polls not possible without broader political consensus: Maoist

KIRAN PUN
KATHMANDU, May 13: Further hardening its stance, the CPN-Maoist has ruled out the possibility of Constituent Assembly (CA) election in mid-November without broader political consensus and has set a three-point condition to hold talks with the government. “

"The three-point conditions are only for holding talks with the government. Discussion on our participation in election at this point is meaningless because even the constituent parties of the High-Level Political Committee aren´t prepared for electi”n," CPN-Maoist Secretary Netra Bikram Chand told Republic“. "The four parties only want to deepen the crisis. Their commitment to election is just an eyewa”h."
Arguing that election is not possible without broader political consensus, he also accused the four major parties “f "narrow-mindedn”ss" and reluctance to address the concerns of the dissident political partie“. "So, it is pointless to repeatedly ask whether or not we would participate in the electi”n," he added.
He reiterated that his party would be ready for election only after the 11-point political agreement and the 25-point ordinance that paved the way for the formation of the current government are scrapped and a national government is formed on the basis of broader political understanding.

Meanwhile, the party is holding discussions at the party´s office bearers´ meeting on determining its future course“

"Since the government has formally approached us, our party is holding discussions on the stance we should adopt during talks with other political parti”s," said Chan“. "Though we will not talk to the government unless our three-point demands are met, we are ready to hold talks with parti”s."

Politburo member Kul Prasad KC, however, indicated that the party is more likely to boycott the coming election since the party leaders believe that participation in such polls would only bring disrepute to the party.“

"The election is being conducted as part of the conspiracy to Sikkimize Nepal. This is part of the plan that began with formation of the Regmi-governme”t," said KC. He said the party would shortly come up with programs to safeguard national sovereignty and independence.
from Republica