Kathmandu, January 26

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, without naming the Nepali Congress and senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC, said that the issues raised over the National Medical Education Bill, should not be a matter of worry.

The PM said this at the VVIP lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport after returning from Davos today. The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) bulldozed the bill through the House of Representatives yesterday.

When asked to comment on the NC’s threat of continuing House obstruction and launching street protest to oppose the passage of the National Medical Education Bill and Dr KC’s ongoing hunger strike over the non-incorporation of all points of the nine-point pact he signed with the government on July 26 into the bill, the PM said, “Everybody needs to follow certain procedures. The government follows the procedures and others should also follow them. The way they are protesting against the bill is uncalled for.”

Dr KC held a press conference yesterday demanding the PM’s resignation. The PM took a potshot at Dr KC and NC,

albeit without naming them, “We have 30 million population and a few people may always have grievances against the government’s work. Nobody should make the passage of the bill an issue. In democracy, there may be opposition to some issues but that is normal.”

PM Oli said the NC should seek a negotiated settlement of issues and its arguments should be logical and backed by data. He said the NC should not be reactive. The PM said nobody is above the constitution.

“Everybody should respect the constitution and laws for the betterment of the county. Everybody should respect the institutions of the country,” he added.

Responding to journalists’ query about the alleged report of some Nepalis parking their money into Swiss banks, the PM said, he had gone to Davos, a city of Switzerland to attend a programme and not to check Nepalis’ bank accounts.

Talking about the press release issued by Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair  Pushpa Kamal Dahal yesterday in support of  Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro and the country’s elected communist party regime, PM Oli said he would comment on the issue only after knowing the full details of the release.

In the press statement, Dahal said his party strongly denounced the US and its ally’s intervention in the internal affairs of Venezuela.