Miscellaneous
27 Congress MPs from Tarai want amendment
As many as 27 Nepali Congress lawmakers from the Tarai have stood in favour of the constitution amendment bill registered in Parliament.Sarin Ghimire
As many as 27 Nepali Congress lawmakers from the Tarai have stood in favour of the constitution amendment bill registered in Parliament.
Objecting to the protest against the bill led by the main opposition CPN-UML in various parts of the country, the lawmakers urged the second largest party to assist the ruling coalition in passing the amendments.
“NC lawmakers welcome the amendment bill. This will help address the demands of Madhes and create an environment for holding the elections,” the lawmakers said
in a statement jointly issued on Thursday.
“The way a responsible political organisation such as the UML is obstructing Parliament and promoting violent protests across the country, instead of moving ahead with the statute amendment bill, implies that the party is not in favour of elections,” the lawmakers said.
They argued that the new federal delineation proposed by the government was identical to the one agreed upon by the late Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli. “How can the same proposal that they signed be anti-national now?” the lawmakers questioned.
NC leader Farmullah Mansoor expressed his confidence that the amendment bill would help bring the disgruntled forces back to the political mainstream. He said it was also the responsibility of the NC, the largest party, to address the concerns raised by the Madhes-based forces.
“When the statute was promulgated last year, we urged our leadership to safeguard the rights of the Madhesis, Muslims, Janajatis and the Tharus. We wanted a more progressive statute but that was not the case. Then-PM Koirala had said that since it had taken too long to bring out the constitution, we will support it now and gradually address the grievances through amendments,” Mansoor told the Post. “The first amendment was also part of the whole idea to establish the rights of minorities,” said the lawmaker from Bara.
Kiran Yadav, Congress lawmaker from Mahottari, said the amendment bill has tried to address most concerns of the disgruntled forces. “The document can never satisfy 100 percent of the population, but this is a positive step towards solving the crisis facing the country,” said Yadav.
NC lawmakers Mahendra Yadav, Tejulal Chaudhary, Ganesh Kumar Mandal, Mansoor and Kiran are among those who signed the statement.
Deuba talks polls with UN officials
Kathmandu: Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had a meeting with United Nations Resident Coordinator Valerie Julliand and Craig Jenness, director of the Electoral Assistance Division at the Department of Political Affairs with the UN Secretariat in New York, at his residence in Budhanilkantha on Thursday, the NC said in a statement on Thursday.
The trio is said to have discussed Nepal’s political situation and the prospects of holding local elections within the next five months. Acknowledging the role of the UN in Nepal’s peace process, Deuba expressed the government’s readiness to hold the local polls around March-April.
He said the constitution amendment bill registered in Parliament would address the demands of the Madhesi and Janajati forces, expressing his hope that the disgruntled forces would participate in the elections. The chief of a ruling party said the
government was in the final stage of formulating laws necessary for the polls. (PR)