No need to change Constitution: PM Koirala

November 8, 2000
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Post Report

KATHMANDU, Nov 8 – Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today reiterated that there is no need to change the present Constitution drafted a decade ago.

“A certain section of the Constitution may be wrong but that does not mean the entire document is wrong and needs to be changed. We need to follow both the spirit and the words of the Constitution,” Koirala said while addressing a program organized by the Nepal Law Society to mark 10 years of the Constitution today.

The day is celebrated as the Constitution Day to mark toppled the party-less Panchayati system.

“There may be individuals like me who could be wrong but that does not mean that we can blame the Constitution or Democracy for that,” Koirala said.

The prime minister said that the government still has not been able to remove poverty, unemployment and illiteracy and people are not satisfied.

On the brighter side, he said that corruption is being checked but there was not enough literate manpower or laws to control corruption.

“The failure of political parties to perform can not be blamed on the Constitution,” he said. “One should not judge the whole system based on activities of a few people.”

He said the gap between the opposition and the ruling parties need to be narrowed down. “We have to support and cooperate with each other,” he said.

Addressing the same program, General Secretary of the main opposition CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said that though there has been many debates and discussions on the Constitution, much has not been done on that matter and “we have not been able to come to a conclusion.”

“We have been only blaming each other and limited our efforts to discussions,” Nepal said. “It is a time of crisis and people are not satisfied…we need to make fundamental reforms in our thoughts and behaviour.”

Similarly, Prime Minister Koirala addressing another function to mark the same occasion said: “Maybe I am bad, ministers are bad…..but the Constitution is not bad. Wrongdoers and miscreants should be identified and punished.”

Speaking at a seminar on The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 2047: Experience of Last Ten Years, Koirala, who is leading the NC government for the fourth time, urged the need to carry on both “spirit” and “letter” of the Constitution together.

“If we carry on only the letters leaving the spirit of the Constitution, it will be ruined,” he said.

“The Constitution was formed by the consensus (of Congress, Communist and the King), and the disputes arising within it should be resolved by the consensus,” Koirala said.

Speaking at the program, former speaker of the Parliament Daman Nath Dhungana said: “The Constitution has just remained the ladder for the political parties to gain power, but they discard it after their needs are fulfilled. The Constitution is in peril now.”

“Though the rulers changed, governing pattern remained same during last ten years,” said Dhungana. There was only political democracy during last ten years, but there was no economic democracy.”

Both Koirala and Dhungana were addressing the program, which was jointly organised by Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Society for Parliamentary and Constitutional Exercises (SCOPE).