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Kathmandu Friday February 08, 2002 Magh 26, 2058.
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PM says it again: No need for Constituent
Assembly
King to be consulted on constitutional amendments
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 7: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur
Deuba on Thursday stressed that he would first consult with His Majesty the King on the
need for constitutional amendments, while reiterating that there was no need for a
Constituent Assembly, as demanded by the now-outlawed Maoists before they broke off the
four-month old truce in November last year.
He was speaking to members of the parliamentary
Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee (FAHRC) who had summoned him today to the
Parliament premises to get details of incidents since the imposition of emergency in the
country.
When the Committee members pointed out that the
Constitution has no provision for mandatory consultation with the King, Deuba emphasised
that there was "no harm" in consulting the Monarch. "It’s a matter of
feelings," he said, adding that His Majesty too was part of the Constitution,
"an institution in itself".
While speaking about the emergency, the Prime
Minister reiterated that it needed to be prolonged as it was having a positive impact. He
pointed out the many "advantages" that came with emergency such as procuring
private helicopters, trucks and buses easily for the use of security forces. He added that
even the Maoists’ threat on the country’s judiciary has been removed after the
imposition of emergency.
He sought the opposition’s co-operation in
endorsing the emergency in the Parliament. The emergency has to be passed by a two-thirds
majority by (Falgun 10) February 22. Speaking about the directives to be issued under
Article 115 (7) of the Constitution on the "dos and don’ts", he said it
would be done the very next day of the emergency proposal being endorsed.
Replying on the possibility of the security
forces’ carrying out anti-Maoist operations even without the emergency cover, Deuba
said that he would "hold in camera discussions with all the party leaders" on
the issue. He declined to elaborate.
On the members’ concern over the violation
of human rights, the PM assured that the government was alert so as not to let any misuse
of emergency powers by the security forces. Earlier, while reading out his statement, he
had made the same observation.
He also denied any "deliberate
disappearance" of arrested individuals and stressed that innocents are being released
after due investigation.
Some members of the FAHRC pointed out to the PM
that his ministers were indulging in corruption, and asked him to take action against
them. In reply, Deuba said that he could not act merely on the basis of rumours. Instead,
he revealed that the government was introducing a very strong Bill to combat corruption,
and asked the opposition to help pass the Bill in the forthcoming session of Parliament
beginning Sunday.
Throughout his grilling by the members, the PM
kept repeating that the Maoists had betrayed his faith that a solution can be arrived at
only through dialogue. Deuba insisted that the rebels ought to lay down their arms before
the government could hold talks with them again. He also ignored some members’
observation that as head of the high-level committee to resolve the Maoist problem, he had
suggested continuing with the talks even after initial failure.
He also refuted any "foreign hand"
behind the Maoists.
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