Nepal Parliament passes bills to control insurgency

KATHMANDU, AUG. 12. Nepal's Parliament today passed two crucial bills aimed at controlling the Maoist insurgency that has battered the Himalayan Kingdom and at enforcing law and order.

One bill allows for the creation of an armed police force of 15,500 armed policemen. The force is intended to combat the Maoist insurgency which has claimed over 1,800 lives in Nepal since it was launched in 1996 to push for Communist rule to replace the constitutional monarchy.

The other bill was an amendment to the Administrative Act and allows five special class regional administrators to mobilise the Army and police to counter Maoist activity without requiring orders from the Central administration, a Home Ministry official said.

The bills were passed by both the Houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba's personal secretary, Mr. Ratan Iyer, said.

They now have to be sent to the King for the royal seal to convert them into acts.

Both the bills had been announced as ordinances by the late King Birendra before the last winter parliamentary session but former the Prime Minister, Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala, had failed to table them because of opposition from rival parties.

- AFP

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Section  : International
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