KATHMANDU, May 1: Prime Minister and Chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday avoided a mass meeting organized on the occasion of International Labor Day. Party sources said he avoided the meeting in view of his failure to oust army chief General Rookmangud Katawal. [break]
Dahal, instead, visited Jhule resort in Lapsiphedi VDC to the north-east of Kathmandu "for a rest".
"The prime minister along with members of his family went to Lapsiphedi for a rest," said Samir Dahal, an official at the prime minister´s official residence at Baluwatar.
Maoist secretariat member Barsa Man Pun accompanied the prime minister, who set out for Lapsiphedi at 9 a.m.
The prime minister, his wife Sita Dahal, son Prakash and Pun had lunch at Jhule resort and returned to Kathmandu at 3 p.m.
Defending the party chairman´s deliberate absence from the mass meeting, Maoist leader Pun said, "The chairman may have thought it is not a good time to address the mass meeting while the political consultations for sacking army chief Rookmangud Katawal are continuing." Besides, the people at the mass gathering would expect the chairman to announce the ouster of Katawal, Pun added.
"The chairman might have thought this is not a good time to address the mass meeting as political consultations for sacking army chief Katawal are continuing."
--Barsa Man Pun
--Barsa Man Pun
In the absence of Dahal, another senior leader of the party, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who was earlier scheduled to address a mass meeting in Biratnagar, addressed the meeting in Kathmandu instead. Since Dr Bhattarai had to address the Kathmandu meeting, another party leader, Ram Karki, went to the meeting in Biratnagar.
Dr Bhattarai, addressing a highly-charged gathering at Tundikhel in Kathmandu of mostly Maoist cadres, reiterated that the government will certainly take action against Nepal army (NA) chief General Katawal for flouting civilian supremacy.
Dr Bhattarai warned President Dr Ram Baran Yadav against intervening in the government´s move to take action against the army chief.
"You (president) should remain cautious. Otherwise you will meet the fate as former king Gyanendra," he warned.
He said his party will revolt through the government, parliament and the streets if the president tries to misinterpret his ceremonial position and obstruct the government´s move.
Stating that the Maoists do not mistrust the entire Nepal army as an institution, he said, "The army has performed commendable work like building roads in remote areas."
Dr Bhattarai, during the program, leveled harsh criticism against the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), a major partner in the current coalition government.
"UML always loves to stand between right and wrong, good and bad and dark and light," he said, adding, "But my third-gender UML friends, clarify your gender."
He charged that the UML always points out problems but fails to provide any solution.
He claimed that his party will go ahead alone in sacking the army chief even if the UML doesn´t extend its support.
ghanashyam@myrepublica.com
Related story
Oli arriving in Chitwan to address election rally today
