Parties vow goodies in return for capital
KATHMANDU, OCT 23 -
Major political parties on Tuesday assured the Non-Resident Nepali Association ( NRNA ) of their support stating they were the future drivers for social and economic transformation in Nepal.
During a session entitled “Economic Agenda for Prosperous Nepal” held as part of the sixth NRN Global Conference, top political leaders pledged to fulfil the demand of NRNs for dual citizenship or continuation of citizenship in order to increase their involvement in the country’s development. The leaders said the country had very high expectations from NRNs since they are supposed to bring in more capital, knowledge, experience and technology gained in the developed countries.
UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the decade-long revolution had forced large numbers of Nepalis to migrate abroad, and that it affected human resource development. “We should forget what happened in the past,” Dahal said. “It is now time to move ahead, and the experiences gained in the developed countries will play a key role in the overall development of the country.”
He added, “NRNs might have been hesitant to invest in a big way due to the past and current political uncertainty, but we assure them that the political scenario will not remain the same once the country gets a new constitution.”
Dahal said his party had accorded the highest priority to addressing some concerns of NRNs like continuation of citizenship and voting rights. “Although we were unable to provide voting rights to NRNs for the upcoming Constituent Assembly election due to time constraints, we assure them of their right to vote in other national elections,” Dahal said.
Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala said Nepal had never experienced peace, stability and development, and as a result Nepalis were forced to migrate. “Nepal has sufficient resources to create jobs and other opportunities, but they have never been utilized.” Koirala added that his party was committed to creating an enabling environment to increase NRN involvement in the country’s development efforts.
Ashok Rai, president of the Federal Socialist Party-Nepal, said NRNs had the right to hold Nepali citizenship, and that his party had given them assurances that their demand for dual citizenship would be fulfilled. “There is no doubt Nepal’s dependence on remittance has been increasing, and so NRNs deserve every facility from the Nepal government,” Rai said. But he added there was hardly any possibility of attracting foreign investment without political consensus. “The first thing is to end the political instability plaguing the country.”
Meanwhile, Bharat Bimal Yadav of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF)-Nepal said that his party had accorded the utmost priority to economic development, and that as NRNs were the drivers of social and economic growth, their concerns should be addressed at the national level. “It is necessary to put the country in order by ending political instability, frequent strikes and load-shedding to attract NRN investment and know-how in a big way,” Yadav added.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
