Miscellaneous
PM Koirala addresses 69th UNGA
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has said that political parties in Nepal including the Maoists are working together to have a democratic constitution promulgated through the elected CA.Addressing to the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly this morning, the prime minister said, "My government remains committed to take the parties both within and outside the CA on board within the framework of constitutionalism, political pluralism and the rule of law to put the country on the path of peace, stability, development and democratic system of governance."
Koirala said that Nepal's unwavering faith and long struggle for a democratic system of governance has given us strength for mainstreaming the armed Maoist rebels into a peaceful democratic process and lead a successful transition from autocratic monarchy to democratic republican order, thereby setting unique models.
During his address to the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Koirala said that Nepalis greatly appreciate India and China, the United Nations and friends and well wishers in the international community at large for their support and solidarity to the peace process and development efforts.
The prime minister said that as a least developed and landlocked country, Nepal faces structural constraints, capacity gaps and pervasive and complex development challenges.
Prime Minister Koirala underlined the urgency for addressing the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and to support them with enhanced provision of resources for inclusive development and called upon the international community particularly donors to fulfill all the commitments made in favour of LDCs. "We underline the timely, full and effective implementation of Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs," the PM added.
Further raising the concerns of the LDCs in the UN General Assembly, the PM called for the immediate implementation of duty free and quota free market access for LDCs' products to enable them reap benefits from the global trading system.
Saying that Nepal aims to graduate from LDC status by 2022, the PM added an enhanced level of international support to build Nepal's productive capacity, improvement in supply side capacity and minimizing shocks and vulnerabilities and, above all, bringing about structural transformation will be critical to meet this target.
On climate change, PM Koirala said it was an irony that the world’s most vulnerable countries happen to be the worst victims of climate change for no fault of theirs and urged for special provisions for climate financing, additional to regular ODA, for addressing the mitigation and adaptation needs of the least developed countries and Small Island Developing States.
Saying that democracy was indispensible for peace, progress, stability, and prosperity, the PM said peace, democracy and sustainable development are inextricably linked and mutually reinforcing. "Development is not possible in the absence of peace, which, in turn, cannot be attained in the absence of democracy. Political instability and lack of democratic institutionalization stood on our way of harnessing rich potentials of hydropower, and tourism in the country," he argued.