Kathmandu, August 23, 2005 Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala today came down heavily on the demand for a republican set-up in the run-up to the general convention of the party scheduled to be held through August 30-September 2 in the capital. Koirala, who of late has been referring to constitutional monarchy in positive light, referred to the demand for switch over to the republican order in a derogatory vein. “I am in favour of rendering the people as sovereign. Supremacy of the parliament should also be established without exception. Those who are baying for tantra (a derogatory reference to ganatantra (republican order) should follow mantra (a vague reference to constitutional monarchy),” Koirala said at a function organised to launch a book by Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, a Central Working Committee (CWC) member of the NC. This comes as a setback to those in the NC who have time and again been demanding a republican order citing the continued regression as the reason for the party to effect a policy change. The NC has officially been for constitutional monarchy. Potential candidates for the top post of the NC like Narahari Acharya and Ram Chandra Paudel have been indicating the need to act tough, something which is not to the liking of Koirala. Koirala also came down heavily on the constitutional monarch and the international community. ‘Post-1990 decade productive’ Kathmandu, August 23, 2005 Restoration of democracy in 1990 has provided people with better access to resources as they were empowered and liberal economic policy was adopted, proponents of free market economy said at a launching of a book ‘In Defence of Democracy, Dynamics and Fault Lines of Nepal’s Political Economy’ written by Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, former finance minister, here today. “In the post-1990 era, people were empowered and they had better access to resources,” said Girija Prasad Koirala, president of Nepali Congress at the programme that was organised by Nepal Economics Association (NEA), National Book sellers and Publishers Association of Nepal (NBPAN) and Adroit Publishers, New Delhi, India. “However, the economy has been hit hard due to increased violence and ‘difficult political environment’ lately,” he added. Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, writer of the book said that the past one decade was the most productive in terms of economic reforms, adoption of free market instruments for exploring economic benefits, policy shift for the betterment of people, integration of Nepali economy into the global market, access to electricity and creation of wealth.