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Maoists ultimatum to PM to resign
The PM’s resignation was part of a three-point deal reached between the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) and Maoists that led to consensus on extending the tenure of the constituent assembly by a year.
Opposition Maoists in Nepal have given a three day ultimatum to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down and make way for a national unity government.
The PM’s resignation was part of a three-point deal reached between the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) and Maoists that led to consensus on extending the tenure of the constituent assembly by a year.
The move prevented a constitutional crisis, but since there was no written agreement on when the PM should resign, the parties are squabbling on the issue for the past two days.
On Monday, *Janadisha, *the Maoist mouthpiece, quoted senior party leader Mohan Vaidya giving a 72-hour deadline to Madhav Kumar Nepal to leave office or else the country could witness a “serious crisis”.
“There was verbal agreement among the parties that the PM will step down within five days of signing the deal. He should honour that agreement if a crisis is to be prevented,” he was quoted as saying.
Other points in the last minute deal included consensus on taking the peace process to conclusion and extension of the CA by one year to write the new constitution.
While the Maoists are seeking the PM’s resignation to work on other issues, the ruling parties are first seeking an exact number of former Maoists combatants who are to be integrated into the country’s security forces.
The Maoist standing committee meeting on Monday urged ruling parties to stay true to the commitment made in the deal. “The statements made by the ruling parties are worrying,” said Maoist spokesperson Dinanath Sharma.
The meeting of the three major parties to discuss formation of the next government also ended inconclusively on Monday due to differences on the timing of the PM’s resignation.
