Nepal: IFJ Backs Calls for Progress on Constitutional Reform

Nepal: IFJ Backs Calls for Progress on Constitutional Reform

May 26, 2011 - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) supports calls made by its affiliate the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) for progress in drafting Nepal’s new constitution and achieving consensus in the country’s political institutions.

An FNJ rally in Kathmandu on May 24 called for peace, consensus and constitutional reform.

The protest was led by new FNJ president Shiva Gaunle, and attended by former FNJ presidents and members from Kathmandu and neighbouring districts of Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. Events were also staged by FNJ district chapters outside the capital.

Nepal has been governed under an interim constitution since the abolition of the monarchy brought about by pro-democracy protests in 2006. The interim constitution was to be replaced by May 28, but political divisions in the country’s Constituent Assembly have delayed the process.

“The drafting of Nepal’s new constitution must be a priority for the Government, and include provisions to allow a free and independent press to flourish,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

Meanwhile, the IFJ also welcomed a Supreme Court decision on May 22 in favour of the reinstatement of Ram Prasad Dahal as news chief at the Rajdhani National Daily.

Dahal, who was also awarded compensation and currently serves as Secretary of the National Union of Journalists Nepal (NUJ-N), was sacked from the daily during royal rule in 2005.

The NUJ-N, also an IFJ affiliate, said in a statement that a joint bench of justices dismissed the newspaper’s petition against a 2007 decision in which the Labour Court ordered Dahal’s reinstatement.

“The IFJ calls on Rajdhani National Daily to implement the Supreme Court verdict immediately, in accordance with the law,” Park said.

The NUJ-N noted that the verdict would boost the morale of working journalists in Nepal.

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

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ENDS

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