PDL and Sano Paila Successfully Organized a Forum in Birgunj on Federalism and Nepal’s New Constitution

PDL and Sano Paila organized a socio-political event in Birgunj on August 8, 2015. The event brought together 6 panelists from 6 different political parties at Hotel Suraj, Birgunj, to discuss various aspects of the preliminary draft of the constitution.  The main issues raised and discussed were about federalism.  Over 200 people showed up for the town hall meeting.  In addition, loudspeakers placed at various strategic locations throughout Birgunj provided live coverage of the program.  A considerable number of people congregated in these venues as well.

The program allowed each of the panelists 5 minutes to deliver their opening statements. Then, Mr. KC Lamichhane, the program’s moderator, asked specific questions to each of the panelists.  Finally, the floor was opened to the audience. This part was a big hit – the audience were fiery and asked probing questions. The questions and comments clearly showed that Nepali people desperately need and want these types of events to happen on a regular basis.

The following panelists participated in the program:

  1. Anil Kumar Jha, Chairman of Nepal Sadbhavana Party
  2. Khimlal Devkota, Chairperson of National Intellectuals Organization of Nepal and UCPN-Maoist leader
  3. Jitendra Singh, Central Member of Tarai-Madhesh Democratic Party (तमलोपा)
  4. Pradip Poudel, Central Member of Nepali Congress
  5. Bhairab Raj Regmi, Treasurer of Rastriya Janamorcha
  6. Yogesh Bhattarai, Secretary of CPN-UML

In addition, Mr. Chandra Kishor Jha, one of Nepal’s leading journalists, and Mr. Jagdish Agrawal, one of Nepal’s leading businessmen, also spoke at the event.

The event was caught on tape and we will be uploading an edited version on YouTube and other online media soon.

The event was covered by national and regional media, including News24 (television channel), Setopati online, and Himalaya Times (Nepali newspaper). Here are some of the links of such coverages –

The program’s success lies in the hard work by our members Mr. Kanchan Jha, Mr. Deepak Kharel and Mr. Saroj Dhakal. PDL will be organizing similar events in the future as well.

 

 

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