The party´s top leaders announced the policy after it was endorsed by a two-day central committee meeting that concluded here at Lamahi on Wednesday.[break]
“We will boycott the election peacefully,” CPN-Maoist Chairman Mohan Baidya told reporters at a press meet on Thursday. “We won´t resort to any violence to disrupt poll activities and we have no plans for such violence.”
He, however, was quick to add that if anyone uses force against the party´s peaceful agitations, “we will react accordingly”.
The party´s leaders said their party has kept the door open for dialogue with other political parties.
The party plans to reach out to the people and appeal to them not to participate in the election.
“This is our third-stage campaign. Our plan is only to persuade people to boycott the poll and nothing more,” Baidya further clarified. “We will make our campaign a success by winning the hearts and minds of the people, not by resorting to violence.”
He also claimed that some who were out to defame the CPN-Maoist were spreading rumors that the party was using violence in the election.
Baidya, however, wasn´t optimistic about resuming negotiations with other political parties. “I don´t think we will meet them again in talks. We will meet them in the field of elections,” he said. “We [the two sides] may meet because the ground is the same. They will reach out to the people seeking votes while we will be campaigning against the polls.”
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