Valley
PM sticks to his guns
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has stood firm on the government’s move to restrict demonstrations at public places in Kathmandu including the Maitighar Mandala.Tika R Pradhan
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has stood firm on the government’s move to restrict demonstrations at public places in Kathmandu including the Maitighar Mandala.
PM Oli’s statement comes at a time when the Supreme Court has issued an interim order against the government not to implement its decision to ban protests at public places including the Mandala.
During an interaction in Baluwatar with Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmakers representing Province 2, PM Oli on Saturday raised questions over the activities of Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging an indefinite hunger strike in Jumla against the proposed legislation that fails to recognise several deals reached by successive governments with him.
Without naming Dr KC, PM Oli questioned his protests. “How can a person paid with taxpayers’ money call the government autocratic without doing his assigned duty?” lawmaker Suman Pyakurel quoted the PM as saying at the meeting.
Hinting at the decisions of the judiciary, PM Oli told the lawmakers that the three organs of state have definite roles to play without infringing upon another’s jurisdiction. According to Pyakurel, the PM also clarified that the demand for more medical colleges outside Kathmandu valley was good but it was inappropriate to limit the number of such facilities in Kathmandu.
Oli is learned to have argued that more medical colleges are required at home since more than 4,000 students leave the country in pursuit of medical degrees every year.
Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokhrel registered the National Medical Education Bill in Parliament on Friday. The bill seeks to open more medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley, a restriction imposed by the Medical Education Ordinance which became void on July 4.
The opposition Nepali Congress has vowed to foil the bill in Parliament.