Kathmandu, April 1
A joint statement from the European Union and India about Nepal’s newly-promulgated constitution has come under fire the KP Oli government.
In their statement issued from Brussels in course of the EU-India Summit, the two had described Nepal’s constitution as incomplete, urging the state to address political demands and make the constitution inclusive. An enraged KP Oli warned the two not to undermine Nepal just because it is a landlocked and small country, describing the EU-India comment as intervention into Nepal’s sovereignty.
Speaking at the CPN-UML parliamentary party meeting on Thursday, PM Oli said the EU and India had undermined Nepal’s sovereignty, the right to introduce a constitution through a (popularly-elected) Constituent Assembly and Nepali peoples’ right to take decisions on their own.
Oli warned the two not to humiliate Nepal just because it is a small country and suffered from earthquakes, adding: The EU and India should mind their own business.
It is unbecoming of countries that consider themselves to preach Nepali people to do this and that by showing utter disregard for Nepali people’s sovereign rights, Oli said. By meeting certain people, who are opposed to the constitution, they have trampled on the international law and the United Nations guiding norms and values, he said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also took objection to the EU-India act of touching upon Nepal’s constitution in a bilateral forum. The ministry described this move as intervention in Nepal’s domestic affairs.
It urged the two to take note of the fact that a popularly-elected Constituent Assembly had promulgated Nepal’s constitution, adding that the constitution had incorporated Nepali peoples’ aspirations.
Constitution-making and promulgation are Nepal’s internal matters, it said, adding that the EU-India statement had hurt Nepali peoples’ feelings at a time when the country is heading towards political stability and economic development.
