Obama to get invite to file candidacy

Bishnu Prasad Aryal

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture (MoFACAPAC) will be inviting US President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama as well as other peace prize winners for nomination to the Gautam Buddha International Peace Award (GBIPA). Or, it will ask them to recommend suitable candidates.

The government has announced registration of candidacy for the award will begin from July 20 but it has not officially published be announcement. The award, which carries a purse of US$ 50,000 will be given on May 17, 2011 on the occasion of the 2555th Buddha Jayanti for the first time. “The official notification for registering candidacy will be published soon,” said government officials.

The ministry has already dispatched eight letters to different personalities and organisations including Nobel Peace Prize winners since 1983, said Rishi Kesh Niraula, under-secretary at MoFACAPAC. “We are preparing 30 invitations letters for different peace prize winners including US President Barack Obama,” he said. “We will soon dispatch a letter to the US president,” he added.

GBIPA is Nepal’s biggest international award with a purse equal to the Magsaysay Award, known as Asia;s Nobel Prize. An individual or organisation working for Buddhism, peace keeping and human rights will receive the award to every five years.

Along with fresh candidates and organisations, all winners of peace awards including the Nobel Peace Prize, Magsaysay, Indira Gandhi Award and Nehru Award among other international peace prizes, are eligible to file candidacy for the GBIPA, said Niraula. “Either they can file nomination or recommend other,” he said. “However, active politicians are not eligible to apply for the award.”

According to MoFACAPAC, any candidate from across the world can file nomination by October end. The award selection committee headed by Kul Chandra Gautam, former assistant UN General Secretary will select the candidates and recommend

to the cabinet for final

decision.

A grand reception will be held in honour of the winner on May 18, 2011 at Hanumandhoka Durbar Square in Kathmandu.