Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-29-Speech-4-164"
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"en.20050929.23.4-164"2
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"Mr President, the debate on Nepal is taking place at the right time, because the EU Troika will be visiting that country early next week. King Gyanendra’s intervention on 1 February has done little to alleviate poverty. The main source of revenue, tourism, is increasingly drying up. There have been 2 000 casualties this year alone, and 30 000 people have been driven out of the Kapilvastu region by the conflict.
Despite the European Union and the international community having called on the King to restore basic democratic rights, politicians, student leaders and trade union members are under arrest. Journalists continue to be banned from voicing their opinions. Commissioners answerable only to the King have been appointed chairmen of the village parliaments. The district committee chairmen elected by the people have been replaced by palace envoys.
On 3 September, the Maoists announced a three-month ceasefire and many hopes were raised. I have my doubts, because the rebels have already broken their unilateral ceasefires twice in the past. Nevertheless, every opportunity should be taken for bilateral and trilateral talks.
The announcement of local elections for April 2006 is a positive sign. We in the Group of the European People’s Party and European Democrats believe it is important that elections to the national parliament should be held at the same time and not just within two years; there should be international observers present and, it is to be hoped, with all the parties taking part.
The political leadership could give a sign that human rights are being respected by at last reversing the closure of the Tibetan Refugees Welfare Office (TRWO) in Kathmandu. This partner institution of the UN Human Rights Convention is an indispensable place of refuge for Tibetans who are obliged to flee their homeland. The Dalai Lama’s representation must also be reopened.
I hope the citizens of Nepal, some of the nicest people you could imagine but who have been suffering deprivation for many years, will finally get the peace for which they long."@en1
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