NATIONAL 4 - (Spotlight Weekly)

‘The Parliament is not going to Run Smoothly’

— MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL

Leader of the main opposition and UML general secretary, MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL, addressed reporters at the Press Chautari on the eve of the 20th session of the Parliament and also responded to their questions. Follows excerpts of the press meet:

What would be the role of your party in the upcoming House session?

The present session of the parliament too is not likely to run smoothly. I can't say right now if we would be disrupting the proceedings of the House as in the 19th session. We are discussing the issue within our own party as well as with other opposition parties. We also want to consult the people. Right now, we have a Prime Minister, which is quite unpopular and has lost people's faith. (So). The Prime Minister has no way out than to resign from his post. We will present ourselves in a strong, effective, aggressive and rational way in the parliament. We will play our role to remove this incompetent, inefficient and corrupt government as desired by the people.

What will be the main issues that your party will be raising?

Nobody has taken up responsibility for the Narayanhiti killings on June 1st. As the Prime Minister in charge of royal palace portfolio also, Mr. Koirala must take responsibility for it and quit the post. This will be a major issue in the forthcoming session. Similarly, we will raise the issue of autocratic nature of the government. We will continue to raise the issue of corruption in Lauda Air deal as we did in the 19th session.

How do you see the recently enacted Public Security Regulations?

The government is gradually losing the capability to tolerate criticism. The Public Security Regulations, 2001 is an outcome of such state of affairs. The government has also taken into custody to take revenge. This Regulations has been enforced with a view to oppress the opposition. This is a step toward regression.

How do you see the attempt to implicate CIAA chief in a corruption case?

The attempt to implicate chief of the Commission for Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Surya Nath Upadhyay, is a move to harass him. How can one expect this corrupt government to work on weeding out corruption?

Is your party going to register a no-trust motion in the parliament?

First go and ask (senior Nepali Congress leaders and former Prime Ministers) KP Bhattarai and Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Why did your party dishonor the parliamentary committee's decision on China South West Deal?

We always respect and honor the decisions made by parliamentary committees and constitutional bodies. But it should not mean that all these decisions are mandatory and everybody should respect them. Regarding the Public Accounts Committee's decision on the China South West Airlines deal, we have been saying that the decision has failed to take into account all the aspects of the deal. So, there is no question of disregarding the parliamentary committee.

How do you evaluate the new monarch?

It's not appropriate to raise doubts about King Gyanendra's commitment to nationality and democracy. I am quite impressed from the openness exhibited by King Gyanendra while constituting a probe committee to investigate into the royal palace murders. There had been some 'communication gap' leading to my withdrawal from the high-level committee as decided by our party. But we had offered to fully cooperate the probe committee. I haven't felt any kind of misunderstanding with the new King.

(Blow)

"Nobody has taken up responsibility for the Narayanhiti killings on June 1st. As the Prime Minister in charge of royal palace portfolio also, Mr. Koirala must take responsibility for it and quit the post"