"We have made preparations to demand a special session of parliament against corruption, killings and terrorism," said Dahal, "We have not thought of tabling a no-confidence motion against the government immediately." [break]
Dahal´s clarification-like remark came amidst the Maoist drive to collect the signatures of its lawmakers to demand the special session of parliament. The Maoist move has been interpreted as being aimed at toppling the incumbent coalition government to which the UCPN-M has not been reconciled ever since it came to power last May.
Dahal arrived here to give orientation to district-level cadres of his party from Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, Dang and Kanchanpur.
Talking to journalists, Dahal further said that the drafting of the new constitution was still possible in a two-month timeframe. He also termed the President´s ongoing consultations with political leaders for timely completion of constitution-writing as natural and positive.
But he objected to the recent remarks of Nepal Army chief Chhatra Man Singh Gurung against bulk integration of Maoist combatants into the army. He was of the view that the remarks were aimed at disrupting the peace process.
On the question of management of Maoist combatants, Dahal said the combatants should be asked how many of them want to be integrated into the national security forces.
"The combatants should be asked where they want to go," Dahal told journalists, adding that some may join the army, others the police and the remaining may opt for further studies.
When asked about his agreement with Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala on the number of combatants to be integrated, Dahal said that there was no such agreement. He further said "When Koirala said that 3,000 combatants should be integrated I told him that the number should be around 10,000 to 12,000."
He also dismissed the government allegation that only around 50 percent of the combatants are in the cantonments. Referring to a recent count of combatants at Shaktikhor cantonment, he said that only 12 percent of the combatants were absent from the cantonment during the counting.
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