Minister Väyrynen: The Nepalese need to internalise the spirit of democracy

Press release 40/2009
4 February, 2009

During his two-day visit to Nepal, Minister Väyrynen has emphasised the importance of democracy for peaceful development and stability in the country. According to Väyrynen, the structures and forms of democracy alone are not sufficient if the political actors have not internalised the spirit of democracy.

“It is normal that in elections one party wins and another one loses, and that these roles may vary from election to election. That, however, is the beauty of democratic political system, and this fundamental spirit of democracy is something all political actors should understand”, the Minister stressed after having met Nepal’s Prime Minister Dahal. In the warm meeting, the ministers also discussed the preparation of Nepal’s new constitution and Finland’s development cooperation with Nepal.

Väyrynen also had talks with Nepal’s Minister of Finance Bhattarai, who is responsible for the country’s development cooperation policy. Väyrynen reconfirmed Finland’s commitment to continue the cooperation, the quantity of which will also be increased.

“Nepal has many challenges to face, and we will continue the cooperation in the current natural resources and education sectors. We will, however, strengthen our activities in certain provinces and strive to find improved synergy between, for instance water and forest co-operation,” the Minister pointed out. “Water is a plentiful natural resource in Nepal and we intend to expand the cooperation related to it, including enhanced exploitation of water-power,” he continued. Nepal suffers from daily power cuts lasting some 14 hours and water-power would bring longed-for alleviation to the problem.

Minister Väyrynen is currently on a two-day visit to Nepal, which is one of Finland’s eight long-term development cooperation partner countries. Väyrynen’s programme has also included meetings with the speaker of parliament, the foreign minister, and ministers of forestry, commerce, education and regional development. Furthermore, he also met embassy staff at the Finnish Embassy.

Väyrynen will continue his journey on Thursday 5 February to Delhi, India, where he will participate in the Sustainable Development Summit and meet, for instance, Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.

Further information: Advisor to the Minister Päivi Nevala, tel. +358 +358 40 753 4375, and Deputy Director General Pekka Puustinen, Department for the Americas and Asia, tel. +358 40 481 9892