‘WE HAVEN’T ASKED FOR 100 MILLION. PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IS FOR DEVELOPMENT’

KATHMANDU, May 28: Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) should come for negotiation with political agenda, Devendra Paudel, standing committee member of Nepal Communist Party and a Member of Parliament.

“The government cannot support and tolerate any sort of terrorist activities in the country. If Netra Bikram Chand group continues its terrorist activities, the government will take action against them,” said Paudel talking to Rishi Dhamala in a television talk show Janata Janna Chahanchan.

“The government still appeals Chand to come for dialogue. The CPN must place its political agenda and sit for talks with the government following a constitutional process,” he added.

Paudel said that few of Chand’s demands are not negotiable.

“Chand’s demand for dissolution of the government is not a subject of discussion. This is a people-elected government. If he thinks there is an alternative to the incumbent government, negotiation is not possible,” he said.

A day after a series of blasts that took place in different parts of the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday by Chand group—that claimed four lives and left others injured, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli termed the outlawed outfit an anti-development element saying Chand revolution has “no meaning and was carried with an intention to accumulate wealth by terrorizing the people”. He also asked Chand to clarify “what he wanted” and vowed to thwart any attempts threatening the peace of the state and people.

Paudel said that Chand must want to come for negotiation.

“When CK Raut was in jail, he said he opted for talks with the government saying he would abide by the constitution and take his political agendas to the people. The government then honored his request and welcomed him to the mainstream national politics in the condition he would quit his separatist movement,” he said.

“If Chand becomes ready to carry out his activities peacefully and as per the spirit of the constitution, the government is ready to welcome him to the national politics,” he added.

“Panting bombs and terrorizing people to press the government to punish the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats is not a solution and cannot be endured.”

“This will do nothing but disturb the peace. They can protest the corruption in a peaceful way.”

“Chand group’s activities are not in the interest of the people.”

PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPMENT

Paudel also defended the Local Development Partnership Program and Constituency Development Fund saying the lawmakers (directly elected) have demanded 100 million rupees not for money’s sake but for the development.

Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada is preparing to unveil the budget for the fiscal year 2019/2020 with a notable increase in the Partnership Fund, which is being allocated to the 165 lawmakers of lower house elected from the first-past-the-post system. If the fund is allocated as demanded by the lawmakers, the government will have to allocate Rs 21 billion.

“We haven’t demanded the amount. We have asked for the development projects.”

“We have put forth two conditions. We have asked to either give us the development projects worth the amount in order to fulfill the election promises we made to the people or allocate the infrastructure development fund in some other way,” he added.

But the lawmakers’ demand of the fund has been facing criticism from various quarters, including the opposition Nepali Congress, some ruling party leaders themselves who have argued that it will give rise to misuse of state funds in the name of lawmakers.

Even Finance Minister Khatiwada, last year, had attempted to remove the provision of both Fund programs—which started a few years ago– saying it led to the fund misuse. However, his effort had failed following the immense pressure from the lawmakers of both ruling and opposition parties.

“The government monitors the use of the fund allocated to the constituencies. If any lawmaker is found to have abused the fund or committed irregularities, he must be punished.”

Those against the development fund have also argued that lawmakers’ job is not to involve themselves directly in the mobilization of development funds.

“We cannot step back from the development promises we made to the people. We are elected representatives. Our task is not just to formulate laws but to involve in development programs as well’.

The lawmakers elected under the proportional representation system have also expressed discontent over the fund saying they are being discriminated and have demanded the similar funds.

‘GOVT WILL NOT LET ANYBODY ENCROACH PUBLIC LAND’

KATHMANDU, April 30: Nepal Communist Party (NCP) standing committee member and lawmaker Devendra Paudel has said that the government will not let anybody encroach public land.

“The government is committed to protecting the public properties,” said Paudel at an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Tuesday.

“The government will retrieve the lands that are illegally transferred to private individuals,” he added.

“The land mafias and brokers will not go unpunished,” he added.

Paudel also defended NCP General Secretary Bishnu Paudel saying that his name was unnecessarily mixed up in the Lalita Niwas land scam.

“Paudel did not buy the land abusing the government sources. Any individuals have the right to buy and sell land. He bought the land from a valid landowner.”

“There is no need to libel him (Paudel) because he and his family was not involved in land encroachment,” he said.

General Secretary Paudel has been widely criticized for owning eight annas of land in Lalitw Niwas, which was transferred to his ownership illegally by land mafias in 2005, January 13.

Paudel has claimed that he bought the plot from the wife of Shobhakanta, Uma Dhakal and Madhavi Subedi.

