Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar has remarked that the directly elected executive head is not suitable for the country. He added that introducing a form of government with a directly elected president or prime minister is like ‘walking the opposite direction’.

Gachhadar justified his statement by saying that it would be futile to talk about directly elected executive head at a time when the country has already opted a form of government in which the power has been decentralised to the local levels.

Talking to journalists at a press conference in Biratnagar on Tuesday, the Nepali Congress leader said: “There was a long struggle in the country against the centralised governing system. The newly promulgated constitution drafted by Constitution Assembly decentralised the power from Singha Durbar to village, wards and municipalities.” He added that it would not be a good idea to centralise power once again to the directly elected executive.

Gachhadar further said that such a governing system cannot truly represent different ethnic backgrounds and diversified population existing in the country.

“The country has opted federalism as per the new constitution,” said Gachhadar, ruling out the possibility of having a directly elected executive head saying it would be a threat to democracy.

In a different note, DPM Gachhadar said that he hasn’t given up on his demand for carving out a separate state by incorporating Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts.

Talking about security threats to candidates in the wake of frequent bomb attacks on candidates in the run up to the election, leader Gachhadar acknowledged minor violent incidents and said stern security measures have been put in place to ward off the threats.