Nepal president gives parties one week to form government =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday gave political parties a one-week deadline to form a government, a process that has been in limbo since elections in November.

Yadav set a deadline for February 2 for the parties to nominate a prime minister, his office said.

The centrist Nepali Congress - the largest party in parliament - has nominated its president, Sushil Koirala, as its prime ministerial candidate.

Various factors have contributed to the glitches in government formation, including a delay in the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly after parties debated the protocol of who would call the first meeting.

The Constituent Assembly also functions as a parliament and is responsible for drafting a new constitution.

Other delays have been caused by the Nepali Congress, which was unable to choose its parliamentary party leader. It has 196 seats in the 601-member charter writing body.

The Nepali Congress' electoral success dealt a blow to the once-dominant Maoists. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxists Leninists and the Unified Maoist party came in second and third, respectively, in the November polls.

The Maoists waged a civil war from 1996 to 2006 in which more than 16,000 people died. They joined mainstream politics in 2008 through the Constituent Assembly election.

But that assembly was disbanded in May 2012 after failing to achieve consensus on the text despite several extensions, as the parties squabbled over power-sharing and the Himalayan nation was plunged into political paralysis.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Anindita Ramaswamy
Tel: +49 30 2852 31472; <englishservice@dpa.com>

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Nepal doctors return to work as government gives ground on reform =

Kathmandu (dpa) – Hospitals in Nepal resumed normal operations Friday, after doctors ended their strike over health sector reform, the Nepal Medical Association said.

"We have already directed all the doctors nationwide to return to work from this morning after the government agreed to respond to our demands," the association's doctor Narsingh KC said.

The doctors launched their action in support of a surgeon who started a hunger strike two weeks ago demanding an end to political pressure on hospital appointments, and the repeal of a 5-per-cent tax on medical services.

Surgeon Govinda KC, no relation, ended his hunger strike early Friday.

Narsingh KC said the government on Wednesday agreed to reinstate a former dean at Govinda KC's hospital, who the surgeon believed had been replaced due to political pressure.

The government also said it would form a task force to establish a University of Health Science, another of Govinda KC's demands, and roll back a 5-per-cent tax on health services.

The strike had closed out-patient departments at 400 hospitals across Nepal since the weekend.

On Thursday, doctors ran a free health camp in the centre of the capital Kathmandu, although they refused to provide in-house services at the hospitals.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Robin Powell
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>
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Assembly kicks off Nepal's latest attempt to write constitution =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's second constituent assembly opened Wednesday with a mandate to draft the constitution, a work in progress since 2008.

Its Chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa said the people would not be forgiving again and again of politicians' failure to produce a text.

The 601-member body representing 30 parties was elected November 19th, after the first assembly, elected in 2008, was disbanded in May 2012 for failing to write a constitution in time.

Party leaders have said they hope to have a draft by the end of the year.

A new constitution was one of the points in the peace deal signed with the Maoist rebels in 2006 to end a decade-long civil war, but disagreements have persisted over its content.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Chris Dickson
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>

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Doctors in Nepal resign en masse over alleged political meddling =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Some 200 doctors in Nepal resigned Tuesday in support of a colleague who has been on hunger strike for 11 days to protest political interference at hospitals.

The Nepal Medical Association confirmed the move by the doctors from at around 400 hospitals, a day after the Supreme Court ordered them to return to work.  

Govinda KC, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, began the protest after the appointment of a new dean for the facility's Institute of Medicine. KC said he was given the job because of his political connections.

The chairman of the Nepalese cabinet, Khilaraj Regmi, on Tuesday directed the university to scrap the dean's appointment and appealed to KC to end his protest.

The 200 doctors stopped work Sunday in a show of solidarity with KC, leaving only emergency and intensive care units operational at the country's hospitals since.


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- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Benita van Eyssen
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Nepal's new Constituent Assembly sworn in =

Kathmandu (dpa) - The elected members of Nepal's new Constituent Assembly were sworn in on Tuesday, one of the preliminary steps toward the drafting of a new constitution.

The chairman of the assembly, Surya Bahadur Thapa, administered the oath of office to 575 representatives in the presence of President Ram Baran Yadav.

