Kathmandu, November 28, 2007

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who presided over a cabinet meeting, today said that there will be an all party meeting tomorrow on how to resolve the current political crisis.

The cabinet decided to enhance security arrangement in eight districts of the country, with three being Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur.

Other five districts are Bara, Rautahat, Parsa, Sarlahi and Siraha. The directives to beef up security were issued to the Home Ministry. The government sought another 15 days from striking civil servants before it can give a final shape to the Civil Service Regulation so that it meets the “aspirations of the civil servants in the true spirit of the April Uprising.”

The cabinet has referred the draft to the Public Service Commission (PSC). The decision was taken after the cabinet meeting and in the wake of the stepped up pressure from Nepal Civil Servants Organisation (NCSO) which has been consistently demanding relevant changes in the Civil Service Regulation, 1990. The high point of the amendment is trade union rights to the civil servants in a true democratic spirit.

“The government today asked for 15 days extension, but we have given only seven days,” said NCSO President Ganesh Basyal. The government will issue an appeal to civil servants tomorrow to withdraw their protest programme demanding security in Tarai.

Koirala is no good, make me prime minister, says MK Nepal

Kavre, November 28, 2007

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal today said that if he were to be made prime minister, he would change the face of the country within five years.

“Make me prime minister, and I will give you lasting peace and reconstruction,” he said while speaking at a programme of the BBC World Trust and BBC Nepali service at Banepa in Kavre district. Nepal said it was only the CPN-UML that could bring lasting peace to the country, adding that despite years of NC rule, the Nepali people never felt safe or secure. “The present PM cannot do any good for the nation,” he said.

“Criminals dine with police officials who ought to be protecting the people. The Home Ministry does not turn a hair. What is going on?” he queried, adding: “What is the need for the Home Ministry or the police?”

Nepal said the UML was totally against the unfettered rule of the Maoists. He added that a government that could not take action against killers and murderers had lost its validity and that it should step down. Condemning PM GP Koirala for stating that the problems of the Tarai would be solved in a minute if India offered its cooperation, Nepal said it was preposterous of the PM to have made such a statement. “Do we need foreign help?” asked Nepal, adding at the most the country should take suggestions from other governments.