CPN-UML Secretary General Shankar Pokharel Accuses Government of Moving Towards Authoritarianism

Kathmandu. CPN-UML Secretary General Shankar Pokharel has accused the current government of trying to take the country towards an arbitrary and authoritarian path. Speaking at a Constitution Day ceremony organized at the party's central office in Chyasal, he remarked that dialogue with political parties has become a fairy tale for Prime Minister Balendra Shah. He stated that even when the country is in great pain due to floods and landslides, and thousands of citizens are missing, the government is moving forward unilaterally instead of working with the parties to face the challenges. Pokharel claimed that although the current government is said to be formed on the foundation of the Gen Z movement, it was actually formed by hijacking the spirit of the movement. He further stated that the government has fallen into the hands of a group that is pushing the country towards destruction by misusing the movement of the youth for good governance and unrestricted use of social media. He mentioned that the Gen Z campaigners themselves have started revealing that the government has been pushed into the hands of a group that is pushing the country towards destruction. He pointed out that the campaigners themselves have started revealing this. Pokharel asserted that the practice of a Prime Minister not attending his own parliamentary party meeting and not being accountable to the parliament is being seen for the first time in a parliamentary democracy. He said, 'Prime Ministers elected by the parliament are defying the parliament itself.' He accused the Prime Minister of trying to distance himself from dialogue with parties and the general public. Commenting that the government is engaged in tampering with the constitution, he said that the Supreme Court has protected the constitution by stopping the attempt to alter the constitutional arrangement through the rules of procedure of the House of Representatives. He stated that this step of the court should be taken positively. He added, 'While there is a constitutional arrangement for ordinances, the government has chosen an authoritarian path by arranging for executive orders through parliamentary rules of procedure.'