Nepal's Vice-President Paramananda Jha, who has been asked by the Supreme Court to retake his oath of office in Nepali language by coming Saturday, met the Prime Minister and the President on Tuesday and discussed the oath he had taken in Hindi a year ago.
President Ram Baran Yadav called Mr. Jha to his office and reportedly asked him to respect the Supreme Court's order. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal also reportedly told him the same.
The Supreme Court had earlier said Mr. Jha's oath was “unconstitutional”. As per the interim constitution, the Vice-President is required to take the oath in Nepali, the only language used in government business so far.
Meanwhile, Madhesh-based parties of the country like MadhesiJanadhikar Forum (MJF), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Loktantrik (MJFL),Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party (TMLP) and others have maintained thatthe Supreme Court's decision is biased. MJF Chairman Upendra Yadavsays it would be better for the Vice President to resign rather thantake the oath again. "There's no provision for re-taking the oath inthe constitution," he says.
The TMLP Chairman Mahanta Thakur says theconstitution should be amended rather than making the Vice Prez takeoath again.A close aide of Mr. Jha told The Hindu that Mr. Jha would resign. “He will probably use Hindi language while announcing resignation.”
UNMIN charge
The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) which has thejob of monitoring Maoist combatants and their weapons has said the Maoists have violated the peace deal.
Police on Monday had arrested 19 combatants of the People's LiberationArmy (PLA) from an area outside the cantonment with nine weapons whichUNMIN had allowed to use in providing perimeter security at thecantonment in Kapilvastu."
The UNMIN expresses serious concern at the incident, which violatescommitments made in the Agreement on the Monitoring of the Managementof Arms and Armies of December 2006 signed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Interim Government," says a press statementissued by UNMIN on Tuesday.
The agreement does not allow unauthorised movement of the formercombatants, use of weapons allowed to be used for perimeter securityoutside the cantonment, and unauthorised troop movements.
The UNMIN has said it will raise this matter with the Joint MonitoringCoordination Committee (JMCC) which is responsible for supervisingcompliance with the implementation of the Agreement on the Monitoringof the Management of Arms and Armies.Meanwhile, the PLA personnel have been released and the weapons sentback to the cantonment.
