Date:17/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/17/stories/2007041702371400.htm

International

Declare Nepal republic, demands Prachanda

Ameet Dhakal

Left parties support the idea, Koirala non-committal

KATHAMNDU: Maoist leader Prachanda on Monday called for declaring Nepal a republic, accusing the King of conspiring to sabotage the scheduled elections to the Constituent Assembly.

The Election Commission has said it is not possible to hold the polls on June 20 as decided by the ruling eight-party coalition.

Addressing a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday, Prachanda said, "We [Maoists] want the interim legislature to proclaim the republic ...but referendum could be an option in case there is no consensus on our proposal."

Prachanda, who met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala earlier in the morning to discuss how political parties could move ahead in the new context, said, "I proposed to the Prime Minister that the interim legislature should proclaim the republic." He said the Premier was non-committal on the issue.

Referendum mooted

"If our proposal is not acceptable to other parties, holding a referendum could be another option," he said. Prachanda has said that the basis for unity among the eight ruling parties was weakening because of the uncertainty over holding the Constituent Assembly polls.

A major partner in the ruling coalition, CPN-UML, expressed support for holding a referendum as the means to decide the fate of the monarchy.

The interim Constitution says the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly would decide whether Nepal should retain the monarchy or go for a republican set-up.

"The EC's decision is a part of the larger conspiracy involving the monarchy and international forces against Constituent Assembly polls in Nepal," said Prachanda.

He claimed that if Nepal failed to abolish the monarchy immediately there was no guarantee that the Constituent Assembly polls would ever be held.

Some fringe Left parties have also supported a referendum, but the Prime Minister's Nepali Congress and its breakaway faction NC(D) are opposed to it.

The president of the NC(D), Sher Bahadur Deuba, has called for deferring the elections, saying there was no conducive atmosphere in the country for holding the polls now.