According to reports, about 100 individuals including big business houses Bhatbhatini, Goyal, Sarda, Chachan, Kediya, Gopal Khanal Group, Shobakanta Dhakal, Ram Kumar Subedi, Purushottam Paudel illegally own the 114 ropanies of Lalita Niwas land, which was nationalized in 1964– by duly compensating the rightful owners.

KATHMANDU: UCPN Maoist leader Devendra Paudel has claimed that the leaders close to Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai will participate in party’s upcoming central committee meeting. Paudel, who is one of the most influential leaders in the Bhattarai faction, said so while speculations are rife of the faction’s intention to boycott the CC meeting accusing party Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal of foul play in selecting CC members during the recently concluded conclave of the party.

Paudel said that they will participate in the CC meeting claiming that Dahal had promised of taking the party ahead in consensus. Talking at an interaction program organized by the Reporters Club Nepal on Sunday, he informed that Dahal and another vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha have agreed to form a 151 member CC during a meeting with him and party leader Top Bahadur Raimajhi.

“We have requested for deferring the CC meet citing delay in the arrival of Vice Chairman Baburam Bhattarai. We will participate in the first meeting after due discussion if it is deferred and will participate in the second meeting, if the first one is not deferred,” said Paudel at the program presided by the Club’s President Rishi Dhamala.

Claiming that they had not boycotted the Biratnagar conclave to split the party he said that the party can move ahead in consensus if Chairman Dahal moves ahead in consensus giving up factionalism.

However Paudel warned that they would not sit tight if their demands, presented to the Chairman, are not addressed.
Commenting on the progress made in constitution drafting, Paudel accused the government of being incapable of initiating efforts to garner consensus on the constitution drafting process along with general day to day administration.

KATHMANDU: Senior leaders of Nepal’s major political parties have warned to oust the incumbent Chief-justice led government if it failed to hold CA elections in November.

Speaking at an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Saturday, UCPN Maoist’s Devendra Paudel aka ‘Sunil’ said that the Regmi government will not stay in power if it failed to hold CA elections in November.

“There will be no moral basis for the government to remain in power if it fails to fulfill its sole objective,” Paudel said at the program presided by Club’s President Rishi Dhamala.

While issuing the warning, Paudel questioned government’s commitment to hold CA election stating that it has been ‘unnecessarily’ delaying the announcement of CA election date by blaming Election Commission. Arguing that it was government’s responsibility to fix the date for CA election by creating conducive environment for it.

He stressed on the need to declare CA election date for creating conducive environment and opined that the declaring a date would be more instrumental in bringing dissenting political parties to talks.

However he said that the CPN Maoist and other dissenting parties had rights to boycott elections and claimed that CA elections should be held to avert further national crisis.

Confronting Paudel’s statement, Nepali Congres’ leader Gopal Man Shrestha claimed that CA elections couldn’t be held if dissenting political parties did not participate in it. “ If it were CA elections, than it would not matter if some parties remained out of it. But we are talking about CA elections and it cannot be held by keeping fourth major political force out of it.”

Accusing four major political parties of neglecting the CPN Maoist and other parties in discussions held prior to the formation of incumbent government, he stressed on the need to bring dissenting political forces into confidence before announcing CA elections.

On the occasion, Shrestha termed that Baburam Bhattarai’s recent accusation against the President were part of the Maoist grand design to foil CA elections even in November. While defending the President against the quo accusation made by Bhattarai, Shrestha said that the UCPN Maoist was plotting to hold CA elections.

“It would have been credible for Bhattarai to make such accusations while he was in power. These claims are irrelevant now. But instead hint towards his and his party’s intentions to avert CA election,” Shrestha added.

KATHMANDU: An influential leader of the UCPN Maoist once again rooted for resurrecting the erstwhile Constituent Assembly (CA).  Devendra Paduel, who is also political advisor to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, said that reinstating the dissolved constituent assembly (CA) was the best alternative to resolve the present political transition.

Paudel said that lack of consensus among political parties to resolve disputed issues was the main cause of the present political status quo and claimed that resurrecting CA was the panacea to resolve the deadlock and promulgate the new constitution.

Reiterating his party’s recent stance on resurrecting the CA and promulgating the  new constitution by incorporating issues that have resolved earlier and suspending the disputed issues for the new Legislative Parliament to resolve.

However in the end, Paudel did say that his party, UCPN Maoist, was ready for any options on which the political parties would near an understanding. He claimed that the party was ready for CA resurrection or fresh general elections, provided that the an understanding between political parties is made in a package.

Responding to queries on the President’s recent comments and the corresponding clashes between the PM and President over the status and role of the President and the PM, Paudel said that it was natural given the lack of clarity in the Interim Constitution in that regard.