KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 12
Former speaker and Vice-chair of CPN-UML Subas Chandra Nembang died of heart attack this morning. He was 71 years old. Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital where Nembang was rushed for treatment said there was no sign of life when he was brought to the hospital at around 1:50am.
The hospital said that it declared Nembang dead at 3:00am after doctors did CPR on him for almost 30 minutes. His blood pressure and pulse were unrecordable when he was taken to the hospital.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli had rushed to the hospital early morning. Nembang is survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons. Nembang was found in a collapsed state in the restroom of his residence at Baluwatar. Nembang's body was taken to UML party office Chyasal today.
PM Dahal, former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba, Baburam Bhattarai, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal, former president Bidhya Devi Bhandari, government ministers and high-ranking security officials and chiefs of diplomatic missions paid homageto Nembang.
According to a press release issued by UML Secretary Gagan Bista, Nembang's body will be kept at party office till 1:00 pm tomorrow following which his body will be kept at his residence.
He will be cremated at11:00 am at Pashupati Aryaghat on Thursday.
Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the CPN-UML Secretariat held here today passed a special condolence motion saying Nembang's death had caused irreparable loss to the communist movement in the country. The party decided to mourn his death by flying the party's flag at half-mast at all party offices for three days.
A cabinet meeting today, decided to give public holiday on Thursday when Nembang's body will be cremated with state honours. The government decided to fly the national flag at government offices and embassies abroad at half-mast on Thursday according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Senior Advocate and UML leader Agni Prasad Kharel, said Nembang was a leader who was trusted by not only his party leaders but also other parties' leaders. "Nembang's conciliatory approach and his ability to coordinate between different political parties won hearts in all parties and he was acceptable to all parties. The country, which still faces the impacts of political transition, needed Nembang more than ever," Kharel said.
Senior Advocate Mithilesh Kumar Singh, legal expert to Vice-president Ram Sahay Yadav said Nembang was a remarkable teacher, lawyer and politician, who produced so many lawyers and judges.
He was a quiet man and was never easily ruffled. Singh said Nembang was a man of patience.
Senior Advocate Radheshyam Adhikari, who worked al-most 20 years in the Parliament together with Nembang said that Nembang was a very good criminal lawyer and teacher. In politics, Nembang always adopted the middle path as his main mantra.
During the constitution making process, Nembang facilitated the parliamentary panels' work and played key role in bringing political leaders of different parties together and forging consensus. Adhikari said Nembang tried his best to resolve transitional justice issues but could not complete his work. Adhikari said the only political mistake Nembang made was when then prime minister KP Sharma Oli dissolved the House of Representatives twice. "Nembang knew the move was unconstitutional but did not advise the PM not to dissolve the House as long as the possibility of forming an alternative government remained in the House, but he did not speak up against the dissolution," Adhikari added.
Senior Advocate and former lawmaker Laxman Lal Karna said Nembang had chaired the CA twice, ultimately overseeing the promulgation of the constitution.
Nembang, a soft spoken, leader always tried his best to bridge the gap between political parties," Karna said and added, " Some forces are not satisfied with the constitution.
I hope the new constitution, which has already been amended, will be amended again to address the concerns of those forces that are still not satisfied." Karna added.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 13, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
