Former Chief Justice Bishwo Nath Upadhyay said the latest royal move was a cumulative effect of the lack of resistance from political parties since 1990 to the king's repeated \'interference'. Upadhyay, who was the chairman of the present constitution's drafting committee, claimed the king violated the spirit and letter of the constitution from the very beginning. In a discussion program recently, Upadhyay said the king had exercised extra-constitutional practices to appoint ambassadors and Upper House members without recommendations from the cabinet. He also criticised Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal's announcement that the government was considering awarding citizenship certificates to almost four million people, saying it was unfortunate the country would exchange citizenships for votes.