The genius of the people should decide a model for Nepal: Congress

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Saying that the developments in Nepal should not be viewed as a "win-lose" situation, the Congress today said it was better to leave to the genius of the people of the embattled Himalayan Kingdom to have a model which will be of lasting use and stability for that country.

While indirectly favouring a multi-party democracy, in which the monarchy plays only a constitutional and symbolic role, AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said "....the real point is there has to be stability and equilibrium and all the stakeholders are fully involved." "The details of the model has to be worked out by the system in Nepal," he said, adding "we give equal weightage to the existence of monarchy and multi party democracy." "We are happy and welcome the beginning of the process of restoration of democracy in Nepal," he said, while expressing the hope that all concerned parties would work in the right direction.

Claiming that nobody was suggesting abolition of monarchy in Nepal, Mr Singhvi said "the use of technical words, whether it is ceremonial monarchy or constitutional monarchy, may not be helpful unless those terms are defined. We will leave it to the genius of the people of Nepal to have a model which will be of lasting use for that country." "A ceremonial monarchy is defined in the sense that monarch has no power to change the power structure. In fact, if monarchy is bound by the advice of democratic institutions it is a constitutional monarchy," he said.

He congratulated the Indian government for working as a catalyst, constructive friend and facilitator. "In this sense, we see it as a lasting era of camaraderie and stability." UNI SH YA VC1732