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Kathmandu Friday March 09, 2001 Falgun 26, 2057.
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PM Koirala
returns, denies talks a failure Minister Joshi likely to be dropped
By Satish Jung Shahi
KATHMANDU, March 8 – Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala who returned from his four-day official visit to France
today denied reports that he had failed in his stated goal of putting Nepal in the
priority list of French aid recipient nations. Koirala, instead, countered that the visit
had been "highly successful."
The Prime Minister also reacted strongly to
reports that Local Development Minister Govinda Raj Joshi faced disciplinary action by
Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the constitutionally empowered
anti-corruption body, and indicated that he should resign. But Koirala directed his fire
mostly to negative press coverage, both here and in France, of his official visit.
"I don’t know which international
press you looked at…The main thing is France is positive and has committed to give
attention on providing aid to Nepal as a Least Developed Country (LDC)," PM Koirala
told reporters at the VVIP chamber in the Tribhuvan International Airport after his
arrival. "...France has also committed to place a proposal and back Nepal (to the
idea of placing Nepal as a LDC) at a meeting of the European Commission."
"France has said that they will do
anything as per their policy on Nepal and will further enhance the policy at a bilateral
manner...The visit was highly successful," PM Koirala said.
However, the PM is still facing trouble here
on issues that had been haunting him prior to his visit that marked the second visit to
the European republic by a Nepali PM.
When asked what PM Koirala’s action is
going to be on the request made by the nation’s top constitutional anti-corruption
body to initiate action against Minister Govinda Raj Joshi over his involvement in the
irregularities in the selection of teachers, PM Koirala hinted that he is going to ask
Minister Joshi to resign.
"I’ll see the CIAA’s action as
I have been waiting on my case. You have to ask this to the main opposition, CPN-UML who
are stalling the Parliament...We have been saying, I will resign when the Court or the
CIAA charges me of corruption," PM Koirala said.
"I will not stand as the Prime Minister
even for a minute if the Court or the CIAA files any case against me. This is the
principle of the Nepali Congress as well as democratic norms and all my friends whether
they are Ministers or not will follow it," PM Koirala said.
"...We’ll never influence the
independent judiciary," PM Koirala added.
The CIAA has charged Joshi, Minister for
Local Development in the present Cabinet, of exercising his rights willfully in connection
with the selection of primary, lower secondary and secondary school teachers in 1996/1997
thereby creating confusion in the education sector and eroding the people’s faith in
government functioning. Minister Joshi was the Education Minister at the time the charges
were made.
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