Despite their resounding victory under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist failed to achieve an absolute majority in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. 

As the vote counts both in first-past-the-post and proportional representation system are almost finished, the Maoists have become just the largest party, failing to garner a clear majority in overall seats.

As of this evening, under the direct election, the Maoists have secured 120 seats of the total 240 seats. Similarly, in the ongoing vote counts under the PR system, the former rebels have so far secured just 30.31 per cent votes, which comes around 101 to 102 seats of the total 335 seats allocated under the PR system.

In such a condition, the Maoists may require at least 80 seats more to get the absolute majority, including 26 members to be appointed from different sectors and marginalised groups of society by the government.

Similarly, the major ruling parties -- the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML -- have secured just 37 and 33 seats, respectively, under the FPTP electoral system. Whereas, each of them have secured 21.38 and 20.7 per cent votes under the PR system that counts around 71/72 and 69, respectively. It means the NC and the UML may get around 211 seats altogether.

Likewise, three major Terai-based parties -- the Madheshi People’s Rights Forum, the Terai-Madheshi Democratic Party and the Sadbhavana Party -- have secured 43 seats under the direct election and about to secure around 24 seats extra from the PR system.

In such a condition, the Maoists will have to buy support from either of the Nepali Congress or the UML to form the government easily under their leadership. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the Maoists to lead the government to be formed shortly after the completion of the election result.

Kathmandu, April 21
Nepal’s embattled King Gyanendra has no plans to seek exile in India following the surprise victory of Maoists in Nepal polls, the royal palace has said, dismissing reports that the monarch has sought asylum abroad.

The reports, which appeared in national and international media saying the King has sought refuge in India, were totally “false and fabricated”, Narayanhiti Royal Palace said in a statement yesterday.

The King has no immediate plan either to vacate the Narayanhiti Palace or to leave the country to take refuge in India, a palace official said. “It will be pre-mature to talk about the King leaving the palace and going to India in exile. Let the legal procedure take its course,” the official added.

Maoist chief Prachanda yesterday met Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shanker Mukherjee apparently to discuss a “graceful exit” for King Gyanendra after the party won the landmark Constituent Assembly election. — PTI 

Muzaffarabad, April 21
The Pakistan-based commander of the biggest Kashmiri guerrilla group derided today a peace process between Pakistan and India and vowed to continue a “holy war” against India.

Syed Salahuddin, the supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, said the Kashmir issue had never been treated as a “core issue” in peace talks.

“We are peace-loving people but we cannot promote a peace process at the cost of our martyrs,” Salahuddin, who is also head of a militant alliance, told a rally in Muzaffarabad, capital of the occupied Kashmir.

The rally by the militants, attended by about 1,000 people, was the first in many years and was held just few weeks after a new government took power in Pakistan.

Salahuddin’s comments came a month before foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee was due in Islamabad for a review of the peace process.

Salahuddin said militants would continue jihad, or Muslim holy war, until Kashmir was “free” of Indian rule.

“We want to convey a message to the ... political and religious leadership in Pakistan and at the same time to the Indian rulers that until every single inch of Kashmir is freed from New Delhi’s slavery, our struggle will continue with full force,” he said.

Pakistan supported the guerrillas fighting Indian rule in Kashmir during the 1990s, but after the September 11 attacks on the United States, President Pervez Musharraf took steps to rein in the militants.

Pakistan’s new government has said it aims to continue the peace process with India.

Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi referred today to the talks with India as “a step in the right direction”. — Reuters

The Balochistan government on Monday decided to withdraw all cases against Baloch nationalist leader and former chief minister Akhtar Mengal.

The Balochistan chief minister took the decision at a meeting in Quetta and decided to withdraw cases against Mengal and his colleagues. The cases include committing sedition, fomenting violence and attempting to undermine the unity of the federation.

Mengal, who is currently in a Karachi jail facing trial an anti-terrorist court, may not be released immediately. The Karachi case was filed by a security agency accusing Mengal of putting under illegal detention intelligence agents who were deputed to spy on Mengal’s activities.

The Baloch leader was arrested two years ago on the orders of the then director-general military intelligence, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ijaz. He was produced in an anti-terrorist court in an iron cage. He was an accused because his guards detained some intelligence officials who were trying to shadow and harass him and his school-going children.

