A cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister´s Office also asked the Maoists not to engage in such activities, pointing out that these would go against the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) and existing laws of the land. [break]
Talking to media persons after the meeting, Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel said the cabinet meeting asked the Maoists to withdraw all protest activities and find a way out of problems through dialogue and consensus. "The government is in favor of cooperation, consensus and reconciliation," he said. "The government urges the Maoists to withdraw all their protests."
He said the government decided to point out to the Maoists that the latter will have to take responsibility for any untoward incident that may occur during their mass demonstrations.
"All parties have the right to stage protests in a democracy. But they should be within the limits permitted by the constitution, existing laws, the 12-point agreement and the Comprehensive Peace Accord," Pokharel said.
Pokharel said it would not be acceptable if the protests go beyond these limits. "The government will counter such activities [of the Maoists]," he added.
The Maoists plan to bring thousands of cadres to Kathmandu to mark May Day and to prolong their protest activities till the government steps down. The former rebel party has also been conducting paramilitary training for its cadres in various parts of the country in preparation for what they call a ´decisive war´.
An informal meeting of cabinet on Thursday had directed security agencies to remain alert after concluding that the Maoists planned to bring about instability through the creation of mayhem in the capital city.
The meeting had concluded that the Maoists were planning to seize state power through street protests.
Secretaries posted
Friday´s cabinet meeting also gave five newly-promoted government secretaries their postings and transferred three others.
According to Pokharel, the meeting posted Shital Babu Regmi to Cantonment Management, Ananda Pokharel to Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Mahendra Shrestha to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. The meeting posted Bimal Wagle to the Prime Minister´s Office and Madhav Ghimire to the Auditor General´s Office.
Likewise, the cabinet transferred Brinda Hada, who was serving at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare to the Information Commission, Shankar Pandey to the Ministry of Education and Dinesh Hari Adhikari to Labor and Transport Management Ministry.
According to Pokharel, the cabinet also decided to give amnesty to 270 jail inmates, who have already served over half their terms, on the occasion of Loktantra Day.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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