A constitutional amendment bill has been tabled in the legislature Parliament in Nepal, which would facilitate Vice-President Paramananda Jha to take oath in his mother tongue.
Mr. Jha had taken the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi, which sparked a controversy and the Supreme Court asked him to retake the oath in Nepali. But Mr. Jha, whose mother tongue is Maithili, refused in August to do so. His designation has been inactive since then.
Meanwhile, leaders of the major ruling parties of the CPN-UML-led coalition government, Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) have said that the major opposition party, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is not serious about managing their army.
CPN (UML) leader Pradip Gyawali claimed Maoists do not want to manage their army, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “as it is not on their agenda”. Maoists have come up with a fourth-phase of movement against the government which does not mention the issue of army integration and management.
Nepali Congress spokesperson Arjun Narsingh KC said Maoists were dillydallying the issue and were instead focused on declaring autonomous states. “It is their strategy [not to manage the PLA] by coming up with other issues,” he told The Hindu.
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” last week however had said Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor interfered in Nepal’s politics by speaking against the integration of the PLA into Nepal Army. He has already asked for an official opinion of Nepal Government on the statement made by General Kapoor. Meanwhile, Nepal’s Peace Minister Rakam Chemjong has reportedly said that there is no need to go after what others’ say on Nepal’s integration issue and that it would not affect the army management.
