A meeting of the council took the decision to contain possible untoward incidents that may unfold should political parties fail to extend the CA term that expires on May 28. [break]
The meeting held under the chair of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal directed chiefs of all four security agencies -- Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department -- to stay on high alert to deal with the possible violence from the Maoists after May 28.
The government´s preparation comes in the wake of the main opposition UCPN-Maoist announcing not to help the government to extend the CA´s term and to make public a constitution from the streets on its own. Maoist support is a must to extend the term through constitution amendment that requires a two-thirds majority of the parliament.
In a meeting held ahead of the Maoist general strike from May 1, the council had decided to deploy Nepal Army to guard vital installations. Thursday´s meeting decided to continue with the same security arrangement, according to a council source.
The two-hour meeting on Thursday was attended by DPM Bijaya Gachchhadar, Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Defense Minister Bidya Bhandari, Energy Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, Education Minister Sarvendra Nath Shukla, Defense Secretary Nabin Ghimire and Home Secretary Dr Gobinda Kusum, among others.
The council meeting also reviewed overall security situation in the country and thanked all security agencies for their effective role to thwart the Maoist plan to capture state through street protests, the source said. Security chiefs briefed the meeting on their respective security strategies to deal with the possible violence after May 28.
Talking to media, Bhandari said the meeting was held to discuss security arrangement as the Maoist activities are directed at capturing the state powers through street protests. “The government is ready to tackle the situation if the CA term is not extended due to main opposition party,” she said.
Asked what would be the reaction of the government if the Maoists adopted a new constitution through the streets, Bhandari said the government will act as per the law of the land if the Maoists revived their parallel structures and adopted new constitution through the streets.
Rawal said the government will not go to confrontation but control those resorting to confrontation as per the law.
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