In its unofficial version of the draft proposal, which was also presented to the Constitutional Committee of the Constituent Assembly, the party had decided to go for direct election of the executive president.
“The party has decided that the executive president should be elected through a people´s assembly, the members of which are elected through direct elections on a mixed proportional basis. But we are yet to chalk out the details,” said Maoist politburo member Lokendra Bista. According to him, the electoral system will ensure representation of all minorities and ethnic groups in the people´s assembly.
“We have been holding discussions on the model for long. The model proposed by the chairman is more democratic and inclusive than the direct election of the prime minister or president,” he said.
According to a politburo member, the model closely resembles the systems in Spain and Sri Lanka. The politburo meeting has also decided to add two more autonomous provinces to the earlier list of 13. The party decided to propose a Sherpa province in the eastern part of the country and a Bhote-Lama province in the west. Among the 15 provinces floated by the Maoists, 10 are based on ethnicity, two on region and three on language.
The politburo meeting also decided to hold strident protests against Thursday´s cabinet decision to endorse President Ram Baran Yadav´s reinstatement of army chief Rookmangud Katawal, reversing the decision of the Maoist-led government.
“It is a planned move of the regressive forces,” a politburo member quoted Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal as saying. He pointed out the need for strident protests in parliament and in the streets against the present government´s decision to rectify the “regressive moves” of the present government.
He said the UML-led government was reversing one after another the decisions taken by the democratically-elected erstwhile government.
Earlier, in the morning, the Maoist parliamentary party meeting held at Singha Durbar had decided to intensify protests against the present government´s "regressive" decisions. As part of their protest program, the Maoists held a torch rally in Kathmandu on Friday. The Maoists are scheduled to encircle district administration offices throughout the country for two hours in the morning.
Related story
Parts of Nepal to face indirect effects of cyclone Nisarga unti...
