Dahal, who is here in China on a five-day visit, said his party would not object to a new government led by the Nepali Congress (NC) or the CPN-UML, but added that it would be against the demoacratic norms and values to think the peace process would reach its logical conclusion without his party at the helm.[break]
"It would be questioning the competence of Nepali leaders and intelligentsia to argue that Nepal would slide into another conflict without the presence of UNMIN," said Dahal in his interview to Republica here in Shanghai. He came to China to participate in the concluding session of the Shanghai Expo.
He said that the peace process would continue as long as the political parties are committed to peace agreements and constitution-drafting through Constituent Assembly (CA) and think that peace and stability are the demand of the time.
The former rebel leader argued that the new government led by the Maoist party alone would be natural and democratic, and called for the NC and the UML to accept this fact.
"Since the Maoist party is the largest, no other party will have the same level of ease as the Maoists when it comes to concluding the peace process," he said.
Dahal, who is accompanied by party foreign department chief Krishna Bahadur Mahara, among others, said the parties don´t have any option other than seeking consensus on peace process and constitution-drafting immediately after Dashain as the country might see more confusion after the UNMIN packs up.
He said the parties are slowly realizing the need for consensus. "The major parties have agreed to discuss the issues in a package and reach an agreement. We have initiated talks at various levels. The process would take a momentum after I return," he said.
The Maoist leader said he is scheduled to meet some Chinese officials, but added that no high level meetings have been arranged. Dahal refuted the allegations that Maoist foreign policy is tilted toward China, and said that his party is against excessive dependence on India.
"There was a kind of dependence on India. But it would be against the country´s national interest to depend on one country economically, politically, culturally and other spheres," he said.
The Maoist chairman said that his party is studying the economic liberalization and reforms implemented by Deng Xiaoping. It may be recalled that the Maoist party has so far condemned the economic reform of China and termed it as a deviation from communist ideology.
"We want to learn from the positive aspects of Deng´s policy," he said.
Related story
NC leader Koirala and then UNMIN Chief Ian Martin hold meeting
