we come to any decision on withdrawing our programme,” Mahara said.