Blame Dahal for CA failure: Baidya

KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, May 30: The UCPN (Maoist) faction led by Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya has held top leaders of the major political parties, including Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, responsible for the failure to draft the new constitution.

At the meeting of former lawmakers close to the Baidya faction in Kupondol on Tuesday, former chief whip of the Maoist party Dev Gurung had presented an analysis of how the Constituent Assembly failed to draft the new constitution.

The meeting held Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Sushil Koirala, Ram Chandra Paudel and Sher Bahadur Deuba from the Nepali Congress and Jhalanath Khanal, Madhav Nepal and KP Oli from CPN (UML) responsible for the failure to draft the new constitution, said a leader present at the meeting.

Parties' meeting inconclusive

KIRAN PUN KATHMANDU, May 10: The meeting of major political parties and the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) to find a consensus federal model ended inconclusively Wednesday midnight, but the parties said they would strive to seek a consensus before voting begins in the Constituent Assembly. Though the top leaders of the parties were supposed to resolve their differences over the federalism model and had tried to do so till midnight, they failed to even narrow down their differences. “There was a difference over the principal basis of federalism,” said Maoist Vice-chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, when asked what led to the meeting ending inconclusively, “We argued that federalism should be based on ethnic identity while they [NC and CPN-UML] were against that.”

Baidya's new idea to save parliament

KIRAN CHAPAGAIN/KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, May 27: With uncertainty looming over the new constitution as of late Saturday evening, the Mohan Baidya faction of the Maoist party has floated a proposal to amend Article 82 of the Interim Constitution so as to at least save parliament even if the Constituent Assembly (CA) is dissolved.

Maoist Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and leader Dev Gurung floated the proposal during their meeting with Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala on Saturday, according to a NC leader privy to the meeting. [break}

The leader said that the constitutional provision can be amended in such a way that the dissolved CA will continue to function as a legislature-parliament to complete the unfinished work of constitution making and also own whatever work has been completed so far by the CA.

A shrine for a love story

VAIJU NARAVANE

Orhan Pamuk inaugurated his Masumiyet Muzesi or The Museum of Innocence in Istanbul on April 28. The Museum is inspired by his eponymous novel, published in 2008, the story of star-crossed lovers in the Istanbul of the 1970s and 1980s when Turkey experienced great social and political turmoil and a military coup. Through it all the Turkish bourgeoisie lived its comfortable and often profligate life, a society marked by custom, tradition and social taboos.

मनीषाको टाउकोमा सेतो कपाल

THURSDAY, 10 MAY 2012 23:04
(conversation with Kishor Nepal, Editor-in-chief of Shukrabar Weekly)
मनिषा, तिमीलाई देखेपछि अचानक मेरो मनमा एउटा प्रश्न उठ्यो। तिमी फिल्ममा नभएको भए कुन पेसामा हुन्थ्यौ होला अहिले?
थाहा छैन। फिल्मबाहेक अरू पेसाका बारेमा मैले कहिल्यै सोचिनँ। एकैपटक म फिल्ममा लागेकी हुँ।

तिमी राजनीति गर्थ्यौ होला। हजुरबुबाको प्रभाव छ नि तिमीमा?
पोसिबल हुन सक्थ्यो। हजुरबुबा त मेरो आदर्श हो।

प्रकाश दाइले कहिल्यै राजनीतिमा घचेड्न खोजेनन् तिमीलाई?
ड्याडी डेफिनेट्ली उड लाइक इट। तर मैले आफैँ डिसाइड गर्ने कुरा हो त्यो।

Leaders close to deal on 11 provinces

The proposed provinces
1. Kirat/Koshi/Koshi-Kirat
2. Limbuwan / Tamor / Limbuwan-Tamor
3. Birat / Kochila / Birat-Kochila
4. Mithila / Bhojpura / Madhes
5. Tharuhat / Lumbini / Tharuhat-Lumbini
6. Newa / Bagamati / Newa-Bagmati
7. Tamuwan / Gandaki / Tamuwan-Gandaki
8. Magarat / Rapti / Magarat-Rapti
9. Karnali / Bheri
10. Seti / Mahakali
11. Tamsaling / Sailung / Tamsaling-Sailung

Party headed for split: Badal

KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, April 30: General Secretary of the UCPN (M) and a senior leader from the rebel faction Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal' said Monday that his faction would ultimately form another party but were waiting to see what kind of constitution would be promulgated before taking such a move.

Addressing a national gathering of the students close to the faction, Thapa also claimed there was no longer any ideological base that connected them with the party establishment led by Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

"It should not be limited to a just ideological group of Kiran [Mohan Baidya] and we are moving toward forming a new party. All ideological bases that made it possible for us to walk with Dahal have vanished. Only some issues remain to be completed. So, we should wait until May 27," ANNISU-R Vice-chairman Sharad Rasaili quoted Thapa as telling the gathering.