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| Kathmandu, Saturday April 05, 2003 Chaitra 22, 2059. |
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Let’s make peace process
a success: His Majesty
By Akhanda Bhandari & Chitranga Thapa
DHANGADI, Kailali, April 4 : His Majesty King
Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev has called upon all political parties and civil society to
make the peace process a success.
The king warned that it would be "against
the desire of Nepali people" if any obstacles were created from any quarters.
HM King Gyanendra was addressing a civic
reception held in honour of Their Majesties on behalf of the people in the Far-Western
Region.
"As we all are fully committed to the
multiparty democracy, our attention should be focused on how we can lead the country and
people towards the height of prosperity as soon as possible," His Majesty the King
said. "Sincere efforts must be made to ensure lasting peace, which is the
precondition for achieving this goal."
The king reiterated his full commitment to the
multiparty democracy in his brief written statement.
Hinting at the political parties’ growing
suspicion over the participation in the governance, the king said, "Let us hope that
people-oriented goals are achieved through active involvement of the political parties and
elected representatives under the multiparty democratic system."
The king stressed that people must be assured of
good governance, corruption-free administration and "genuine governance of the
people" accountable to the people, saying that importance of national unity has
further increased at a time when the world has passed through difficult situation.
"There is only one alternative left for
Nepal and the Nepalis, that is to save the country from destruction at this decisive
moment," His Majesty the King said, "Otherwise, we will be ashamed about
ourselves, and will be denounced in the future."
He said that the existing close relation between
the king and people has helped keep self-esteem of the country and maintain its
independent identity intact. The king’s statement further says, "The close
relation cultivated between the king and the people based on mutual friendliness and
confidence is the unique basis of being a Nepali."
People’s full confidence on the monarchy
and the latter’s absolute dedication to the people have been able to preserve the
self-esteem of the country and its independent identity in all phases of history.
"It is the unchangeable commitment of the
monarchy to move ahead in accordance with the people’s consent," the king said.
"It is the only one goal of ours to make the people happy through multiparty
democracy, assure the bright future to the young generation and secure a dignified
position of Nepal in the world community."
The king also emphasised on the need for
"people-oriented" culture in the administration and "moral values" in
politics.
In this context, the king also reminded his
public speech in Biratnagar on January 3 when he stressed that national agenda should be
on free market economy, good governance, transparency and rule of law free from
corruption.
Although ideological difference and competition
are quite but natural in multiparty democracy, the king said that patriotism should be the
meeting point.
"The monarchy which is dedicated to the
country and people and, the people who possess a culture of loyalty to the monarchy are
the glorious past of the Nepal’s history," said the king, "This is also the
present and the future reality." His Majesty the King said that the international
community has once again held its "confidence" over the efforts of reforms that
have been taking place at the moment. "We must not miss this opportunity this
time."
A large number of people, mainly from all the
districts in the far-western region, had thronged here to listen to his speech and fresh
announcement of development packages for the region lagging far behind in terms of
development compared to other regions.
Feeling the pulses of the people, the king said,
"Top priority should be given to overall development of the region, which has
remained far behind in comparison to other parts from development point of view." He
also admitted the fact that it has already become late to pay attention to the country’s
development. "Other countries who took steps of development along with us have made
tremendous progress, but we are still far behind," said the king.
Earlier, presenting a letter of felicitation to
the king on behalf of the of the people in the far-western region, chairman of the civic
reception committee Nain Bahadur Swanr blamed the regional imbalance for the root causes
of present anomalies. He said that national resources were allocated making population a
determining factor, rather than the region.
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