High-flying PM on another junket

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: Ignoring criticism from all quarters, caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal today set out on a 10-day tour to Phnom Penh and Brussels to attend conferences.

Nepal, who had returned home from St Petersburg after attending an international conference on tiger conservation on Thursday, headed for Cambodia this afternoon to participate in the sixth International Conference of Asian Political Parties scheduled for December 1 to 4 in Phnom Penh. He is a member of the Standing Committee of ICAPP.

Though the PM is there on the invitation of his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, it is a political programme. Both President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and Chairman of Constituent Assembly Subas Chandra Nembang had advised him not to go abroad in the wake of political impasse at home.

After Cambodia, the prime minister will head for Brussels to attend the European Development Day on the invitation of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. The two-day ceremony will kick off on December 6.

The PM will return home on December 9.

Responding to media queries at the Tribhuvan International Airport before his departure, the PM said his trip would not hamper the efforts to end the political deadlock. “I will cut short my visit if my presence is required here in case of a political agreement,” he added.

A source informed that his wife Gayatri’s name was deleted from the list of delegates at the eleventh hour due to their only daughter’s wedding ceremony tomorrow. He returned from Russia on Thursday cutting short his six-day-visit for the wedding preparations. A source claimed that even officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had advised him against attending the tiger conference.

Political parties also condemned the PM for embarking on frequent foreign junkets. Nepali Congress, the main coalition partner of Nepal-led government, termed the visit “irresponsible” act of the executive head of the state.

“At this moment, the PM has to take lead role to resolve current political impasse and find ways to elect his successor,” NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC told this daily.

UCPN-Maoist termed the visit a “conspiracy to extend the term of caretaker government”. “The PM has shown his affinity for foreign junkets shunning the advice of the President and the CA Chairman,” party spokesperson Dinanath Sharma said.

Government Spokesp-erson and Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel, however, claimed that the negative reaction regarding PM’s visit is an “emotional” outburst.

“The PM has gone to Cambodia and Belgium to participate in equally important meetings,” he claimed. “The PM alone can’t resolve the current impasse. It’s a collective responsibility of senior leaders of all the parties.”