KATHMANDU: Standing committee member of the CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli today said the new constitution should include democratic elements in consonance with international norms.

Addressing a function organised to mark the 58th birth anniversary of the CPN-UML's late general secretary Madan Kumar Bhandari, here, Oli said nation should move forward on the basis of international democratic norms and values, not on the untested Prachanda Path followed by the UCPN-Maoist.

He said it was Madan Kumar Bhandari who transformed the Nepali communist movement into a democratic outfit discarding the old-fashioned ideology of one-party dictatorship that led to the downfall of communist regimes in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

"If the capitalists can transform learning lessons from Marxism and socialism, why cannot we do the same from the former?" he wondered.

Commenting on the Maoists' continuous obstruction of the parliament, Oli said President did a commendable job by revoking Prachanda's move to sack the army chief and restoring civilian supremacy.

"The new government also deserves appreciation as it also revoked Prachanda's decisions," he said, adding that the Maoist version of civilian supremacy intended to impose an authoritarian rule in the country. He said the Maoists were still unclear about the political system.

He also urged the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led coalition government to restart a thorough investigation into the deaths of Bhandari and Jeevraj Ashrit, who had mysteriously drowned in the Trishuli River after a vehicle they were travelling in met with an accident in Das Dhunga in 1993.

Vice-president and deputy parliamentary leader of the Nepali Congress Prakash Man Singh observed that the 1990 people's movement could become a success following intense parleys between the NC and Bhandari. He recalled that NC leader Ganeshman Singh and Bhandari had held rounds of talks in the run-up to the first Jana Andolan.

"Best part of Bhandari's thought is that he convinced his party's rank-and-file that all the parties must get people's mandate through periodic elections to run the government," Singh said.Addressing the function, Rastriya Janamorcha Nepal leader and CA member, Chitra Bahadur KC, said major political parties made a wrong decision to go for federalism. He said federalism on the basis of caste and language would ultimately disintegrate the country.

"Leaders like Bhandari, Ganeshman and BP Koirala didn’t talk about federalism," he said. He lamented that no proper investigation was carried out to find out who were behind the killing of Bhandari and Ashrit.