Despite reservations, RPP-N to embrace new statute

KATHMANDU, Sept 17: Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), which had voted against the Constitution Bill, has said that it would accept the new constitution with some reservations.

A meeting of the party's executive committee on Thursday decided to welcome the new constitution adhering to the democratic norms and values as the party had participated in the voting process in the Constituent Assembly."We tried until the last hour to reinstate Hindu state, constitutional monarchy and decentralization instead of federalism, even though we had only 25 seats in the 605-members CA," said Chairman Kamal Thapa at a press conference.

"We are proud that we participated in the constitution-making process and voted to protect our principles. RPP-N will play a crucial role in Nepali politics in future remaining within the constitutional boundaries," he added.

RPP-N stated that it was unfortunate that the agenda of reinstating Nepal as a Hindu state was not addressed despite wide support for the agenda. "Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoists) have made a great mistake by uniting against the agenda of Hindu state," said Thapa.

"There are too many contradictory provisions in the Constitution Bill and we urge all political forces to remain cautious since they could lead to a long instability and anarchy," he added.

Thapa said that the party joined the voting process in CA after top leaders of the major three parties accepted that it was their mistake to ignore the fourth largest party.

"Despite having serious differences on the content of the constitution and disappointment over the autocratic approach of the major three parties, we adhered by the democratic norms and participated in the voting process," said Thapa.

"This is the constitution endorsed by the people's representatives of Nepal and there wasn't any pressure from the international community," said Thapa.

Thapa urged the major three parties to sit for talks with the agitating Madhes-based parties and Tharu communities to address their issues.

"The leaders of major three parties, earlier, made alliances with the Madhes-based parties and supported their agendas, but later they tried to impose their own decision leaving the Madhesis out of the decision making process," said Thapa. "If needed, RPP-N could play the role of a mediator between the three parties and the agitating political forces," he added.

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