Out of them, 240 were directly elected and 335 were chosen through proportional representation. The remaining 26 members of the 601-member body will be nominated on merit.

Nepal's first Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008, two years after the end of a 10-year civil war, but was dissolved in May after failing to draw up a draft constitution.

The first meeting of the new assembly, due Wednesday, is expected to start dealing with unresolved issues from the previous assembly.

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## dpa Contacts
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- Editing by: Robin Powell
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FEATURE: Nepalis pursue overseas employment despite risks

By Pratibha Tuladhar, dpa =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Seven months ago, Dorje Gurung returned to Nepal from Qatar, where he was imprisoned after a student alleged that he had called him a terrorist.

His documents were confiscated, he was denied several months of salary and incarcerated.

“A student made racist remarks at me in the cafeteria. I told him his calling me names would be the same thing as me stereotyping him and that got me behind the bars,” said Gurung, 44, who was a science teacher there for two years.

Pressure from the Nepali intellectual class managed to secure his release after 12 days, and he was sent home.

Since then, he has been raising funds to educate children of dead migrant workers.

“If an educated person like me could be subject to being imprisoned on false charges, how deep must be the problems facing the other Nepalis in that country, who cannot even communicate properly in a foreign language,” he said.

Gurung met many other Nepalis in prison who said they had been locked up on false grounds.

“The Kafala system in Qatar gives full authority to the employer over the employee, which means the right to the legal documents or even a change of employment can only take place with the employer’s permission,” he explained.

“That has often been termed modern-day slavery.”

Mistreatment or incarceration is far from the worst fate for Nepali migrant workers, up to 1,600 of whom head each day for Malaysia and the Gulf countries, mostly as manual labour.

And every day, the bodies of between two and four dead Nepali workers arrive home at Tribhuvan International Airport, according to Department of Foreign Employment spokesman Divas Acharya.

According to government reports, about 7,500 Nepali migrant workers have died in the major labour destinations in the Gulf and Malaysia since 2000. At least 60 have died within the last four months, the data showed.

When the bodies arrive in Nepal, they are reported by the employers as "natural deaths."

“In Qatar, workers' deaths are mostly reported as cardiac arrest or heat stroke,” said Gurung. “Sometimes, employers say workers went to bed and didn’t wake up, and not all employers abide by the rest period for employees during the day, when the mercury is at its highest.”

In September, Nepal asked Qatar look into the treatment of its workers after reports that 44 of them had died during June-August.

“The Qatar government has stepped up monitoring of their companies and our embassy has reported that things have improved in terms of living conditions of the workers,” Acharya said.

But others including Gurung disagree.

“Nepal government’s presence is weak. Our embassy did nothing for so many innocents, who are still languishing in prison.”

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, young men and women queue up from as early as 10 pm for the offices to open the next morning, so they can apply for passports.

At the Department of Foreign Migration in Kathmandu, hundreds of Nepalis line up every day, shivering in the winter cold, to seek labour permits.

“What can you do in Nepal?” said Mohan Singh Basnet, who has been hopping countries since 2005, in search of work. “Either you have to cheat or you have to have the right connections to get a job.”

“The politicians have no intent of changing things in this country. The political situation is bound to get worse in this country. Where are jobs for people like us?”

“I’ve worked in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. I knew I could die there. But at least I made enough to fend for my family.”

Despite media reports on the deplorable condition of the migrant workers, the labour migration has not slowed.

“I used to work in Kuwait as a maid but moved to Qatar, because I got mistreated by my employers,” said Maya Tamang, whose husband also works in Qatar.

"We can’t live as husband-wife there because of strict laws but at least we’re in the same country instead of being jobless in Nepal.”

Foreign remittance accounts for 28 per cent of Nepal’s GDP.

“Those who apply for these jobs are mostly unskilled and uneducated, which makes them physically, socially and economically vulnerable,” Ganesh Gurung, former member of the National Planning Commission explained.

“The agents sell them hope, saying there’s money abroad and they can take care of their family. And it is easy to sell hope to the hopeless,” said Dorje Gurung.

Some people he met in prison were minors, who had faked documents to get jobs.

“An entire group of construction workers had been jailed on murder charges because their colleague died after they took him to hospital when he fainted,” he said.

