Addressing an interaction organized by Reporters´ Club in the capital on Monday, Dr Koirala argued that the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Democratic Forum (FDF) and Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party would choose to join the election process once Regmi steps down as chief justice. [break]
"I am confident that even the CPN(Maoist)-led alliance would join the electoral process once certain demands of theirs were met such as increasing the ratio of seats allocated under the proportional electoral system and retaining the same size of the CA as before," he argued.
Calling on Regmi not to hold the country hostage by clinging to both the posts of both chief justice and chairman of the Interim Election Council, Dr Koirala suggested to the political parties represented in the High Level Political Committee (HLPC) to demonstrate maximum flexibility over the demands of the agitating parties to ensure fresh Constituent Assembly (CA) polls on November 19.
Dr Koirala said fresh elections would be possible only if the government, the parties in the HLPC, the agitating parties and the international community came together for the purpose. "But all these actors do not seem to have come together yet," he said.
Dr Koirala also expressed doubts that all the parties in the HLPC were really committed to holding polls in the stipulated time. "The announcement by Prachanda on deploying YCL cadres to chase away those obstructing polls, the widening rift between Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai following the announcement of the election date and the controversial remarks by Bhattarai on relief distribution by former king Gyanendra in Darchula district all prove that they do not really want polls," he said.
He also criticized the international community for unnecessarily meddling in Nepal´s internal affairs through direct engagement in election-related activities. "We are grateful for the support they have extended us. But it is not their business to suggest to the political parties to go for polls even if some parties do not come on board," he said.
Also addressing the function, CPN-UML leader Pradip Gyawali said that the protest activities of the agitating parties, the increasing number of armed outfits in the Tarai, the decision of the major parties to reduce the ratio of seats under the proportional electoral system and the suspicious activities of the UCPN(Maoist) taken all together posed a challenge for the upcoming election.
Arguing that the announcement by the Mohan Baidya-led Maoists on forging alliance with the former king for safeguarding national integrity was the result of their ideological deviation, Gyawali said such a move would not serve the interests of the people and country.
On the occasion, Gyawali also said that the UML was ready to go for polls any time. "We have already prepared a preliminary report after holding orientation programs in all 240 constituencies. UML is going to become the largest party after the fresh CA poll," he said. "everything will now be settled by the cadres´ gathering scheduled to be held in August."
Chairman of CPN(Samyukta) Chandra Dev Joshi said the country had fallen into a serious crisis since the government, the parties in the HLPC, the president and the Supreme Court had all begun working along the same lines. Joshi also suggested to Regmi to step down as chief justice and to the parties in the HLPC to increase the number of CA seats to 601 as per the previous arrangement to ensure the participation of marginalized and backward communities and hold timely polls. "We are ready to go to the polls for a people-elected body to rule the country, once these demands are addressed," he said.
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