Kathmandu: Nepal's opposition Maoists on Thursday threatened to launch a fresh anti-government agitation if their demands, including restoration of "civilian supremacy", are not met by Friday, even as they favoured dialogue with the ruling multi-party alliance to break the political deadlock.
During a high-level meeting of CPN-Maoist, its chief and ex-premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' briefed the participants on his talks with Nepali Congress (NC) President G P Koirala, according to senior Maoist leader C P Gajurel.
Maoists have been demanding restoration of "civilian supremacy" and a parliamentary discussion to rectify President Ram Baran Yadav's "wrong" move to reinstate the then Army chief Rukmangad Katwal following his sacking by the previous Prachanda administration.
Prachanda met Koirala, who is undergoing medical treatment in Singapore, recently and they agreed to resolve the political stalemate by finding a middle path on the President's reinstatement of Katwal that had led to the collapse of the Maoist government in May.
As NC and CPN-UML, the main constituents of ruling 22-party alliance, "have softened their stand, we hope that there will be some sort of agreement among major parties regarding the key issues," Gajurel said. "We are also looking at preparing a common resolution for discussion in Parliament."
However, Maoists warned that they would launch the third phase of their agitation if their demands are not addressed by the government within the November 20 deadline, set by the former rebels last week.
Maoist Deputy leader in Parliament, Narayan Kaji Shrestha 'Prakash', said they would go for fresh agitation if the government failed to address their demands by Friday.
He, however, said they would try to reach an understanding with the ruling alliance during the top leaders' meeting scheduled for Friday before taking any harsh decision to go for an agitation.
"We are still optimistic that a resolution would be found out and the deadlock ended" through talks, he said.
The meeting of top leaders of three parties -- CPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML -- that was supposed to take place today was postponed to Friday, after the task force involving their representatives said they needed more time for talks before reaching an agreement on a common resolution to be presented in Parliament addressing the issues raised by the former rebels.
The Maoists have been disrupting Parliamentary proceedings for more than four months, blocking endorsement of the budget for the current, fiscal which has resulted in the financial crisis for the government.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 18:29