One of them, a 22-year-old, has not had any contact with his family since his imprisonment five years ago.

“I had it easy," Gurung said as tears welled up in his eyes. "But there are thousands out there who have lost everything.”  

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## Internet
- [Dorje Gurung blog] (http://dpaq.de/X7fOU)

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## dpa Contacts
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- Editing by: Thomas Long
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>
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Nepalese doctors strike to protest alleged nepotism =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Hundreds of doctors in Nepal went on strike in support of a colleague's hunger strike against alleged political senior hospital appointments, police said Monday.

Three dozen protestors were briefly detained for demonstrating in a prohibited zone after marching toward the government's administrative hub of Singha Durbar, police said.

Doctors stopped providing all but emergency treatment at hospitals across Nepal Sunday to support doctor Govinda KC, whose hunger strike entered its ninth day Monday.

The doctor says the dean of the Institute of Medicine at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital where he works was appointed thanks to his political connections. He has asked the government to revoke the dean's appointment, and reconsider several others.

More than 300 members of the Nepal Medical Association gathered in Kathmandu, saying they would continue their strike unless Govinda KC's demands are fulfilled.

Doctors treating him said his health was failing.

The government has directed Tribhuvan University to reconsider its recent appointments.

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## dpa Contacts
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Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>
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First member of Nepal's new constituent assembly sworn in =

Kathmandu (dpa) - The first member of Nepal's Constituent Asssembly was sworn in Monday, as the body prepares to pick up the task of drafting a constitution, pending since 2008.

Surya Bahadur Thapa, 85, took the oath in front of President Ram Baran Yadav, and was to serve as the assembly's chair until an official speaker is nominated.

Thapa, also the chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantara Party, served as prime minister five times under three different kings.

Nepal's first Constituent Assembly, elected in 2008, was dissolved in May after failing to agree a draft constitution on time.

The country's 10-year civil war ended in 2006, but persistent disagreements have held up the drafting of a new constitution.

The remaining members of the new assembly were to be sworn in on Tuesday, with the first meeting due Wednesday.

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## dpa Contacts

- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Chris Dickson
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>
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Fast, doctors strike held in Nepal to protest political appointees =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Doctors stopped providing all but emergency treatment at hospitals across Nepal Sunday to support a colleague on hunger strike to protest political appointments at hospitals, the Nepal Doctors Association said.

Govinda KC, a doctor at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, started his fast a week ago, asking the government to revoke the appointment of the dean of the university's Institute of Medicine and reconsider other recent appointments.

Doctors said they would continue their strike unless KC's demands are fulfilled.

Doctors attending KC said his health was failing.

The government directed Tribhuvan University to reconsider recent appointments.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Lea Ann Schnakenberg
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Nepal's "living goddesses" to receive allowance after retirement =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's famous Kumaris - prepubescent girls considered to be incarnations of a Hindu goddess - will receive retirement benefits starting June, the government announced on Tuesday.

The provision, which sees former Kumaris receiving a monthly allowance of 10,000 rupees (101 dollars), will benefit around 10 girls who were stripped of the title upon reaching puberty.

"This is a gesture to extend our tribute to the former Kumaris," Kathmandu Metropolitan City chief Laxman Aryal said at a press conference.

The Kumari is a virgin deity, regarded as the protector of the ancient Kingdom of Nepal. The girls are selected at an early age and have to go through rituals to attain the title, including spending time in seclusion.

The tradition is a controversial one, with rights activists criticizing the practice of installing the girls at such an early age. Kumaris received no formal education before 2008.

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- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Friederike Heine
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Nepal's highest court rejects blanket amnesty plan =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's Supreme Court said on Thursday it had asked the government to amend an ordinance calling for a blanket amnesty in cases relating to the country's decade-long Maoist uprising.

The Maoist insurgency, between 1996 and 2006, ended with the signing of a peace pact. More than 16,000 people died in the war, and there were more than 1,200 forced disappearances.

The ordinance has been criticized by human rights activists and the international community because it proposed an amnesty for all crimes committed during the period of conflict.

The National Human Rights Commission objected to it, saying it breached international standards.

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## dpa Contacts
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- Editing by: Andrew Bolton
Tel: +49 30 2852 31472; <englishservice@dpa.com>

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