Kathmandu: Amid a deadlock among Nepal`s
political parties, the government plans to initiate some
concrete steps to conclude the 2006 stalled peace process and
draft a new constitution, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance
Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said on Saturday.
Adhikari said there will be a boost in confidence
among the people by taking forward the peace process.
He told mediapersons that some concrete steps will be
taken towards concluding the peace process, such as deciding
on the modality for integration of the former Maoist
guerrillas with the security forces and consensus on key
issues for drafting the delayed constitution even if it was
not possible to promulgate it within the May 28 deadline.
There is growing concern in Nepal over the uncertainty
in Nepal`s peace process and failure of the political parties
to agree on a consensus to promulgate a new constitution.
The Communist-led coalition government has registered
a constitution amendment bill in parliament proposing a
one-year extension for the 601-member Assembly, whose term was
extended last year in a bid to prevent a constitutional
crisis.
Nepalese leaders are deadlocked over the peace
process, including the fate of the former Maoist combatants,
amid demands by the ex-rebels for their en masse integration
with the security forces.
Most of the mainstream political parties have asked
the Maoists to manage their former PLA combatants, return the
seized property and dismantle their paramilitary youth wing,
Young Communist League, so that a consensus can be built on
drafting a constitution and concluding the peace process.
Speaking at a two-day conference of journalists from
Nepal and India in the capital, Adhikari said the government
is committed to taking the peace process forward and drafting
the constitution on the basis of consensus.
Rakesh Sood, the Indian Ambassador to Nepal who was
also present at the meet organized by Nepal Editors? Society
in association with BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation,
underlined the critical role of the media in strengthening
Indo-Nepal relations.
Even as he expressed confidence that the people-to-
people relations between the two countries will not be
adversely affected by ups and down in Kathmandu and New Delhi,
he urged the media not to unnecessarily blow up differences
between the two countries.
PTI
