Oli Extends an Olive Branch to Dahal but the Latter Remains Unconvinced

WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXVIII No. 244 | 8 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 34.0 C 0.6 C Saturday, October 31, 2020 | 15-07-2077 Biratnagar Jumla Oli extends an olive branch to Dahal but the latter remains unconvinced A line of leaders close to prime minister has been making a dash to Khumaltar in a bid to appease the party chair who is miffed at Oli continuing to make unilateral decisions. ANIL GIRI ing the third front—the side with two KATHMANDU, OCT 30 top leaders has more power in the ruling party. On Friday Foreign Minister Pradeep In September, following a task force Gyawali went to meet his party chair recommendation to resolve the year- Pushpa Kamal Dahal in the latter’s long dispute in the party, Oli and residence. Dahal had agreed to mend fences and On Thursday it was Finance move forward with the primary agree- Minister Bishnu Poudel, general sec- ment that Oli would take Dahal into retary of the Nepal Communist Party confidence while making important (NCP), and, separately, Chief Minister appointments and, more importantly, of Lumbini Shanker Pokhrel and the Cabinet would be reshuffled. Chief Minister of Gandaki Province But on October, 1, Oli appointed Prithvi Subba Gurung, who met Dahal former finance minister Yubaraj in Khumaltar. On Wednesday it was Khatiwada as ambassador to the the deputy Parliamentary Party lead- United States and outgoing chief sec- POST PHOTO: RAMESH KUMAR PAUDEL er of the ruling party, Subas Nembang. retary Lok Darshan Regmi as ambas- Snow-capped mountains are seen in this picture taken from a field of ripe paddy in Chitwan on Friday. On rare occasions when the weather is clear and air pollution minimum, the mountains in Besides being Standing Committee sador to the United Kingdom. the northern border of Nepal are visible from the southern plains. members all of them have one com- Sources close to Dahal claimed that mon characteristic. In a deeply divid- the co-chair had not been consulted. ed party, they all belong to the faction Then on October 14, Oli filled three led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, ministerial positions with Bishnu the other chair of the party. Poudel in the Ministry of Finance, All were, presumably, sent by Oli to Krishna Gopal Shrestha in the In constitutional breach, none of the 13 constitutional appease Dahal. Ministry of Urban Development and “Underground and overground Leelanath Shrestha in the Ministry of infighting in our party continues until Women, Children and Senior Citizens. commissions has full quota of office bearers one side feels weakened,” Top Bahadur Again, those close to Dahal cried foul Rayamajhi, a Standing Committee and it was a unilateral Oli decision. member, said. “This is part of an old The ongoing attempts at appeasing struggle between Oli and Dahal and Dahal have been a result of his refusal The National Human Rights Commission was the only one which had all five positions filled but the team’s six-year their respective coteries.” to meet, or even talk to Oli over the In a three-way division—with sen- phone, since October 19. tenure ended two weeks ago. This suits the KP Sharma Oli government just fine, experts say. ior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal lead- >> Continued on page 2 BINOD GHIMIRE full quota of members since the con- At the same time the commission KATHMANDU, OCT 30 stitution was promulgated in 2015. had also been investigating the “The fact that the meeting of the complaints related to human rights The Constitution of Nepal envisions Constitutional Council hasn’t been violations and monitoring quarantine 13 different commissions. Most of held for a year and a half shows Oli is facilities, hospitals and prisons to them have the authority to keep the least interested in giving full shape to evaluate the government’s response to government in check to ensure the the constitutional commissions,” the pandemic. rights of the people. But none of these Acharya told the Post. Even the United Nations has commissions has all five office-bearers. The six-member council has the expressed its concerns that pandemic Until two weeks ago, the National chief justice, the Speaker and the dep- could become the pretext for some Human Rights Commission was the uty Speaker of the House of governments to trample on individual only constitutional body that had all Representatives, chairman of the rights and to repress the free flow of its positions of the chair and four National Assembly, and leader of the information. members filled. main opposition as members. Now, with the commission lacking However, with the retirement of the The Minister for Law and Justice its chairperson and members, the team led by Anup Raj Sharma, after also takes a seat when the appoint- commission will be largely limited to completing its six-year tenure on ment is related to the judiciary while