Nepal dares Maoists to bring no-confidence over Army Chief

As the deadlock in the Nepalese Parliament continued over the issue of reinstatement of Army Chief, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday dared the Maoists to bring a motion of no-confidence to settle the issue.

As the deadlock in the Nepalese Parliament continued over the issue of reinstatement of Army Chief, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday dared the Maoists to bring a motion of no-confidence to settle the issue.

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Nepal is learnt to have suggested to Maoists to bring a no-confidence motion as an alternative way to end the current deadlock of the House.

But he ruled out any debate in the Constituent Assembly on the reinstatement of Army chief, terming the Maoist demand as irrelevant, as the former rebels threatened to continue their siege of Parliament.

Though the Maoist strongman Prachanda who met Nepal offered to call off the siege by forming of a task force to look into the matter, the Premier said the President's decisions cannot be discussed in the house.

The Maoists adamancy over the issue seems strange as Katawal is due to retire the next month. His successor would take over charge on Sunday as the present Army Chief is proceeding on leave a month prior to his retirement.

Nepal conveyed this to Prachanda during the meeting saying, "the Maoist demand is irrelevant and cannot be taken up in the assembly."

Prachanda declared that the issue was not whether Katawal retired or not. "The issue is not of individual but that civil supremacy is guaranteed," he was quoted as saying by the Kantipur.