On April 5, 2006, while Mengal was taking his son to a school in Karachi, two motorcyclists followed his car. On his way back home, still being followed, Akhtar stopped his car and asked them as to who they were and why he was being followed, and what they wanted of him. They failed to give any satisfactory answer. 

An anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi on Monday declared tribal militant leader Baitullah Mehsud a proclaimed offender as alleged mastermind of assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

The court adjourned the hearing of the case till May 10 due to absence of counsel for prosecution. Bailtullah Mehsud was declared proclaimed offender for his persistent absence from the proceedings in the court. Other accused, mostly teenagers, were present in the court.

The tribal militant, Bailtullah Mehsud, who is accused of masterminding the murder, is currently in the tribal belt along the Afghanistan border leading bands of pro-Taliban militants against whom Pakistan army is continuing military operation. Mehsud sent a special message to PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari assuring him that he is not involved in the murder. He further asserted that killing a woman was against tribal tradition.

Meanwhile, the parents of 15-year old accused Aitzaz Shah, Rifaqat and Hasnain, staged a demonstration outside Zardari's residence, claiming that their son had been wrongly implicated in the murder to protect the real assassins. 

Islamabad, April 21
Pakistan today test-fired the Shaheen-II long-range ballistic missile for the second time in three days that can carry nuclear and conventional warheads and hit targets deep inside India. The Shaheen-II or Hatf-VI surface-to-surface nuclear capable missile, which has a range of 2,000 km, was launched for the first time by the army’s Strategic Forces Command to mark the culmination of a field training exercise.

All previous launches of the Shaheen-II were conducted by defence scientists and engineers. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had witnessed the last test of the Shaheen-II on Saturday.

Pakistan Navy chief Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, who witnessed the launch along with senior military officials and personnel from strategic organisations, said the country’s nuclear capability “formed the bedrock of Pakistan’s security policy and will continue to be enhanced”.

Tahir appreciated the efforts of civilian and military personnel that had made it possible for “Pakistan to fully consolidate and operationalise its nuclear capability”, said a statement issued by the military. — PTI

London, April 21
Britain is planning to scrap a law that allows the daughter of a monarch to make way for her younger brother in the succession to the country’s throne. According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, ending the rule of primogeniture set down under the provisions of the 1701 Act of Settlement, the British government wants to give women equal rights to succeed the throne.

However, the change would not affect the current line of succession, but would mean that if Prince William have a daughter and then a son, his daughter would become the Queen. — PTI

BRIEFLY

South Korea has new bird flu case
SEOUL: South Korea on Monday said that it planned to cull a record 5.3 million birds as it announced its 17th case of bird flu in three weeks, in what has become the country's fastest and biggest outbreak of avian influenza. South Korea has culled 4.86 million chickens and ducks since the beginning of April, as the highly virulent H5N1 strain, first reported in the southwest, has been confirmed in five provinces. — Reuters

Madonna tops UK charts for 13th time
LONDON: Pop diva Madonna has set a record by topping the British singles charts with her 13th number one, the most by any female solo artist. Her new track, 4 Minutes, which features Justin Timberlake, pushed Estelle's, American Boy, featuring Kanye West, which had dominated the charts for the preceding four weeks, into second position. — AFP

Men drivers behave like cavemen
LONDON: Ever wondered why most men show more aggressiveness while driving than the fair sex? Well, a study has uncovered the reasons for their different behaviour, males are cavemen on roads. Prof Geoffrey Beattie of Manchester University has found that the way in which men and women drive is actually a legacy of their primitive past, British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, reported on Monday. — PTI

Obama hauls in $42.8 m in March
WASHINGTON: US democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $ 42 million in campaign donations in March, his campaign reported. The Illinois senator hauled in $ 42.8 million in the scramble for cash ahead of a showdown with rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, the campaign said in a monthly finance report on Sunday filed with the US Federal Election Commission. — Reuters

An island in US to become parkland
NEW YORK: It's a priceless piece of real estate largely unknown to New York's 8 million inhabitants. From its shore, visitors can see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Brooklyn Bridge. Situated in the middle of New York harbour, just a half mile from lower Manhattan, Governors Island is about to undergo an extensive makeover that would turn much of it into lush parkland. — AP