Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 21:

Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala today said that his party would not reconcile with the King unless he restored the constitution, which he “threw into the dust-bin” after the February 1 takeover. “The possibility of reconciliation with the King ended the moment he (King) started direct rule on February 1, violating the agreement reached with the people in 1990,” Koirala said. He made this remark while addressing a talk programme organised by Nepal Students Union (NSU)on the 23rd death anniversary of B P Koirala. He also said they would not compromise with the King, who represents feudal values, at the cost of democracy and human rights. He also accused the King of having miserably failed in restoring peace and protecting democracy as he had promised after the takeover. “You have already seen what kind of persons the King has recruited in his cabinet, where there is no coordination among one another,” he said, adding that it was a prelude of the final days of the monarchy, which, he claimed, would be “seen only in photograph”.

He further said that monarchy could not be considered a divine source of power in the 21st

century, nor could it be a symbol of nationalism as claimed by the feudalists. Koirala also announced that no NC leaders would visit Pokhara during the 10th national convention of NSU scheduled to take place on August 14-16. “The NSU itself will choose its leadership,” he said.

On the occasion, NC central leader Ram Chandra Poudel accused the royalists of misinterpreting the late B P Koirala’s “national reconciliation policy,” which he propogated while returning home after a self-exile in India during 1970s. “It does not mean that B P wanted to surrender before the King in the name of national reconciliation,” Poudel said, adding that the NC’s founding leader had also warned that the people would also say no to the King if it discarded the people.