Authoritarianism unacceptable: Deuba

Chitwan, March 18

Former prime minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba today said any form of authoritarianism was acceptable to his party.

Inaugurating the seventh General Convention of Nepal Civil Servants’ Union in Ratnanagar, Chitwan, Deuba held that the judiciary, Nepali Army, Nepal Police and bureaucracy should be free from government intervention. He accused the incumbent government of trying to meddle in the affairs of these state organs and said such intervention would not be acceptable to his party at any cost.

Stating that the bureaucracy was the permanent government, Deuba stressed the need to keep it free and independent. He asked civil servants to work freely and fairly. Noting that the constitution had guaranteed the right to speak, right to write and form an organisation, Deuba claimed that no government, not even a government with two-thirds majority, could seize those rights.

At the programme, senior Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel said that democratic forces should mull over the serious challenge facing the country. He alleged that the incumbent government was trying to impose authoritarianism in the country. He cast doubt on the left alliance’s efforts to induct Madhesi parties into the government for a two-thirds majority. “The alliance has clear majority. Why are they working for two-thirds majority? he asked.