“We are here not to put across the positions of our respective parties. We suspend our political ideologies as long as we remain with you,” said former prime minister and Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. [break]
Bikash Karki
Deuba was speaking at a function organized to initiate the public opinion collection drive in Lalitpur district Saturday for writing the new constitution. He urged the participants to keep free from partisan politics while expressing their opinions about what should go into the new constitution. “Think not as a particular political party cadre but listen to your own heart and state your opinion in the forms for the new constitution,” Deuba said.
He was welcomed by a huge round of applause.
In a short, balanced speech, Deuba said, “We have come to listen to your views and solicit your opinion on what kind of constitution you want.”
“It’s good to see all political parties converge around a common interest,” said Shambhu Ghimire, secretary of Nallu Village Development Committee (VDC).
Like Ghimire, some 300 people, including government officials and active cadres of various political parties, who were present at the function, responded to the speeches of various leaders on the podium with rounds of applause not because they were spitting venom at their political rivals but because they were speaking the language of fraternity and cooperation.
Narayan Man Bijukchhe
Bikash Karki
“We have demonstrated an extraordinary example of fraternity,” said Hari Dahal, district secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).
He said the parties have placed the task of collecting people´s opinions for drafting a new constitution at a much higher priority than their political interests.
“We will cooperate wholeheartedly with all the political parties for such a noble cause,” he said.
During the three-hour program, representatives of all 25 political parties spoke the language of mutual cooperation, fraternity and the collective interest in drafting a new constitution.
Barsa Man Pun
Bikash Karki
“I wish this will continue for long. But I doubt their program will reach the target groups,” said Saroj Singh, a college teacher from Kumbheswor in Lalitpur ward no. 22.
He said all 10 lawmakers in Lalitpur district, who have been deployed by the government to collect people’s opinions for drafting a new constitution, should reach out to each village in the district.
He said the 32-page questionnaire is too long and the questions too complicated for the ordinary man or woman, with the vocabulary difficult.
Maoist lawmaker from Lalitpur Constituency 1 and coordinator of the team Barsa Man Pun confided to the participants that the parties will maintain their harmony for a collective interest like drafting a new constitution.
“We are firmly united in this noble cause and I assure you all that we do not want to influence you with our political ideologies,” he said, adding, “Feel free to express yourselves.” He also said the parties will visit the people frequently for at least one and half years until the new constitution is drafted.“We will remain together and keep on soliciting your opinions until the final draft of the new constitution is written,” he said.
The government has deployed all 601 lawmakers as well as government officials in 40 groups across the country to collect public opinion for drafting the new constitution. The groups, deployed since February 27, are required to submit their final reports by March 23. The Constitutional Committee will prepare a preliminary draft of the new constitution on the basis of the reports.
Before concluding his speech, NC senior leader Deuba added, “We have many differences at the political level. We represent strikingly different political ideologies. But we are very cautious about influencing you all with our political views during opinion collection for the new constitution.”
ghanashaym@myrepublica.com
