September 15, 2001

Kathmandu: Nepal Communist Party-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) has said that it was serious about ending the six-year-long problem through dialogues.

Organising the first ever press conference here this evening after it launched the peoples’ war some six years ago, the leaders of the underground revolutionary party said that the struggle was their compulsion for establishing the republican system of government in the country.

Informing the press about the results of the just concluded second rounds of talks with the government at Bardia in the western Nepal, coordinator from the CPN-Maoist Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that although the two rounds of talks were not sufficient enough for ending the problem, they have made both the sides serious about each others’ demands.

“During the three-day talks we listened to the government’s preconditions and we also handed our four-page long written demands,” said Mahara.

According to him, Maoists demands include immediate conditions to be implemented by the government like the release of about 72 of party workers, making public the condition of our leaders like Dandapani Neupane, cancellation of the newly introduced Security Regulation and Armed Security Force, calling back the Royal Nepalese Army to the barracks and repealing the Integrated Development and Security Programme.

Likewise, Mahara also reiterated his party’s political demand. He put forward the idea of abrogation of the existing constitution, formation of the interim government and paving ways for the establishment of the republican system of government in the country.

Similarly, in the written proposal the underground revolutionary party has asked the government to fulfil its 23 demands on matters of public concerns.

Mahara further said that the party had never resorted to extortion from anybody and any organisation. He also denied accusation made against the party that it had kidnapped any of the locally elected government representatives after the understanding reached between Maoists and the government for halting armed activities some two months back. He also said that being indulged in armed insurgency, his party possesses arms and ammunition and formation of local people’s government.

Referring to the ongoing talks with the government, he alleged government for not being forthcoming and serious about the demands and conditions of his party.

Meanwhile, he also informed that they were going to organise a mass meeting in Kathmandu on September 21 and convinced that the meeting would be peaceful and would be done as per the provisions underlined in the Constitution.

The Maoists have been fighting for the past six years for altering the present political system of the country and establishing people’s republic.

Earlier, after the conclusion of the three-day talks in Bardia’s Thakurdwara, both teams flew to the capital in the same flight this afternoon to host press conferences separately.