Nepal celebrates first Republic Day

Kathmandu, May 29 (ANI): Nepal's first Republic Day is being celebrated on Friday throughout the nation with various programmes, exactly one year after the Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a republic on May 29, 2008 ending the 240-year old monarchy.

In his message to the nation, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has urged everyone for consensus to reach the goals and conceded the first year was not very easy.

'The chief goal for now is the completion of peace process and new constitution,' President Yadav said in the message. 'The Republican set up will be strong only after we attain those goals.'

In what can be seen as his answer to the Maoist demand for civilian supremacy, the president said civilian supremacy can be established only when the basics of democracy such as rule of law, press freedom, judicial independence, freedom of expression and human rights are reflected in each activity and behavior of the government.

Stating that in the past 60 years Nepal has seen a number of Constitutions, he hoped that the new Constitution would not be just another experiment.

Vice President Paramanda Jha, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and other political leaders have also issued messages to the nation on the occasion.

Maoist chairman Prachanda has urged for an institutional development of republicanism.

Nepal is the newest republic in the world. The 240-year long monarchy was abolished last year.

Earlier, in 2006 April, a mass uprising for nineteen days had forced the last king of Nepal, Gyanendra Shah, to give up power, Nepalnews reported. (ANI)