Kathmandu, March 23:Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who was sworn in yesterday heading a 25-member cabinet, has said maintaining peace and law and order in the country is the topmost priority of his government.
“I have taken the mantle of the PM to fight the challenges, including poverty, violence and unemployment, prevailing in the country,” he said at a press meet held at Singha Durbar today. “We have the responsibilities of fulfilling people’s aspirations for which they have given Nepali Congress the mandate for five years.”
Referring to the Maoist rebels who have been carrying out violent activities nation-wide for over four years, he said: “The door for peace talks is always open but they have to give up the arms before sitting for dialogue.”
Premier Koirala said that he would soon launch a reform campaign to streamline the administration for good governance and to make it fair and transparent. Koirala said the number of ministries would be reduced to 19 as advised by a panel, which he formed in 1991, the year he took the mantle as the first elected Prime Minister.
This would be done on the basis of the report of the Administrative Reform Commission and the action plan of the Administrative Reform Task Force appointed this year, he said. “We will reduce the number of ministries as per the necessity and make the internal monitoring effective and result-oriented to prevent financial irregularities.”
Checking corruption would be another of the present government’s prioritised issue for which a Bill would be passed demanding transparency in the activities of public offices and political parties. “We will curb the unauthorised possession of property by formulating strong legislation. Such illegal property of all individuals, regardless of social and political status, will be nationalised,” he said.
In order to strengthen democracy and guarantee people’s fundamental rights the government, Koirala said, would constitute the Human Rights Commission as soon as possible. “It’s at the top of my agenda,” Koirala told journalists as well as both sessions of the House.
Responding to a query whether or not he would allow the Indian security personnel at Tribhuvan International Airport, PM Koirala said that the issue would be solved diplomatically. “Such issues should not be publicised.”
On when work on the Kathmandu Hetauda Fast Track Road Project will begin, Koirala said: “I will tell the details about the progress later on.”
Koirala also addressed the House of Representatives, which sat today after former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai resigned on March 16, which was carried live on Nepal Television and Radio Nepal. Koirala delivered the same speech at the National Assembly, which sat in the afternoon. Here follows the translation of the text carried by RSS:
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said that laws will now be made under which any property having no legitimate sources of income will be considered illegally acquired and be confiscated.
“It is necessary to strengthen and make effective the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority in order to combat corruption effectively,” Koirala said. “The government will make necessary amendments in the existing laws and get them passed in the Parliament,” he said.
The government would launch effective campaign to end the activities of violence and killing by Maoist terrorists, Koirala said.
“Maintenance of peace and order and security for people’s life and property is the primary duty of the government,” the Prime Minister noted, saying firmly that “if Maoist terrorists or other elements challenge the open and constitutional environment under which one can put one’s fact democratically and peacefully before the people and win their confidence, then the government has to control it.”
“The government is the guardian of the citizens, and as their guardian it has to listen to their discontents and angry reactions and find ways to resolve the problem through dialogue, discussions and deliberations, Prime Minister Koirala said.
The government, he said, would be ready to have talks with the Maoists if they acted according to the framework of the constitution, giving up violence and laying down their arms.
The Prime Minister also pledged employment for the families of the people, political party workers and police personnel who were killed as a result of the Maoist violence and terrorist activities, schooling for those orphaned or necessary assistance for others.
The government would pay its attention to the suggestions and counsel given by the high level committee formed under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on resolving the Maoist problems.
Premier Koirala said that an administrative reform campaign would be launched on the basis of the report of the Administrative Reform Commission and the action plan of the Administrative Reform Task Force in order to streamline the administration for good governance.
For this purpose, a move had already been started to cut down the number of ministries, depending on the nature of their works and necessity; internal follow-up measure would be made more effective and result-oriented to prevent irregularities of all kinds, including administrative delay at the offices of public concern, he said, adding that congenial atmosphere would be created to prevent politicisation of the bureaucracy and the government would be alert about checking any exploitation on matters of transfer and promotion of the government servants.
