Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, June 30:

Nepali people are still deprived of their sovereign body even as they witnessed the first Parliament session convened 46 years ago, leaders of various political parties said today.

Addressing a function organised by the Ex-MP’s Club, Nepal, to mark Parliament Day,

CPN-UML standing committee member, KP Sharma Oli, said the National Assembly spent half of its tenure without conducting any business. “A message of the February 1 royal takeover is that the King does not want to remain a constitutional head,” he said, adding, “We have no other option but to fight for full democracy.” He said people’s verdict in the 1999 polls should be upheld and the dissolved House of Representatives revived until fresh elections. He added that the talk of municipal elections was a ploy to hoodwink the world. He also flayed the Speaker, Taranath Ranabhat, for favouring the royal takeover and not raising his voice for the people. Deputy Speaker, Chitra Lekha Yadav, said she has no greed for the post. Former prime minister, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, in his message to the Ex-MP’s Club, Nepal, said: “It is evident that parliamentary democracy is the best polity in times when the world is reeling under conflict and division.”