Dear SANSAD friends,
Appended below please find the public statement issued by Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas (PNEFA). Kindly give it a wide circulation.
In solidarity,
Abi Sharma
for PNEFA
PNEFA Demands immediate resignation of Prime Minister of Nepal, and form a national unity government in Nepal
The Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas (PNEFA) extends its full support to the ongoing peaceful indefinite general strike led by Unified CPN (Maoist) in Nepal.
The strike is an effort to lever a solution to the current political impasse created when President Ram Baran Yadav unconstitutionally reinstated the sacked Nepal Army chief. Instead of addressing the issue, a new government under Madhav Kumar Nepal, a losing candidate from two different constituencies of the constituent assembly (CA) elections, was formed in May 2009. This appointment was an assault on peoples’ aspiration for a secular, republican and democratic Nepal. The CA, elected on 10 April 2008, has a mandate to write the new constitution for the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, for which the deadline is May 27, 2010.
The hard-won political consensus enshrined in the interim constitution made possible the current CA, an elected body with the mandate to approve a new constitution by a 2/3 majority. This consensus has been destroyed by the current unconstitutional and unethical regime, whose path has been one of single-minded confrontation with the party that holds 40% of seats in the CA. The approach of the government furthers the aspirations of rightists and supporters of former King Gyanendra Shah, including some top brass in the Nepal Army. These groups want to provoke a war on Nepali people in order to roll back the achievements of past Peoples’ struggles.
The chairman of the Prime Minister’s own party has said that the need of the hour is consensus and cooperation, not confrontation. In addition, 60 senior leaders of that party including its Vice-Chairman Bamdev Gautam have also demanded the PM’s resignation. Yet the Prime Minister’s address to the nation and his speeches to senior government operatives have amplified fear among the public by portraying challenges to the government’s unconstitutional acts as threats to the security of the nation. The confrontational language has provoked hundreds of thousands of peaceful agitators who have controlled streets of major cities of Nepal since May 1, 2010.
PNEFA demands the immediate resignation of the unethical, corrupt and inept government. It is necessary to re-establish a culture of national consensus and cooperation to form a national unity government. This is the only option Nepal has now to avert a constitutional crisis. The way must be paved for promulgation of the new constitution, on time. That is the only way which will bring the peace process to its logical end.