For this purpose, the government expect co-operation from all political parties and civil society in enhancing the efficiency of the administration and making it people-oriented and free from politics, Prime Minister Koirala said.
Besides, the government would complete the long-awaited task of constituting a human rights commission as a matter of high priority, he added.
A specific code of conduct would be made and strictly implemented for those who were appointed to elected and nominated posts or got political appointments so that they might conduct themselves according to their posts and shun misusing the facilities received therefrom, the Prime Minister said, adding that provision would also be made under which those not abiding by the code of conduct might be liable to legal action as well.
In this context, the Prime Minister urged all the parties represented in the Parliament to help finalise as soon as possible several bills lying under consideration of the house in order to help in this direction.
A system of internal supervision would be built up at the offices of daily public concern, particularly the district administration offices, customs, tax, survey, land reform, telephone and electricity tariff offices, police offices, to create a congenial atmosphere for efficient execution of people’s works and to ensure that there would be no room for any administrative delay, irregularities and possibility of exploitation, Premier Koirala said.
Necessary follow-up measures would be taken to complete works relating to development projects on time in a standardised and well-regulated manner, and in order to arrange such work in favour of the people in general, a definite trend would be established to generate public awareness and seek their co-operation jointly with the chief political parties in the districts.
In this connection, measures would be taken on the basis of the report presented to His Majesty’s Government on Chaitra 9 by the Corruption Control Recommendation Committee and the suggestions made in the past by the other committee on corruption control formed by Nepali Congress government, he said.
“In a democracy, election is indeed a medium that articulates public opinion in a healthy and planned way,” Prime Minister Koirala said.” “Electoral process will be reformed on the basis of the experiences and practices made thus far since the restoration of the democracy in the country.”
Necessary legal provision would also be made to empower the Election Commission so as to make laws which will help make financial activities of political parties transparent, extend provision of identity cards, curb extravagant election expenses, check the possibility of criminal tendency during elections, he said.
The problems of policy implementation and programme execution regarding economic development and poverty alleviation in the country over the last ten years would be extensively reviewed to find out any shortcoming in that direction and the government would take initiatives to reach at the root cause of the problem and find solution to them through open discussion with chief political parties and civil society, he said.
“Since the Parliament is the most important of all democratic institutions in the country, it duly guides all other institutions on their path. Besides, it is the Parliament that directly exercises or manifests the chief power and rights inherent in the people”, the Prime Minister said.
“The need of the hour is a Parliamentary exercise commanding the popular faith and trust, in order to translate into practice a responsible system of governance and ascertain popular participation in the governance,” he noted.
“Only when the Parliament is able to call forth this power can it correctly guide other institutions of the country,” he said, adding, the present government wanted to resolve the problems confronting the country in an open manner and through mutual confidence.
He expressed the confidence that co-operation in this connection would be forthcoming from the legislators through the speaker of the house.
The Prime Minister said the government of the Nepali Congress would be geared towards resolving the problems of corruption which remain as human anomalies and weaknesses, by adopting concrete measures rather than making it as a topic of obscure debate.
The government will take a lead in coming to conclusion on the Bill for management of the political parities and their facilities which was presented at the last session which had been given commitment by the Nepali Congress and other main political parties aimed at controlling corruption, the Prime Minister noted.
This Bill will not only manage the internal democracy of the political parties but also create an atmosphere leading to the regularisation and transparency of all their economic activities, he added.
“This will provide for auditing of the income and expenses of the political parties and that the names of the donors will have to be made open to all,” Koirala further said.
The Prime Minister said the Nepali people had aspired since the third general election-2056, among others things, freeing the country from fear by protecting it from the scourge of violence, murders and terror, protecting the country form the vicious circle of corruption and economic irregularities, bringing impartiality and transparency in the all the administrative machinery and freeing the people, from administrative delays, harassment and financial exploitation while they gave the responsibility of running the country to the Nepali Congress.
Therefore, as a majority party in Parliament the Nepali Congress has to review and re-examine whether these promises put forward by the NC has been fulfilled, the Prime Minister concluded.