Kathmandu, May 8 :

Warning that regressive forces were gaining strength, political leaders today said the parliament should declare itself supreme and expedite the process of formation of a Constituent Assembly.

Lawmaker and leader of the Janamorcha Nepal Leelamani Pokhrel warned the King against rejecting the result of the constituent assembly election.

Pokhrel was speaking at a discussion on Constituent Assembly organised by Rastriya Janamanch Nepal.

Pokhrel said, “As the parliament was revived as a result of sacrifices made by the Nepalis, it need not abide by the old laws and rules. It must move ahead in accordance with the mandate given by the people,” Pokhrel said.

Only after overcoming four obstacles — existing laws, monarchy, army officers and foreign forces — can the constituent assembly be formed, he said. “Laws may give rise to confusion and monarchy may try to raise its head. Army officers are engaged in collecting weapons in the name of conflict and foreign forces are against the constituent assembly.”

The Maoists are not the power standing against the parties; they are a parallel force fighting against the monarchy, he said, adding, “Talks are meant to settle the differences between the parties and the Maoists; not for reaching give-and-take agreements.” He demanded that all the laws and rules introduced by the autocratic regime be annulled.

The parliament should declare itself sovereign and go for the election to the CA at the earliest, said NC (D) leader Pradip Giri. “Regressive forces are getting stronger,” Giri said, adding, “It is getting late to go for the election to the constituent assembly.”

“Parties cannot fight against the King unless they are fully democratised,” Giri said, adding that the King had not changed his mindset. If the current leadership fails to address the people’s aspirations new leadership will replace it, Giri said.

Models of democracy in place in Britain and India cannot solve problems dogging Nepal, Giri said, adding, “Lessons learnt from Nepal’s revolution will soon reach New Delhi, London and Washington.”

Shankar Pokhrel of the CPN-UML demanded that the Rajparishad and the Army Secretariat, which is not under the Chief of the Army Staff, be dissolved at the earliest. He said the decision on the constituent assembly should only be made after holding a thorough discussions.

Parliament ought to be ‘supreme’

Kathmandu: Over 150 individuals, including CPN-UML lawmakers, leaders and representatives of the seven-party alliance, its sister organisations and intellectuals, speaking at an interaction on Monday, suggested that the parliament declare itself supreme, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, chief of the task force constituted by the CPN-UML to collect suggestions on constitutional structure told this daily. “The participants suggested that the revived parliament declare itself supreme,” Adhikari said. “Every decision the parliament takes should be deemed legitimate and they should not be challenged in the court of law,” Adhikari quoted the participants as saying. “If the parliament declares its supremacy, it will pave the way for the election to a Constituent Assembly,” he quoted them as saying and added that the participants had also called for an inclusive election based on proportional representation. — HNS