Won't allow constitution amendment: UML leaders

Published On: March 13, 2017 12:50 AM NPT By: Rekha Bhusal


BHAIRAHAWA, March 13: Top leaders of the main opposition CPN-UML on Sunday said that they will not allow the endorsement of the constitution amendment bill through parliament at any cost, arguing that the bill has been tabled with the intention of 'denting the national integrity'. 

They accused the government of bringing the bill to overshadow the local elections and divide the country by detaching the hilly areas from the southern plains of the country.

Addressing the mass gathering organized at Anchalpur of Bhairahawa, the leaders claimed the the UML will emerge as the largest political force even in the tarai. 

At the function, the party's chairperson KP Sharma Oli accused the government of doing everything to appease the southern neighbor, instead of working in favor of the people and the nation. Hinting at India, Oli said an external force had brought parties with differing political ideologies together to endorse the constitution amendment bill which is pending at parliament for long. "The UML will not let the amendment bill, proposed to divide the country, get endorsed at any cost. We are ready to bear any risk to foil that," said Oli. 

Oli came down heavily upon the Madhes-centric parties. He accused them of forcing innocent Nepalis to go to the forefront of protests and politicizing their deaths later. "The so-called Madhesi Morcha wants more deaths to politicize them later," said Oli adding, "Guided by someone else, they provoked our own brothers and sons and forced them to die. We are extremely saddened by their death." 

Condoling the recent killings in Saptari, Kanchanpur and Jajarkot, Oli blamed the government for not doing anything. He argued that the significance of the government has now ended as it failed to prevent the killing of an innocent citizen by Indian SSB in Kanchanpur and also failed to book those involved in the Saptari killings in the name of Madhesi morcha. 

He said both the government and Madhesi Morcha are scared of the UML's growing popularity across the country. Stating that the constitution has ensured enough rights for the people he accused the leaders of Madhes-centric parties of crating illusions among the public for their own benefits. "They [Madhesi leaders] attended the constitution writing process and received their salaries and other perks but now they are opposing the constitution. It's the height of shame," he said. 

Oli also came down heavily upon Naya Shakti Nepal's coordinator Baburam Bhattarai for his remarks on UML. He termed leader Bhattarai as a leader who has lost his good sense. Earlier, Bhattarai had proposed to make Nepal as a UML-free country while condemning the Saptari violence. 

Oli claimed his party to be a force of the people residing in both the hilly and plain regions of the country.

Citing the government's reluctance to probe into the Saptari violence and the recalling of security chefs and administration head in the district, the party's vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam asked whether the government itself was behind the incident. 

Gautam warned that the country would become a failed nation if it fails to hold three sets of elections within the deadline set by the constitution. The constitution has set the mid-January 2018 as deadline for conducting the three sets of elections. 


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