Kathmandu, September 20

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari said former prime minister Sushil Koirala played a significant role in drafting the constitution.

Conferring Ganeshman Singh People’s Movement Gold Medal on Koirala during a programme organised by the Ganeshman Singh and People’s Movement Martyr’s Peace Foundation here today, she said the consensus, cooperation and unity advocated by Koirala for writing constitution was unforgettable.

According to her, former prime minister Koirala had the potential to take together all sides defying the odds, which resulted in the promulgation of the constitution.

On the occasion, former prime minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba said Nepal’s constitution based on pluralism was inclusive and exemplary in the world. He, however, accused the incumbent government of working in an arbitrary manner in terms of implementation of the constitution. He said the bills forwarded by the present government on the media council and the human rights commission curtailed citizen’s freedom.

On the occasion, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leader Subash Chandra Nembang said the constitution was an amendable document. “As Nepali people are the source of the present constitution, their needs and aspirations should be taken into consideration while amending the constitution,” he said.

Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula said the government had failed to implement the constitution. The government had ignored the constitutional provision of appointing speaker and deputy speaker from different political parties.

Foundation Chair and Lawmaker Bhimsen Das Pradhan reminded that the Koirala had played valuable role in Nepal’s democratic movement and constitution making. “Bearing this in mind, he was conferred on the Ganeshman Singh People’s Movement Gold Medal, posthumously,” Pradhan said.