KATHMANDU, JULY 10
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal told the House of Representatives today that his remarks on Indian national Pritam Singh were merely a reflection of family friendship that he shared with him, which had grown into a deeper bond after his ailing daughter Gyanu was offered accommodation at Singh's flat in New Delhi when she was terminally ill with cancer and was undergoing treatment in the Indian capital.
Speaking from the rostrum of the House, the PM said he realised on hindsight that as the PM, he should not have made those remarks at the book launch programme recently, but that day he became emotional and merely referred to the good wishes expressed by Singh.
In his 47-minute speech, the PM said he was sorry if his remarks at the book launch had hurt anybody. He also said he felt sorry if the remarks he made in response to the opposition parties' protest against him hurt anybody.
The PM had said Singh, who wanted to see him become PM when he led the movement for the current changes, had visited New Delhi several times seeking to make him the PM at least once. Today, the PM clarified he was merely referring to what Singh had told him at his flat in New Delhi when he visited his ailing daughter Gyanu who was offered accommodation at Singh's residence in New Delhi.
The PM said he became emotional at the book launch when he recalled Singh's generosity when his daughter Gyanu was terminally ill with cancer 12 years ago.
The PM said that when he visited his daughter in New Delhi, Singh told him that he should become the PM. " Singh was not somebody with whom I could seek help to become PM, but he told me I was the one who brought the changes and I should become the PM," he added.
"Singh told him that he had talked to people both in New Delhi and Kathmandu to make me the PM. I want to tell this House that it was neither my remarks nor my request to Singh," Dahal said. I thanked him for his good wishes.
The PM said he was merely refereeing to Singh's interest in politics apart from his transportation business. "You all know I am bit of an emotional person. I think I should not have said what came to my mind. Is this something that can harm the nation?" the PM asked. The PM said he made those remarks not as the PM but as Gyanu's father. "It was nothing more than the remembrance of Pritam Singh's good wishes. Does this erase my record of struggle during the revolution for the protection of national independence and territorial integrity?" the PM wondered. He said his stance during the border blockade was well known to opposition leaders.
The PM said that Singh was not a power centre and he was not in a position to make or break anything. The PM said his weakness and perhaps his strength was he could not appear as a different participant at private or public programmes. The PM admitted his emotional expressions at times were not right. "I have realised that when somebody has a clean heart, his expressions reflect inner feelings," the PM added.
The PM said opposition parties erred by not giving him a chance to respond to the questions raised in the House. He said he became the PM with more than 99 per cent votes of members of the House of Representatives. The PM said his resignation was sought at a time when the government had taken gradual steps to ensure good governance.
He said he wanted to forge consensus with opposition parties on national issues. Their ire was reflective of the PM's consultation with CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli yesterday over the House obstruction.
The government is clear that usury victims should get justice and the anti-usury ordinance replacement bill should be passed by the Parliament. The PM urged political parties to stop obstructing House proceedings over issues that could be resolved through dialogue.
The PM said he resigned from the post of PM twice in the past on moral grounds and it was for lawmakers to take stock of other prime ministers who did not do the same.
"If my conscience tells me to resign, I won't remain in the PM's chair even for a minute but I cannot resign just because others want me to," the PM added. He urged opposition parties to keep in mind that people were fed up of traditional demonstration of party interests.
Opposition parties ended House obstruction after the PM's clarification.
Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chair Rajendra Lingden vented their ire at not being consulted as opposition leaders. "Can the three parties hold the Parliament hostage? Can the decisions of three parties be supreme? Are other lawmakers not equal stakeholders?" Lamichhane wondered.
Lingden said the top leaders of the three parties could not make decisions about the country and that other parties in the House were also equal stakeholders.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 11, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
