Can not amend Constitution to please 'others': Ex Nepal PM

Nepal's new Constitution can not be amended on the wishes of any other country, former prime minister K P Sharma Oli, known for his anti-India stance, said today.

"The present government doesn't seem to be interested in safeguarding and implementing the Constitution of Nepal that was promulgated through the Constituent Assembly (CA) last year," Oli, chairman of main opposition CPN-UML, said during a party rally here.

"However, the government is engaged in the exercise for amending the statute for serving the interest of others," he said, adding that both national interest and welfare of the people should be kept as focal point while amending the Constitution.
 

Supporting the new Constitution, Oli said: "It is fully democratic and it has guaranteed all the democratic rights and it is inclusive as well."

He further said that the Constitution of Nepal was endorsed by over 90 per cent members of the CA members, unlike the Indian Constitution which was endorsed by just 65 per cent.

"The Constitution can be amended for greater interest and wellbeing of the people and the country. But it cannot be amended at the wishes of any other country," Oli said in an apparent reference to India.

Slamming the government's move to amend the Constitution to address the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties, he said, "The slogan raised by some disgruntled groups for incorporating the provisions of more autonomy, self-decision making power and identity in the Constitution are deceptive and aimed at disrupting the stability of the country."

"It is baseless to say that the people of Terai are deprived of their rights and representation in the new Constitution."

Oli's year-long premiership was marred by the months-long Madhesi protests that crippled the land-locked country's economy already under strain owing to the post-earthquake reconstruction work.

The prolonged agitation by the Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, has strained the Indo-Nepal relations.