Kathmandu, Nov 8 (IANS): Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala Saturday urged people not to doubt their ability to launch a new constitution, saying Nepal will formulate a new constitution before the Jan 22 deadline.
January 22, 2015 is the deadline set by Nepal's political parties to deliver the new constitution institutionalising the country as a federal democratic republic.
While attending the celebration ceremony of the 20th convocation day of Kathmandu University in Dhulikhel, about 30 km east of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, Koirala said his party, Nepali Congress (NC), has proposed just seven provinces in the new federal setup, Xinhua reported.
"We were for even less than seven provinces," he said. "But we had to settle on seven in the course of compromising with other political parties."
The prime minister said that it was done considering the financial burden "too many" provinces would entail.
The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), Nepal's second largest party, has also agreed to the NC's proposal. But the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist), which waged a decade-long war against the state, is against the joint proposal by the NC and the CPN-UML.
The UCPN-Maoist, which is now leading an alliance of 22 fringe parties, is of the view that there should be more provinces to liberate the oppressed and marginalised communities.
Koirala, also chancellor of Kathmandu University, congratulated the fresh graduates of the university and urged them to play a constructive role in national development.
"I am not as educated as you (are). I did not even think I would become prime minister," said Koirala. "But my 55-year-long commitment to my work helped me become prime minister and stand here among you today. I hope you will always be committed to your work."
He conferred degrees on 1,037 fresh graduates of Kathmandu University, including 188 foreign students.
Kathmandu University was founded 20 years ago. It has evolved as one of Nepal's most reputed universities since then.