KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 2

The parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota returned home today after participating in the 143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The Nepali delegation had left for Spain on November 24. The Assembly was held in Madrid from November 26 to 30.

In the course of the Assembly, Speaker Sapkota addressed to the IPU Assembly as well as the Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement. In his statement to the Assembly, Speaker Sapkota said NAM was still relevant today due to various developments such as threat to global peace, foreign interference in domestic affairs, inequalities and improper behaviour.

He said parliament is the living embodiment of democracy and it is where people can change their rulers in a peaceful manner. 'It is where people's representatives earn trust and respect by ensuring justice and fairness to the weaker section, in the absence of which people question whether this democratic system even works at all,' Sapkota said while addressing the 143rd Inter Parliamentary Union Assembly in Madrid, on Sunday.

In his remarks on the theme 'Contemporary challenges to democracy: Overcoming division and building community', Sapkota mentioned democracy works; and it has to, adding, 'We have to raise people's engagement in the democratic processes.'

Talking to mediapersons at Tribhuvan International Airport after his arrival, Sapkota said he put his views in detail on the merits of Nepal's constitution and its salient features such as inclusiveness, proportional representation and the achievements of democracy before the international community.

He said Nepal's representation at the Assembly was effective and the international community has taken Nepal as a country moving ahead consistently along the democratic path after promulgation of the constitution.

On a different note, he said he would focus on ending the stalemate in the parliament. The speaker said he would convene an all-party meeting as well as meeting with stakeholders immediately to regularise parliamentary business. A version of this article appears in the print on December 3, 2021 of The Himalayan Times