Maoist Chairman Dahal gave such an assurance to the prime minister -- who has repeatedly committed in writing to step down if he fails to make tangible progress in the peace process by August 13 -- at a meeting with the latter at the prime minister’s official residence in Baluwatar Thursday afternoon.[break]
“Rest assured that the peace process won’t be jeopardized. The peace process should be taken ahead through consensus. I will do something for that,” the prime minister’s press advisor Surya Thapa quoted Dahal as saying at the meeting.
Dahal’s response came after the prime minister pressed him to come up with a proposal on what could be done to advance the peace process. “We have no alternative other than making tangible progress in the peace process and many things depend on your party and mainly on you,” Thapa quoted Khanal as telling Dahal.
While the prime minister has categorically said that he wouldn’t stay in the office after August 13 if he fails to forge an agreement on thorny issues of army integration including the integration numbers, modality, rank harmonization and the rehabilitation package. Dahal at the meeting, however, didn’t elaborate what he would do to advance the peace process.
According to Thapa, the date of the prime minister’s resignation didn’t feature during the talks between the two leaders. Asked whether or not the prime minister is in a mood to wait for a few more days in the hope of some solution from the Maoists, Thapa said, “the prime minister will work until the final hour on Saturday to make progress in the peace process.”
The prime minister had also urged Dahal to take the matter of advancing the peace process as a national duty of the political parties instead of relating the issue with the prime minister’s resignation only.
Khanal has also called a meeting of top leaders of the three major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML -- on Friday. Sources at Baluwatar claim that the talks at the meeting will be decisive.
Meanwhile, Speaker Subas Nembang called on the prime minister Thursday afternoon and drew the latter’s attention toward the lack of progress in both the peace process and constitution writing.
“There has been no progress in statute drafting and the peace process in recent days and we have very little time left. Therefore, I drew his attention toward the situation,” Nembang told Republica.
According to him, the prime minister was optimistic about finding some solution in a day or two and in making the remaining days fruitful.
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