KATHMANDU, Oct 5: Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has hit back at senior party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal over remarks that the government's performance had failed on every front.

Talking to media persons upon landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Thursday after attending the UN General Assembly (UNGA) , Prime Minister Oli asked journalists to dismiss the remarks of senior leader Nepal as they carried no substance. “Just because something is said in a rhythmic fashion out of a poetic heart, just because a person has some grudges to air, there is no need to run after it,” Oli said.

Oli's remarks come amid statements by senior leader Nepal criticizing the government in parliament for failure on multiple fronts and alleging that the country was consequently in dire straits . “In fact I have not heard anything but an old tune. It is natural for such tunes to figure when one is waxing eloquent. My friends have already seen what this government is like and what it does,” he further said.

Brushing aside speculation that intra-party rifts within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) could derail his government, Prime Minister Oli claimed that his government would last five years and become even stronger after the next election. “This government will last for five years. It will also conduct the elections after those five years and become even stronger,” he said.

Downplaying all criticism against the government's shortcomings, Oli claimed that it had not done anything wrong and had instead only tried to do what was good .

On the occasion, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradip Kumar Gyawali briefed media on behalf of Oli, about the outcome of his visit to New York to attend the UNGA and to Costa Rica.

Prime Minister Oli said the visit had been important in apprising the international community about Nepal's new political developments, including the successful elections and the formation of a stable government.

The prime minister said the visit was an opportunity to express Nepal's unflinching commitment to multilateralism and its views on current global issues, at the highest level.

Prime Minister Oli said he had some important bilateral meetings with the UN secretary general, the Swiss president, the Cambodian prime minister, the Canadian prime minister and the British prime minister and they discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation in future.

Both the prime minister and the foreign minister attended various programs during their stay in New York.

Prime Minister Oli also justified his visit to the Central American country of Costa Rica. Oli said the visit made at the invitation of Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada had given him an opportunity to work together at bilateral and multilateral forums on issues relating to climate change, women's empowerment, the rule of law, agriculture, nuclear non-proliferation, and peace. The two countries will soon prepare an outline on cooperation between the two countries .

Prime Minister Oli had addressed a function at the UN Peace University in Costa Rica and received an honorary doctorate from the university.

Oli said he had apprised the international community about how Nepal had resolved the decade-long Maoist armed insurgency in a peaceful manner.

 
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