Constitution needs changes: Nepal PM

Published December 30, 2006

KATHMANDU, Dec 29: Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Friday said an interim constitution, finalised earlier this month, needs to be amended as it has given unlimited power to the premier.

Earlier this month, senior political leaders and the Maoists finalised an interim constitution that paves the way for the rebels to join the government and transferred King Gyanendra’s powers as the head of the state to the prime minister.

“Since the interim constitution has made the prime minister all powerful, there is a danger that he can act as a dictator, so it needs to be amended,” Koirala told reporters at his hometown in Biratnagar, 548 kilometres east of Kathmandu, on Friday.

“There should be the balance of power by defining the authority of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary bodies... all powers should not be limited to a single person,” Koirala said.—AFP

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