KATHMANDU, Aug 11: While concluding that the Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist and its allies are still not honest toward participating in the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, Nepali Congress has decided to gear up election campaign after taking a formal decision to this effect through the party´s Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting due later this week.
During an informal meeting of the NC´s office bearers including CWC members available in the capital at the residence of party president Sushil Koirala in Maharajgunj Saturday morning decided to make last-ditch efforts to bring the agitating parties, mainly the CPN-Maoist, on board the election process in next few days, but not wait indefinitely. [break]
The meeting concluded that the demands of the Baidya-led alliance to hold all-party political conference, deferral of the November 19 polls, and creation of credible ground for the promulgation of new statute through the new CA were only aimed at buying time to eventually make November poll impossible. "There is no alternative to elections. Our meeting has decided to exercise maximum flexibility over the demands of the agitating parties but not at the cost of not holding election in the stipulated date of November 19," said NC spokesperson Dilendra Badu.
Major demands of the agitating political parties include delineation of election constituency on the basis of population, keeping intact the ratio of First-Past-The-Post and Proportional Representatino seats as in teh former Constitutent Assembly, and resignation of Chairman of Interim Election Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi from the post of Chief Justice and dissolution of the High Level Political Committee.
Badu said the informal meeting held a day after the arrival of party president Koirala´s to Kathmandu following a six-day official visit to India also took stock of the current political situation, progress made in the negotiations with the agitating parties over the last one week and NC´s stance on various demands of the agitating parties. The meeting noted that Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party and Upendra Yadav-led Federal Democratic Front (FDF) will take part in the polls once their genuine demands are addressed, according to Badu.
Badu said they now want to see in the few days if Mohan Baidya-led alliance is seriously committed to participating in the polls. "But the kinds of demands the alliance has put forth so far has made us skeptic about their commitment to the polls," Badu further said. "Some of the leaders in the Baidya-led alliance have even questioned the relevance of the fresh elections."
The CWC members, however, are divided over whether to defer the November 19 election if Baidya-led alliance agrees to participate in the poll only in April-May.
While majority leaders appear against deferring the polls, some CWC members argue that it will be in the broader interest of the country to defer the polls if such a deferral guarantees participation of all agitating parties in the polls. "A deferral can save the country from slipping into a fresh conflict," said CWC member Shanker Bhandari, who was present in the meeting.
The informal meeting also attended by senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba decided to call the party´s CWC meeting later this week and take necessary decision for the polls. "While our party´s orientation program to local level leaders and cadres is under way across the country, the meeting will take a formal decision to prepare an election manifesto, share election-related works among party leaders and prepare publicity materials for election," he said.
President Koirala and senior leader Deuba have reached to an understanding to form a parliamentary board, which is the NC´s statutory body, to pick election candidates, in consensus in view of the upcoming elections. "The CWC meeting will also take necessary decisions to ask party´s district committees to propose election candidates from each of the 240 election constituencies for consideration," a leader present at the meeting said.
On the occasion, Koirala also briefed the party leaders that India wished to see election taking place in Nepal on the stipulated date for peace, stability, democracy and development. He also said that his party had helped to strengthen party-to-party ties and further strengthen NC´s relations with the Indian establishment.
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