- बिहीबार, १३ वैशाख, २०८१
Kathmandu, May 21– Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has said the number of federal provinces that would be formed along with the promulgation of a new constitution would be to the level that the country’s economy can sustain.
Addressing the inaugural function of an interaction on state restructuring organised by the Ex-MPs’ Forum here today, PM Koirala reiterated that only a limited number of provinces would be formed on the basis of capability after studying the forms of federalisms throughout the world.
Regarding the form of governance, he said in the country’s political context, it would be appropriate to keep constitutional president and the prime minister with executive powers.
On a different context, the Prime Minister said the government under his leadership has not been able to work as per people’s expectations in the last 100 days since it took over as it had to focus its attention to constitution writing.
Former Parliament Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, presenting a concept paper on state restructuring at the function, said that the provinces that would come about with the promulgation of the new constitution should not be deprived of accessibility and proximity to the neighbouring countries China and India.
The concept paper suggests judicious allocation and use of natural means and resources among the federal provinces on the basis of capability and delineating the borders so that there would not be dispute among them. Forum advisor and CPN (UML) leader Pradip Gyawali, president of Nepal Bar Association Hari Krishna Karki, constitutional lawyers Tikaram Bhattarai and Kumar Regmi, Forum senior vice-president Omkar Shrestha, former administrators Damodar Gautam and Surya Kiran Gurung and former Director General at the Department of Survey, Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, among others, stressed that the federal provinces to be formed in future should be financially and administratively viable.
It is said the two-day interaction will discuss state restructuring issues and compile the suggestions received in that connection which will then be submitted to the Constituent Assembly.
