In a major policy shift, the Nepali Congress, the biggest party in the interim parliament and the coalition government, today formally decided to go for federal democratic republic.
The joint Mahasamiti meeting organised after yesterday’s unification between the NC and the NC (Democratic) unanimously passed the election manifesto, making federal democratic republic as the party’s political line.
According to Dr Prakash Saran Mahat, a central committee member, more than 90 percent Mahasamiti members stood in favour of the republican agenda. The Mahasamiti later reached unanimous decision following hours of debate on the draft manifesto.The election manifesto also commits to multilingual federal state, liberal economy, religious secularism and independent judiciary. It also proposes that the President as Head of State be elected by the central and provincial parliaments.
The Mahasamiti meeting, which concluded this evening in the presence of party president Girija Prasad Koirala and senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, also passed a political resolution presented by Ram Chandra Poudel. According to NC leader Narahari Acharya, the resolution commits to an ‘inclusive federal republican model’ of the state and is, by and large, a reflection of the commitments made in the election manifesto.
The NC's decision to go for republic comes amid mounting pressure from the Maoists to declare republic from the legislature parliament. However, there was no decision at the Mahasamiti meeting regarding the Maoist demand.
