Kathmandu, Mar. 22:Nepali Congress’s newly elected Parliamentary Party Leader Girija Prasad Koirala had a hectic start as the Prime Minister after a brief swearing in ceremony at the Royal Palace today.
Koirala’s schedule began right at the Royal Palace with two other separate swearing in ceremonies in which he administered the oath of office and secrecy to Deputy Prime Minister Ramchandra Poudel and 12 other Ministers.
From the Palace, he got into his black Mercedes and drove straight to the Sahid Gate, where he paid tributes to the martyrs who had been killed by the Ranas.
Moments later, Koirala whizzed off to his office at Singh Durbar, where the 10 State Ministers, except for Gopal Rai, were awaiting in Labeda Suruwal for the swearing in, which took place in a while.
At his arrival there, Cabinet Secretary Tirtha Man Shakya welcomed the Prime Minister with a colourful garland and introduced him with other colleagues at the Prime Ministerís Office.
Koirala then called a customary cabinet meeting, where he discussed the burning issues facing the nation at present. “The first priority of the government will be to restore law and order situation in the country to protect the lives of the people,” Koirala told a cluster of journalists at his office later. “Curbing corruption and ensuring Good Governance with administrative reforms are next on the governmentís agenda,” he said of his priorities as the country’s Chief Executive.
The Prime Minister said resolving the Maoists problem fell within the governmentís first priority issue. “If the Maoists want to come forth for talks to end the problems facing the country and the people peacefully, the government is always open to dialogues and negotiations,” he said.
“My wishes are to see that the Maoists dedicate themselves to the people within the frame of the Constitution,” Koirala said referring to the four plus year old “People’s War” in which over 1200 people have been killed, over half of them Maoist militants. The Maoists, he said, should lay off their arms. “That’s the pre-condition for any talks with the Maoists.”
Also today, the Prime Minister received a report on elimination of corruption, which was submitted to him by the Corruption Prevention Committee constituted by the government in mid-December last year. The report was handed in to the Prime Minister by former MP Mahadev Gurung, who headed the committee.
Koirala also issued directive to the civil servants and said that they should discharge their responsibilities fearlessly. “Change in the government will not affect the bureaucracy in its regular functions.” He also told Secretaries to get in touch with him personally in case of any difficulty while discharging their duties.
Later, Koirala took his time off and went to the party head office at Teku to meet with Congress MPs and party’s central working committee members. The Prime Minister reiterated that the government would initiate action to solve the problems of the Maoists as advised by the Congress CWC in August last year.
The CWC had recommended that the government initiate parallel talks with all political parties to arrive at a consensus in their approach to end the insurgency and that the launch economic programmes to intervene against poverty in the areas affected by the Maoist activities.
Koirala said the future of democracy is bright because the people are peaceful. “The experiences we have gone through during the last one decade have been quite important in the consolidation of democracy in Nepal,” he said. “People have trust on faith; hence there is no threat to democracy.”
Commenting on foreign policy, Koirala said Nepal’s relations with India and China were good and the government would give continuity to this relation.
Meanwhile, Congress MP P. L. Singh issued a statement expressing reservations about the newly formed cabinet. “The people of Kathmandu had been meted out neglect before, but they have been devalued this time,” he said of the cabinet, which leaves out himself and National Assembly Member Prakash Man Singh, the Supplies Minister during the previous cabinet.
“The people of Kathmandu, who had made a decisive contribution during the people’s movement of 1990, have been insulted with the formation of the cabinet,” Singh said of the cabinet in which Koirala has inducted another fresh MP Tirtha Man Dangol as Minister of State for Health.
Dangol and Singh were elected to the House of Representatives from Kathmandu 7 and 4, while other five seats fell to the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) in the general election last year.