Friday, November 11, 2005

Palace against people's sovereignty- Laxman Aryal

Kathmandu , Nov 11 - Drafters of the present constitution on Thursday, charged that the royal palace was always unhappy with that article in the constitution which provides for sovereignty to be vested in the people.

"Sovereignty vested in the people is an unchangeable element of the constitution, and is the spirit of the constitution," said former Supreme Court Justice Laxman Aryal, one of the drafters, speaking at an interaction organized by Ganesh Man Singh Academy. "The palace was against it even before the constitution was promulgated." A separate draft prepared by the palace had stated that sovereignty would rest in the king.

Another drafter of the constitution, former speaker Daman Nath Dhungana, said strong movement of the people was the only way to compel the king to be constitutional and make him follow constitutional norms.

"Strong movement is possible only if all popular forces unite," said Dhungana. "Their confusion of goals has weakened them." He suggested to the parties to make constituent assembly election a one-point agenda of the movement. "It can be a meeting point for the king and the Maoists too," he said.

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