Leaders in favour of referendum to decide the fate of monarchy

Leaders of the two major constituents of the ruling seven party alliance has said a referendum could also be held along with the elections to a Constituent Assembly to seek people’s opinion on whether or not to give continuity to monarchy.

Presenting a paper on “Constituent Assembly: Process and Challenges” at an interaction organised by the Kirtipur Nagar Committee of the CPN-UML, central committee member of the CPN-UML Rajendra Shrestha suggested that a referendum be held along with the CA elections, asking the people whether or not they wanted to keep monarchy.

Commenting on the paper, Ashok Rai, standing committee member of the CPN-UML, said Italy had also opted for a referendum to decide the fate of the monarchy in 1946.

Rai suggested that the panel drafting the interim constitution also include in the statute a provision of holding referendum on the monarchy along with the CA elections.

Likewise, speaking at the same programme, joint general secretary of the Nepali Congress Dr Ram Baran Yadav said that the referendum is the best option to decide the fate of monarchy.

He further said that his party does not want to bear the burden of the monarchy in the changed political context. He said, “The ground reality is that nobody is in favour of keeping monarchy.” nepalnews.com pb July 30 06