Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Kiran Gurung on Sunday appealed to the President and Vice-President whom he said are in ceremonial role not to participate in public functions, reasoning that the “careless remarks” they make in those programmes have started to become very controversial.

The CPN-UML minister was also of the opinion that the President and Vice-President, in fact, shouldn’t be invited in such public functions and asked organisers of such programmes to pay heed to his advice.

Speaking at a press meet organised by Press Chautari Kaski Chapter in Pokhara Sunday morning, he said that VP Parmananda Jha’s public assertion last week that the special committee on army integration is “unconstitutional” and that political parties are to be blamed for the delay in constitution drafting “was against the his vice-presidential code-of-conduct”. Jha has even repeatedly expressed his displeasure in public for not being given any political role or invited in public programmes.

Both President Ram Baran Yadav and VP Jha have been a subject of criticism lately for not using their discretion in choosing the sort of public programmes they attend – like inauguration programs, book launches, religious ceremonies and even cycle rallies.

On army integration, Minister Gurung believes that if the special committee on army integration is unable to push ahead the integration process then the government might fail and added that it is important that parties like Nepali Congress and Terai Madhes Loktantric Party (TMLP) participate in it.

He, however, said that if they (NC and TMLP) keep on lingering then the committee would start work without them even.

During the program, Minister Gurung also informed that a tight mechanism that includes civil society and journalist will be formed in the district level to keep a tab on the illegal timber smuggling that has seen a rise lately. nepalnews.com Nov 09 08