Most of Nepali and English broadsheets published from Kathmandu on Sunday have given the topmost priority to preparations being made to conduct the oath taking ceremony of provincial assembly members in all seven provinces. Talks ongoing at different levels for the unification between CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre are also highlighted in many newspapers. On the other hand, the Nepali Congress is preparing to establish an alliance with Madhesh-centric parties for the National Assembly elections scheduled for February 7 and this has also been an issue of interest for broadsheet editors.
The newspapers have covered other contemporary political, socio-cultural and economic issues also in the front page today.
Important
Provincial lawmakers to take oath today
The anchor story for Gorkhapatra reports how preparations are being made in temporary provincial capitals to administer the oath of office to newly elected assembly members in each province.
The report says newly appointed province chiefs have already assumed their office in the capitals. They will administer the oath to the most senior member of the provincial legislate and the most senior will administer the oath to others, according to Rajdhani.
Many other newspapers have carried the similar story.
UML-Maoist unification process reaches decisive point
On Friday and Saturday, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held rounds of meetings to give a momentum to their preparations for the merger and these initiatives have taken the process to a decisive point, according to Janata Post.
Quoting UML leader Bishnu Paudel, the report says the two leaders have made agreements over various dimensions of the unification process and it will soon conclude. For Republica, however, the leadership issue still remains a bone of contention between the two parties.
Meanwhile, the meeting of Party Unification Coordination Committee, jointly chaired by Oli and Dahal, has been scheduled for Sunday and the meeting is expected to begin concrete discussions on leadership model of the unified party, according to Gorkhapatra.
Nagarik says the Sunday meeting will also finalise how the two parties will share provincial government positions as they are preparing to lead six of seven provinces.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and Naya Shakti Party Nepal coordinator Baburam Bhattarai has likened the unification between two ‘communist parties’ to a bank merger, according to Annapurna Post lead story for the day.
Nepali Congress building partnership with Madhesh powerhouses
Gorkhapatra, The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post report that the Nepali Congress has expedited talks with two major Madhesh-centric forces—Rastriya Janata Party Nepal and Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal—in a bid to contest the upcoming National Assembly elections jointly.
Gorkhapatra says leaders of the three parties held a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar on Saturday and discussed how they can build a partnership for the upper House elections, at least in Province 2 where the Madheshi parties have the strongest presence.
Annapurna Post informs that the leaders are trying to finalise the modality of partnership as well as names of candidates by Monday as the parties have to nominate their candidates at the Election Commission on Wednesday. The discussions will continue today as well.
Meanwhile, Nagarik and Naya Patrika have given priority to internal rifts between two factions of the Congress party.
Ignored
Viral fever grips Kalikot villages
Kantipur lead story for the day says viral fever epidemic has gripped many villages of Kalikot district and the villagers are reeling under the shortage of essential medicines. Neither are their health professionals attending to the patients. In two wards of Khandachakra Municipality alone, where the district headquarters Manma lies, 814 persons have been affected, according to the report.
Local govts to be authorised to collect extra taxes
The government is preparing to authorise local level governments to collect extra taxes under different headings as it is currently formulating a new law about taxation at the local level, according to the lead story in Karobar.
The draft of bill has been ready and it has authorised the local bodies to decide tax rates of 11 topics including drinking water, ponds and ghats, electricity, telephone, waste management, environment protection, sewage management, hostel operation among others, according to the report.
India puts preconditions on post-quake assistance
Republica lead story for the day says India has included a caveat in the use of a soft loan amounting to around USD 750 million it had earlier pledged for Nepal’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts and the situation had pushed Nepal to a difficulty.
The report informs that officials of two countries have different sets of priorities; hence, they do not expect an early implementation of New Delhi’s commitment. However, negotiations are still underway.
Interesting
Over 75% civil servants to be mobilised at local, provincial levels
With the introduction of three layers of government, more than 75 per cent of currently employed government staff will move to the local and the provincial levels, claims the anchor story of The Kathmandu Post attributing the estimate to experts.
Earlier, a report prepared by the High Powered Federal Administration Restructuring Committee under the leadership of Kashi Raj Dahal had also recommended that more than three fourths of total 83,200 staff will be deployed outside Kathmandu, says the story.
