A two-day Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting that concluded on Thursday decided to prepare an action plan to conclude both peace process and constitution drafting within the extended three-month term of the CA. The meeting also decided to hold talks with various parties and garner public support to exert pressure on the Maoists to conclude both the tasks within the stipulated time.[break]
“Nepali Congress believes that fundamental tasks of the peace process can be completed only by accomplishing the tasks outlined in the road map presented by the party in its 10-point demand. With this conclusion, Nepali Congress decides to initiate talks with all political parties to fulfill the task of implementing the five-point deal,” says a press statement issued by NC.
The CWC meeting also concluded that 10-point demand put forth by the party are largely addressed in the five-point deal reached among Maoists, NC and the UML and that the controversial seven-point deal was scrapped automatically after the signing of the deal. The meeting urged all parties concerned to push for preparing a concrete work plan for immediate implementation of commitments related to peace process as agreed in the five-point deal, according to CWC member N P Saud.
Altogether 25 CWC members including senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel, General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Bal Bahadur KC, Bal Krishna Khand, Dr Minendra Rijal, Dilendra Badu, Bhism Raj Angdangwe, Dr Shekhar Koirala, Badri Pandey, Kamal Panta, Ambika Basnet, Surendra Raj Pandey had put forth their opinion during Thursday´s meeting.
Addressing the meeting, senior leader Deuba had defended the five-point deal, saying that there was no alternative except extending the term of the CA. He had argued that NC should take lead role in implementing the five-point deal standing firmly by its 10-point demand. Deuba argued that the country would not benefit by keeping the peace process in status quo as every month over Rs 170 million is being spent in the name of Maoist combatants.
Likewise, Vice-president Paudel, while noting that the country was standing at critical mode, argued that the NC should work toward exerting pressure on the Maoists to implement the five-point deal in letter and spirit. He said that the party should intensify talks with other parties, including the Maoists, to settle various contentious issues related to army integration and rehabilitation to expedite the conclusion of the peace process.
CWC member Dr Rijal said that differences on a lot of issues related to peace process still exist between NC and the Maoist. He briefed the meeting how the Maoists had responded to the 10-point demand of the Congress. “Days ahead are going to be very difficult,” a CWC member quoted Rijal, who is also a Special Committee member from NC, as saying.
Another CWC member Dr Shekhar Koirala argued that NC could have achieved more had all the members of the talk team from the party maintained a firm stance till the end during the negotiations with the Maoists. “The conflict of opinion among party leaders made our position weak during the talks,” a CWC member quoted Koirala as saying. He opined that the parliament should strongly monitor implementation of the five-point deal.
Among other things, the CWC meeting concluded that both central level and district level rallies organized by the party in various places in the country recently were a grand success. The meeting thanked party´s organization, sister organizations, press and well-wishers for making the rallies a grand success.
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