Speaking at a function in Kathmandu Saturday, DPM Koirala said that Chief Secretary Ghimire hid her proposal on MRPs several times. [break]
"We have nearly failed to issue the MRPs on April 1, a deadline committed before the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as the chief secretary didn´t forward the MRP proposal to the cabinet meeting on time," she said, adding, "Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal should immediately ask for the chief secretary´s resignation."
She accused Ghimire of being a royalist. "What is the background of the chief secretary?" she asked, adding, "He was supporting the then king when we were fighting against the autocratic regime." She also remarked that the chief secretary had no right to accuse her of being a traitor. She did not elaborate.
She opined that the chief secretary should publicly apologize before the Nepali people for failing to forward her proposal to the cabinet despite her timely initiatives over the MRPs. "I am innocent. The chief secretary should apologize."
She argued that the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee can only suggest to her not to take any decision to import MRPs from India. "I will again put my proposal to the cabinet to import the MRPs from India as there is no alternative", she said, adding further, " We can sort out the issues through bilateral understanding between the two governments under these special circumstances and corruption will not take place in such a situation."
She said that the media has been engaged in character assassination against her despite the good work she is doing. "The media sometimes say that I have been involved in taking bribe," she said, "The media have also been attacking me regarding my father´s treatment in Singapore, which is completely baseless."
She opined that those who are serious about the country have been attacked but the wrong-doers have been protected. "Such a tradition can weaken democracy," she argued, "Protecting people involved in bribe-taking and attacking nationalists does not strengthen democracy."
DPM Koirala said that the bills on expenditures incurred during her father´s Singapore treatment were not rejected by the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Koirala, however, admitted that she has slight differences with the CPN-UML regarding appointment of the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank.
Koirala also said that the present government should promulgate the new constitution. "The constitution should not be written in haste," she remarked, "It is meaningless to write a constitution which will make the country disintegrate." She stressed that the Maoist combatants should be integrated first and the task of constitution writing completed only after that.
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