Appeal To Opposition

IF there were any lingering doubts as to whether Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala had the full backing of his party or not, the outcome of the two-day special meeting of the ruling party that concluded Monday should banish them. The meeting concluded by passing unanimously a resolution giving full support to Mr. Koirala in dealing with the present political impasse. Nepal’s political scene is currently pathetically stuck in the groove of Opposition demand for prime minister’s resignation. The demand for his ouster has resulted in continuous disruption of the parliamentary proceedings for over a month. The public has been witness, day after day, to the unsavoury spectacle of a dysfunctional parliament. Nepal’s parliament these days run like this: The House opens, there is much shouting, and then the session is adjourned. Parliamentarians go home to come back the next day for a re-run. Bills awaiting since long to be presented to the parliamentary table are languishing. Burning issues of the day keep burning without them being discussed in the House. The four-point resolution passed by the meeting advised the prime minister not to resign by giving in to the Opposition parties’ what it called unethical pressure. The meeting also appealed to all the Opposition parties in the parliament to end the existing stalemate in the House and asked them to help pass the long-awaited, important bills some of which were seeking passage for maintaining peace and security in the country and fighting corruption. Indeed, the parliamentary session should be allowed to sit for discussing the problems facing the nation, and should not be stopped to do the main task i.e. legislating. By effectively turning the House into a place for shouting match and rendering it totally hamstrung, the Opposition members of parliament are doing a disservice to the nation and democracy. This is not to argue that they do not have a right to call for a prime minister’s resignation. Indeed, they have every right to do so. But such demands must go side by side with the participation in the business of the House. Politicking and the serious business of legislating that the people elected the members of parliament for, must go hand in hand. A sense of sanity must be brought back to the House.

Trade Union Partnership

MINISTER for Labour and Transport Palten Gurung inaugurating the three-day regional workshop of trade union representatives from South Asia in Kathmandu the other day has said that building a global partnership of trade unions is important for sharing experiences and exchanging cooperation to strengthen the trade union movement in the world. The workshop was organised by International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on " Building global Social Partnership: Ten Trade Union Paradigm for the 21st Century", which seeks to create international network and partnership in order to strengthen the trade union movement. The ten trade union paradigms for building social partnership, as workshop has proposed, are peace, security, disarmament, working environment, and nature conservation, political economic and social democracy, the future of trade union movement, legal framework with international labour standards, right to social safety nets, industrial relation and good governance, equality, new global financial structure with human dignity and trade union option in a changing economic environment. In fact these ten paradigm are very important and crucial at the present global scenario in order to ensure sustainable social, economic and industrial growth as well as to protect the rights of the workers. Trade Unions have been working in these issues for long. There is no shade of doubt that trade unions play a crucial role in maintaining good relations with industrial sector and workers, raising industrial production and protecting and promoting rights and welfare of the workers. It is also true that unless there is a smooth and good relations between the management and the workers, industrial sector cannot achieve the desired result. In fact, trade unions play important role in maintaining cordial relations between the management and workers, which is the main prerequisite for industrial growth. Although the trade union movement of Nepal is relatively young, it is gaining ground after the restoration of democracy. Nepalese trade unions have played crucial role not only in protecting the rights of the workers but also have contributed to political, social and economic changes and development in the country. The issues the regional workshop has raised now are so important that they must be addressed positively not only to strengthen the trade union movement but also for the sustainable social, economic and industrial growth and development. The global partnership of trade unions is important and necessary in order to build and develop capability of young trade unions especially in the developing countries like Nepal. Thus, the workshop like the one being held in Kathmandu is very appropriate, which helps in building network of trade unions and protect labour rights.