KATHMANDU, Jan 31: UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has urged the opposition parties to either forge a political agreement or miss the opportunity for ever.
“I urge Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to be ready for political consensus or else it would be too late,” Dahal said at a joint gathering of Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA) in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
The FDRA gathering apparently aimed at countering the mass meeting held by the opposition alliance on Tuesday. Dahal also urged the opposition parties not to further delay consensus.
Addressing the same function, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai reiterated that he was in favor of fresh Constituent Assembly (CA) polls in May-June. Accusing the opposition parties of trying to avoid election, he said the ruling alliance would compel them to participate in the elections.
Maoist chairman. (Photo: Dipesh Shrestha)
On a separate note, PM Bhattarai said that the road expansion drive initiated by him had been successful. Stating that he is in favor of change, Bhattarai claimed that he would move bring about progressive change and accused the earlier governments of bringing the country to its current miserable state.
“The government with its hands tied has been thrown into a pond, but we are still trying to swim,” said Bhattarai mentioning that his government could not formulate its own policies and programs.
Addressing the meet, Deputy Prime Minister and Madhesi People´s Right Forum (Democratic) Chairman Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar accused the opposition parties of being “anti-federalist” and stressed that the alliance should remain intact until the promulgation of a new constitution that guarantees identity-based federalism.
Gachchhadar also claimed that such a constitution would not be possible only through the Constituent Assembly and urged the major opposition parties -- Nepali Congress and CPN-UML -- to stop protesting against the government and step forward for a package deal.
FDRA leaders. (Photo: Dipesh Shrestha)
Minister for Information and Communications and Madhesi People´s Right Forum (Republican) Chairman Raj Kishor Yadav said NC and UML are still holding on to orthodox ideas when the country has already turned a republic and warned that political forces resistant to change would perish.
Similarly, Minister for Health and Chairman of Sadbhawana Party Rajendra Mahato accused the major opposition parties of obstructing the country´s transformation to a federal republic by saying that a federal structure would disturb communal harmony and bring about disintegration of the country.
Earlier, FDRA activists and leaders had staged protest march at various places in the Kathmandu Valley before converging into a gathering. The protest march had disrupted traffic movement at various road sections in the capital.
Rally heads to Khullamanch. (Photo: Dipesh Shrestha)
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