Meaningful Gestures

The King urges parties to take up their responsibility

By A CORRESPONDENT

King Gyanendra has urged the political parties having faith on democracy to come forward to take up their responsibility to protect democracy from terrorism, control corruption, stop misuse of national coffer, and hold free and fair elections.

Addressing a program organized by Tribhuwan University to felicitate him on Friday (May 27) at Hotel Soaltee, King Gyanendra stated: “We have always held discussions with all in the interests of the country and people and the trend will continue in the future as well.”

While saying that violence was not the way to reach into consensus, His Majesty said there was a need of common commitment and involvement of all the political parties in order to provide stability to the law and order that was being restored in the country. King Gyanendra stated that February 1 move was taken in view of popular will and was in the interest of the nation and the people.

He expressed his commitment to hold all the elections that were due for the last three years including holding municipal elections (within a year). In what is seen as reference to the demands of the political parties to restore the House of Representatives, King Gyanendra stated that people’s heart cannot be won by infringing upon the constitution and encouraging others to breach it.

Two days after he made these remarks, King Gyanendra also granted a collective audience to 16 editors of several weekly newspapers and told them that instead of demanding for the restoration of House of Representatives and moving towards constituent assembly, the political parties should maintain dialogue and understanding by transforming the conflict into durable peace and push the country forward.

According to Nepal Samacharpatra daily, responding to queries put forth by the journalists regarding the current demand of the political parties for House restoration and constituent assembly, King Gyanendra said that the country had to bear the bitter truth how even the best democratic system of governance also does not deliver economic, political and social development as desired by the people when the people responsible for governance are not efficient, far-sighted and honest. He added how it could be appropriate to term the King as the guardian of the Constitution and then ask him to infringe it.

On the question of constituent assembly, he said: “As far as the question of constituent assembly is concerned, it could be political pressure. Perhaps the pressure itself is politics.” Asked about the ongoing plans to bring about ordinance to discipline media sector, he said, “I have also only heard about it. It could be considered only when the Ministry brings it forth. I think that governing through ordinance is not good. But the country today is governed by the rule of law not the rule of jungle.”

About the possibility of talks with the Maoists, the King said that nothing had come from their (Maoist) side about the talks right now. The King added that the government only wanted to bring the Maoists into politics by making them lay down their arms and that the government did not only want to reply with the guns.

He urged the political parties to help make the peace and security, which is being restored, durable by taking up their responsibility of protecting the democracy from terrorism, controlling corruption, stopping the misuse of public property and holding free and fair elections. “Today, peace is the desire of people. So peace is the roadmap. Without peace, there will be no development and democracy cannot flourish. Terrorism is unacceptable and if anybody accepts it in any form, then that is also unacceptable,’ the King said.

In a pleasant mood, the King told the journalists about the need to peacefully create the character of democracy. He said that he is satisfied with the members of the Council of Ministers till now. “But look what they are doing and write if they are doing anything wrong,” he urged the journalists. The King added that nothing could be achieved in short period. “Nobody has a magic wand. Multiparty democracy must be flourished. Today’s age, of course, belongs to democracy.”  

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress (NC) president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that he found nothing new in the address King Gyanendra delivered at a function organized by the Tribhuwan University. He said that the address was only aimed at criticizing the parties and giving them advice.

The standing committee member of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) Jhal Nath Khanal, speaking at Reporters’ Club, said that the environment for understanding with the King would not be created unless the King dissolved the institutions created against democracy; respected people’s sovereign rights and independence of judiciary; and addressed the agenda put forth by the political parties.