Kathmandu, (IANS) The third Non-Resident Nepali Global Conference kicked off here Monday sans the diaspora’s most famous faces.
Bollywood diva Manisha Koirala, grandniece of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and granddaughter of Nepal’s first elected premier the late B.P. Koirala, was not present at the inauguration of the three-day meet.
Bollywood singing sensation Udit Narayan and Ohio-based award winning writer Samrat Upadhyay also did not turn up for the event.
Manisha and Udit Narayan, who were honoured by the first conference in 2003 as the most famous Nepalis abroad, were conspicuous by their absence.
Over 600 non-resident Nepalis are taking part in the meet, asking for dual citizenship, a chance to vote in the critical constituent assembly election, now that it has been indefinitely postponed, and less red tape and better investment laws to help them invest in Nepal.
Koirala, who put aside a growing crisis to inaugurate the meet, told the gathering that though the peace process was passing through difficulties, he would not let the alliance between seven parties, including the Maoists, snap.
He added that he would find a way to end the deepening impasse that made the Maoists quit the government last month and force the November election to be postponed.
The embattled prime minister also said that fresh election dates would be announced after a consensus.
The statement comes on the eve of a debate in the parliament where the Maoists are asking for the immediate abolition of monarchy.
The debate will be followed by a vote and if two-thirds of the 327 MPs agree, Nepal’s 238-year-old crown would be scrapped and King Gyanendra would become a commoner.
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sent former foreign secretary Shyam Saran as his special envoy with the message that if the house took such a momentous decision, it would not be accepted as the people’s mandate by New Delhi.
The Maoists have dubbed Saran’s visit as foreign intervention. In a veiled reference to that, Koirala Monday said that no foreign power could intervene in Nepal.
India has also warned the Koirala government that it was losing its legitimacy and credibility, both at home and abroad, by repeatedly stalling the election, which New Delhi regards as the key to restoring peace and stability in Nepal.
Last week, Nepal Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan returned from the UN General Assembly meet in New York, where she said the international community had begun expressing scepticism about the election.