Political parties have not reached any understanding about the election system to be adopted for the National Assembly and this stalemate is obstructing the new government formation process. All major newspapers published from Kathmandu today have highlighted internal strategies of the parties about the disputed ordinance and their preparations to implement their choices. The Supreme Court’s refusal to let absconding lawmaker Resham Lal Chaudhary get the election certificate through his agent has also received significant attention.
Some newspapers have covered other contemporary political, socio-cultural and economic issues in the front page today.
Important
Maoist Centre suggests flexibility; Congress tells govt to face refusal
Kantipur lead story for the day says the CPN-Maoist Centre, which says it is preparing to merge with the CPN-UML, has put pressure on the UML to take initiatives to resolve the issue by being flexible. Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has told the UML that it is not good to have the National Assembly without the opposition; therefore it is better to go for the single transferable voting. The party, however, has not made any statement in support of the single transferable system formally. The Himalayan Times also says the Dahal-led party has decided to back the system.
Meanwhile, Rajdhani lead story says Nepali Congress leaders have suggested that the government send the National Assembly ordinance back to the President if she decides to refuse issuing the ordinance for revision.
Challenges galore in UML, Maoist Centre unification
There are a number of challenges in front of the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre for their purported unification, analyses The Himalayan Times in the lead story today.
“Going by the utterances of top leaders of the parties, unification of the two parties will be anything but a cakewalk,” the report reads, “The fact that everything is not hunky dorty between the two parties was reflected yesterday when CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal told party cadres in Nawalpur that CPN-UML had tried to form a coalition government with the support of the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal initially…” The report also adds that some UML leaders have commented that the unification can wait for some time while the Maoist leaders are for taking it ahead simultaneously with the new government formation.
Gorkhapatra has published a story to inform that some leaders and cadres of the party have begun doubting the unification plan as the Unification Coordination Committee’s meeting could not take place after the government formation.
Supreme Court lifts ban on Ncell dividend transfer
The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an order allowing Ncell’s shareholder Reynold Holdings Pvt Ltd, to take its dividend to other countries as the government had restricted that transfer owing to a dispute related to its capital gains tax, according to Kantipur and Gorkhapatra lead stories.
A division bench of justices Om Prakash Mishra and Kedar Prasad Chalise issued the interim order in the name of Nepal Rastra Bank, informs Gorkhapatra.
Earlier, the government had blocked the company to take the dividend out till the telecommunication provider paid all liable CGT for its recent buyout deal, Kantipur says. But, the Court today said there was no reason to withhold the company’s dividend transfer.
Ignored
Contractors, suppliers paid Rs 20 billion as bribes in one year
Republica lead story for the day says contractors and suppliers appointed by various government agencies spent almost 10 per cent of capital expenditure to pay bribes to officials and politicians in the last fiscal year 2016/17. While the companies spent Rs 204 billion in capital expenditure injected in infrastructure projects, about Rs 20 billion was spent for kickbacks.
Nepali cement industrialists now get clinkers delivered at Birgunj dry port
Nepali cement industrialists now can get clinkers, raw materials of cement, delivered at Birgunj dry port in Parsa district directly, according to Karobar lead story. The decision comes just after Indian locals obstructed the loading and unloading of clinkers in Raxaul, pushing Nepali factories into a crunch.
The report says the Indian Railway Board has allowed its subordinate bodies to facilitate the delivery of clinkers at the dry port after the Indian Container Corporation Limited decided that the port was capable for handling the process.
Interesting
New landfill site proposed for Kathmandu waste management
The government is planning to establish a new landfill site in Bancharedanda village near the border of Dhading and Nuwakot districts after the existing site in Sisdol of Nuwakot exceeded the capacity, reports Republica in its anchor story.
The new site spreads across approximately 1,970 ropani of land and is just about a kilometre away from the existing site in Sisdol, according to the report.
