Culture of respecting moral authority needed for strengthening democracy: President Paudel

Kathmandu: President Ramchandra Paudel has emphasized the culture of respecting moral rights so as to further strengthen democracy.

Receiving declaration and conclusions of the Inter-Legislative Forum at a programme organised at Office of President-Sheetal Niwas- today, President Paudel reiterated that the more culture of respecting moral authority is developed, the more democracy is strengthened.

The Head of the State, however, lamented over the lack of culture of respecting moral authority among us.

He argued that political parties should be accountable to the people and they should play their role within certain limits and dignity. "Extreme factionalism could sometimes cause problems. It kills justice of impoverished communities. Thus, the political parties should function within the certain limits and dignity," he observed.

Furthermore, President Paudel claimed that our constitution, that has commanded appreciation from international community for guaranteeing rights of women, Dalit, indigenous groups, marginalized and destitute ones, is the best one in the South Asia.

On a different note, he suggested the leadership of the parliament to remain neutral, stating that the role of parliament's leader is important for democracy. He also advised that the political parties should not be biased towards the leadership.

The president mentioned that the responsibilities of the parliament is to formulate laws, form government, addressing issues of public concerns, guaranteeing democratic values and keeping scrutiny over the government.

Stating that our constitution had decentralized (or divided) the legislative authority to the federal, provincial and local level, he said, "We all are aware that the legislative authority remains very intensive and extensive. Hence, it is imperative for us to be serious towards complying with them."

The President acknowledged that the Forum, since its formation in 2075 BS, has initiated a good practice of exchanging experiences among the federal parliament and province assemblies.

He expressed his confidence that such practice would facilitate in building relations between federal parliament and province assemblies and maintain uniformity in the parliamentary practices.

On the occasion, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Devraj Ghimire, handed over the declaration  and conclusion of the three assemblies of the Forum held post last parliamentary election in 2022.