Miscellaneous
Ministers flayed for ‘anti-charter’ acts
Lawmakers from the opposition Nepali Congress on Tuesday accused the government of tolerating some high position holders who have publicly gone against the constitution, demanding their immediate resignation.Lawmakers from the opposition Nepali Congress on Tuesday accused the government of tolerating some high position holders who have publicly gone against the constitution, demanding their immediate resignation.
Speaking during the discussion on the appropriation bill at the Legislature-Parliament on Tuesday, Nepali Congress lawmaker Ram Hari Khatiwada heavily came down on “leaders flouting the spirit of the constitution” and urged the government to immediately relieve them of their duties.
“We have some leaders in our very own Cabinet that have openly vouched against the constitution,” said Khatiwada. His jabs seemed to have been pointed at Deputy Prime Minister duo Kamal Thapa and Chitra Bahadur KC.
Kamal Thapa’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal have long been demanding that monarchy be reinstated and Nepal be renamed a Hindu country. On Monday, Minister for Land Reform and Management Ram Kumar Subba, an RPP-Nepal leader, said that he would resign if that helped reinstate monarchy.
Khatiwada accused some of the Cabinet members of also using the state coffers to support anti-constitutional activities. Without mentioning names, he said: “These very leaders are the ones who enjoy state facilities, take trips abroad at
the state’s expense, and supposedly represent the first government after the promulgation of the constitution.”
KC’s Rastriya Janamorcha has recently announced a series of rallies across the country to campaign against federalism.
NC lawmaker Arjun Prasad Joshi also warned Cabinet members, who have taken oath by the new constitution, to refrain from such “anti-national activities”. “We would want these anti-charter elements to leave the government to facilitate implementation of the constitution,” he said.
In response, Janamorcha lawmaker Durga Poudel refuted the charges, claiming that they were basically just exercising their rights. “The constitution allows us to have different opinions and our campaign against federalism falls within our rights,” said Poudel.
The new constitution says that the country is a federal democratic republic and is secular.