They vowed not to allow House proceedings to resume until the government revokes the decision and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai furnishes clarification in this regard to parliament.[break]
A recent cabinet meeting decided to legalize transactions such as land purchase, property sharing and other agreements reached under the arbitration of then Maoist´s “people´s government”.
Main opposition Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel termed the Maoist-headed government´s decision a misuse of authority and an attempt to legalize the unlawful activities carried out by the party during the insurgency.
Addressing the parliament meeting on Tuesday, Paudel said, “We can´t accept it at any cost. The government must revoke the decision without any delay and the prime minister must apologize in this House. Parliament proceedings will not be allowed to resume until our demands are fulfilled.”
He said the government decision was a blatant violation of the interim constitution, existing laws, the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) and other agreements reached among the major political parties in the past.
Paudel said the prime minister´s clarification at the inter-party talks in Singha Durbar on Tuesday disappointed leaders from the other parties. “We thought the prime minister would refute such a report but he confirmed it and said that the decision was taken with a view to solving some practical problems,” he said.
Paudel said the government decision had added to the complications in the peace process. “We walked out of the meeting called by the prime minister. We have also told the Maoist leaders that we are not going to hold talks with them until they show sincerity toward past deals,” said Paudel.
Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal of CPN-UML accused the government and the Maoist leaders of trying to establish parallel regimes.
“Based on this precedent, the UCPN (Maoist) wants to legalize the decisions taken by the Maoist-run kangaroo courts and the activities of the People´s Liberation Army,” Nepal said. “I urge the Maoists to stop dreaming about capturing the state through force because it is not going to happen and we will foil it at any cost.”
Seconding Paudel´s proposal, Nepal said they would not allow parliament to enter into any business until the government revoked the decision.
Following the two major parties´ objection, Speaker Subas Nembang deferred the next House meeting for Friday.
Storm in a teacup: Dahal
Earlier in the day, top NC and UML leaders walked out of the inter-party talks called by Prime Minister Bhattarai to discuss the peace process and constitution writing. They said they would not sit for talks until the Maoists revoke the decision and sincerely implement past deals.
Bhattarai, after the meeting was cancelled, did not speak to the media. But Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal told media persons, “The prime minister stated that the other political parties should be happy to hear that the government has legalized land transactions carried out during the conflict.”
Dahal said boycott by other parties of the House meeting called to discuss implementation of the six-point and seven-point deals has surprised him. “The issue has been blown out of proportion. But it is only a storm in the teacup,” he quipped.
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