WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 23 | 10 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 33.5 C 1.1 C Saturday, March 13, 2021 | 29-11-2077 Bhairahawa Jumla As Deuba gets nod to lead government, efforts on to build coalition to oust Oli The former prime minister, however, has an eye on party’s general convention in August as well as on next general elections before playing his card, leaders close to him say. ANIL GIRI KATHMANDU, MARCH 12 As momentum builds for the forma- tion of a new government following the Supreme Court’s revival of the CPN-UML and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), the Nepali Congress leadership has been urged to stake a claim to lead the next gov- ernment. Present and former office-bearers of Nepali Congress on Friday backed its party President Sher Bahadur POST FILE PHOTO Deuba to remove Prime Minister KP Sher Bahadur Deuba Sharma Oli and take his place. “Former and present office-bearers Samajbadi Party with 34 seats (two of the Nepali Congress have urged suspended) to form the government. Deuba to seek an alternative to the Oli Following the meeting held to seek government and brace up for the party’s mandate and authority to POST PHOTO: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA government formation,” party hold talks with Samajbadi Party lead- Women take pictures under peach flowers in Kathmandu. It is spring, and peach and cherry blossoms have become a feast for the eyes. spokesperson Bishwa Prakash ers, Deuba met with the latter later on Sharma told the Post. Friday and the two sides concluded “Deuba held talks with top that Oli has to be removed, according leaders of the Janata Samajbadi to leaders of the two parties. Party along this line and will But two Nepali Congress leaders Oli tightens his grip Endless wait for Korea jobs meet with leaders from the told the Post that Deuba is not yet Maoist Centre.” ready to stake his claim and will wait With 63 members (two sus- some more days before taking a deci- in UML relieving pended) in the House of sion on government formation, and frustrates youths as they Representatives, Nepali Congress this was the implicit message he gave will need the support of both the to the Janata Samajbadi leaders. leaders from Nepal question Nepal’s commitment Maoist Centre with 53 seats and >> Continued on page 2 camp of their roles Thousands of Nepalis who have passed the tests and got Nepal and other leaders jobs blame government inaction while experts say it could returned to their old party be proactive rather than wait to hear from the Koreans. and have vowed to fight, form parallel committees. TIKA R PRADHAN KATHMANDU, MARCH 12 The clash between Prime Minister and CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal, the senior party leader, has come to a head. Days after Nepal, along with other leaders who had sided with Pushpa Kamal Dahal, returned to the UML fold following the Supreme Court deci- sion to revive the UML and Dahal’s Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Oli on Friday stripped lead- ers close to Nepal of responsibilities but the Nepal faction has decided not to accept the decision and counter it by forming parallel party committees. On Sunday, the Supreme Court, POST FILE PHOTO while deciding on a case filed by There’s a rigorous process before Nepalis can proceed for jobs in South Korea. Rishiram Kattel, had scrapped the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), order- CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL Sodari was even selected by a ing reinstatement of the UML and the KATHMANDU, MARCH 12 Korean employer. He had also received Maoist Centre to their pre-merger his contract from the employer and state. The court decision led Nepal In 2018, Ajay Sodari of Ghodaghodi the Certificate for Confirmation of and other leaders including Jhala Municipality, Kailali made a plan to Visa Issuance, after which, during Nath Khanal, Raghuji Pant, migrate to South Korea. But he was normal time, candidates must reach Ghanashyam Bhusal and Yogesh unaware of the time and effort it Korea within 90 days. Bhattarai to return to the UML fold. would require to land a Korean job. However, after a long-wait of nine Dahal now leads the Maoist Centre. As a first step, Sodari started pre- months, the Korean employer can- Before the court scrapped the Nepal paring on his own with whatever celled the work contract with Sodari. Communist Party (NCP), Dahal and study materials he could get online Labour migration to South Korea Nepal had formed their own faction and some Korean language books. has witnessed obstructions since the after Oli’s decision to dissolve the “I thought of going to South Korea, first week of February last year. Later House. The House was reinstated by which is an attractive labour destina- in the same month, the migration of the Supreme Court on February 23. tion for Nepali migrants,” said Sodari. Nepali youths to South Korea was But within days of the revival of “You can do a lot in a short span if you temporarily halted as South Korea CPN-UML, Oli has taken steps to make can get a Korean job.” became an epicentre of Covid-19. his position in the party invincible. With such aspirations, Sodari sat the Since then, although labour migra- Holding two back-to-back meetings Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), tion to other countries has resumed, of the party’s Central Committee a mandatory Korean language test for departures of Nepali candidates to on Friday at Baluwatar, Oli amended those wanting to work in South Korea. South Korea remain suspended. the party’s statute to accommodate But he could not pass the test in 2018. Bhim Raj Bhatta from Melauli 23 leaders coming from the CPN Sodari moved to Kathmandu to pre- Municipality, Baitadi was also select- (Maoist Centre). pare for the test in 2019. ed to go to Korean in 2020. Like Sodari, Though the leaders attending the With all the struggle that comes he also started preparing for the lan- meeting said they decided to form a in moving from Kailali to Kathmandu guage test in 2018 from home and general convention organising com- and after nearly eight months of cleared the test in 2019 after moving to mittee and scrapped the provision of hard work, Sodari did crack the test in Kathmandu. office-bearers except that of the gener- 2019, when a record number of over “I worked in Kathmandu so that I al secretary, the party spokesperson 92,000 applicants had appeared for the could learn the Korean language. I said they were just a proposal to pres- examination. would work in the daytime and study ent at the Central Committee meeting Sodari was among the 6,773 individ- at night,” said Bhatta, 24. “The dream scheduled for March 20. uals who cleared both the language test was to reach South Korea and do With the new development, the con- and the skill test, which is a test of something for the family.” flict within the revived CPN-UML is candidates’ basic understanding of the Bhatta does not know what he expected to deteriorate. An emergency job sector they are planning to enter, to should be doing as he waits for his meeting of the available Standing get a job in Korea in 2020 under the long-held dream to become reality. Committee members close to Madhav Employment Permit System (EPS). “I am confused about what I should Kumar Nepal held at Aryal Hotel in But then the Covid-19 pandemic be doing. What if I give up and start the evening decided to scrap all the struck. It suspended Nepali workers’ doing something else and then migra- decisions made by the Oli group. migration to the east Asian country tion to South Korea resumes?” said “There is no provision of adding for an indefinite period. Bhatta. “If I start my own business, members to the party committees as There are thousands like Sodari then I would again need to take loans the party has already fulfilled the 10 waiting for more than a year now to as I come from a middle-class family. percent allowed by the statute,” said get to South Korea having passed The government should at least clear- Bhim Rawal. both the tests. How long the wait ly tell us whether we are going or not.” >> Continued on page 2 will be is still unclear. >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL Madhuban forests closed off to people over tiger attacks Five people have been killed in tiger attacks in the area so far this fiscal year. KAMAL PANTHI death of the woman on Wednesday. “We do not even walk around the BARDIYA, MARCH 12 “Eight camera traps were installed village alone for fear of being eaten by in the forest area. We are looking at tigers. Our children are not allowed to Madhuban Municipality has prohibit- ways to minimise human-animal con- go outside alone,” said Saraswati Sah, ed local residents from entering Khata flict,” said Chief District Officer of a local resident in Madhuban Ward biological corridor and Samjhana Bardiya Santa Bahadur Sunar. No. 3. Community Forest due to the rising According to the data of the park, Wild animals are found roaming number of tiger attacks. eight people have already been killed around the Khata biological area and On Wednesday, a 29-year-old woman in separate tiger attacks in Bardiya.