Washington meet calls for restoration of democracy
A meeting of Nepali political leaders
and academicians in Washington D. C. last week has demanded immediate restoration
of multi-party democracy in Nepal and extended full support for ongoing
peoples’ movement for democracy.
The meet concluded that national sovereignty should rest fully with
the people of Nepal and that the sovereign people should themselves decide
the role of monarchy. The conference called upon the CPN (Maoists) to commit
to lay down arms and pledge unconditional commitment to multi party
democracy, and pluralism, and respect for human
rights.
The political parties should commit themselves to full internal
democracy, inclusive people-centered politics and healthy democratic
practices and a negotiated
settlement is necessary to
end the current conflict, the
delegates said.
All possible support should be extended for bringing the three
protagonists for a peaceful resolution to the current conflict, said
delegates taking part in the two-day workshop on Opportunities and Challenges for Nepali
Political Parties (Oct. 22-23) conducted in Washington, D. C. by Liberal
Democracy Nepal (LDN), a network of Nepali intelligentsia based in the US.
The representatives from Nepal included
Dr. Ram. S. Mahat, Chakra Bastola, Jhala Nath Khanal, Pari Thapa, Ashok Rai,
Dr. Minendra Rijal, Bilmalendra Nidhi, Anil Jha, Dhruba Pradhan, and Padma
Ratna Tuladhar. The participating members of Nepal Diaspora included
several members of LDN, friends of LDN, community leaders and invited
participants from the Washington Metropolitan area. In addition, a panel on
the UN’s possible role was also organized with the Assistant
Secretary-General of the UN and Deputy Executive Director of the UNICEF Kul
C. Gautam as a keynote speaker. UN’s conflict expert Samuel
Tamrat also spoke and joined the panel discussion.
Nepali delegates,
except Tuladhar, represented six political parties (Nepali Congress,
Communist Party of Nepal UML, Nepali congress – Democratic, Rastriya
Prajatantra Party, Jana Morcha Nepal, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A)), who were
on a visit to USA at the invitation of The Carter
Center.
In a separate event, Baltimore America Nepali Association
(BANA) organized a town hall meeting in Baltimore on October 22 to allow the
local community to have an open forum with the delegates. The town hall was
attended by dozens of participants. The political leaders from Nepal
gave their perspective on the current political condition in Nepal.
The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer session
between the delegates and town hall meeting attendees, reports
said. nepalnews.com by Oct 31 05