its day-to-day administrative work. October 18, there isn’t a single com- the chief secretary functions as the “We don’t have the authority to make mission that has a complete set of secretary of the council. recommendations to the government chairperson and members. The position of the deputy Speaker, with regard to complaints of human “The commissions have been left which traditionally goes to the opposi- rights violations,” Bed Bhattarai, sec- headless strategically only to weaken tion, has been vacant since Shiva Maya retary at the commission, told the them,” said senior advocate Tumbahangphe resigned in January. Post. “Only the commissioners can Bhimarjun Acharya, who specialises Acharya said delaying the appoint- make such recommendations.” on constitutional law. ment is also a breach of the constitu- But not only during the pandemic, And appointments in the constitution as it makes it mandatory for the the Oli administration in general has been accused of refraining from providing the information related to human rights as well as advocating the rights of marginalised and deprived communities for their empowerment. “The reluctance for appointments in the seven inclusive commissions for the last five years shows the human rights commission too won’t get its leadership anytime soon,” Charan Prasain, a human rights activist, told the Post. “More delays in appointments, the more time the Oli government will get to function arbitrarily.” Of the seven inclusion commissions—Madhesi, Dalit, Tharu, Muslim, Women, Indigenous Nationalities, and Inclusive—three have just the chair and one a member, five years after the promulgation of a federal republican statute by the con- FILE PHOTO stituent assembly. The Constitutional Council has not met since March 25 last year. Prasain said as the cases of women rights violations are increasing, the tional commissions aren’t a priority Constitutional Council to recommend National Women Commission could of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. names for the constitutional commis- have played a significant role in pro- The Constitutional Council, a body sion office-bearers a month before viding justice for the victims of rape headed by the prime minister and they become vacant. and violence. The Dalit Commission’s mandated to make appointments to Article 284 (3) of the Constitution of role also would have been important, the commissions, has not met since Nepal says the recommendation, in as reports of discrimination and vio- March 25 last year when Dinesh accordance with this constitution, has lence against the Dalit community Thapaliya was recommended as chief to be made by the Constitutional have increased. election commissioner although the Council a month before the posts of Other constitutional commissions next elections are due only in 2022. chief justice, chief and officials of include the Election Commission, the More than three dozen positions in constitutional bodies fall vacant. Commission for Investigation of the 13 commissions, meanwhile, Experts say the constitutional Abuse of Authority, Language remain vacant. Some have not had a rights watchdog is more important Commission, Natural Resources than other commissions, mainly Commission and Fiscal Commission. because it can question the gov- According to experts, the motive of ernment on protecting citizens’ the constitutional commissions is to fundamental rights. make the government accountable The human rights watchdog towards implementing the charter had of late been issuing direc- and maintaining the rule of law. The tives to the government on sever- government becomes unbridled in al issues related to the response their absence, they say. on Covid-19 which ranged from Oli, on the other hand, has been management of the quarantine trying to use the appointments in con- centres, ensuring treatment to stitutional bodies as a bargaining tool those infected and providing with rival factions in his party and relief to those who were left in with the opposition. trouble by the pandemic. >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 | 02 NATIONAL Patients in Hetauda face difficulties finding an ambulance for long routes Ambulance drivers have been refusing to offer services on long routes since their demand for a revision in the transport fare is yet to be addressed, locals say. SUBASH BIDARI holds discussions to address their ambulance services in the sub-me- MAKWANPUR, OCT 30 demands. tropolis. “At a recent meeting, I had directed “The complaints have increased Three days ago, 40-year-old Man the District Health Office to take nec- especially in the last few months due Kumari Khusawar, a local of essary steps and coordinate with to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ambulances Chandrapur Municipality in ambulance operators to ease the facil- in Hetauda charge up to Rs 13,000 for a Rautahat, visited a hospital in ity,” said Rijal.

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