Nepal’s staute progressive: French envoy

Kathmandu, April 6

French Ambassador to Nepal Yves Carmona today said France fully supports Nepal’s new constitution.

During his meeting with Unified CPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal today, the French ambassador said Nepal’s new constitution was ‘complete’ and ‘progressive’. Carmona said so when Dahal sought to know his view on the EU-India joint statement, according to a press statement issued by Dahal’s secretariat.

“France has a long history of making and amending the constitution,” a French embassy source quoted Carmona as telling Dahal, “It is an evolutionary process. We fully support Nepal’s constitution.”

On Tuesday, during her meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, EU Ambassador to Nepal Rinsje Teerink had said she was ‘surprised’ by the wordings of the statement and made it clear that EU had supported Nepal’s constitution-making process and had welcomed the charter all along.

A source said the French envoy was seen ‘apologetic’ when Dahal inquired him about the controversial EU-India statement, which was strongly denounced by the Nepal government.

An EU-India joint statement on March 30 had called for “the need for a lasting and inclusive constitutional settlement in Nepal that will address the remaining constitutional issues in a time-bound manner, and promote political stability and economic growth.”

According to Dahal’s secretariat, French envoy Carmona met Dahal at his residence in Lazimpat. They discussed the political situation of Nepal. Dahal told the French ambassador that Nepali people were capable of solving their problems on their own. He also said that though the constitution was written by the people, some issues might need amendment in future.