A senior leader of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) has expressed his displeasure with the decision of the seven party alliance steering committee to suspend the Free Student Union (FSU) election.

The UML leader Iswor Pokharel has termed as ‘nonsense’ the very proposal to suspend the FSU polls that was introduced at the seven party meeting on Monday morning. The meeting later decided to endorse the proposal.

“It was nonsense to broach the issue at the seven party meeting. If the Prime Minister had so desired, he could have summoned the vice chancellors and ordered them to suspend the election since he is the chancellor (of the universities),” Pokharel said after the seven parties decided to advise the Tribhuwan University and Nepal Sanskrit University to suspend the FSU election slated for February 28. FSU elections are held once every two years in colleges affiliated with the universities across the country

The proposal was made by the Maoists and seconded by Nepali Congress, reports said, while UML had to reluctantly agree to it.

“I cannot buy their argument that the student election would have affected Constituent Assembly election. Even during Jana Andolan, the students had participated in FSU election,” Pokharel reasoned.

Meanwhile, president of UML-affiliated All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU) Thakur Gaire has questioned the intention of the parties that introduced the proposal to suspend FSU election.

“The parties that made such proposal have given out signals that they do not want the CA election as well,” he said.

Protesting the decision, the ANNFSU activists even burnt tyres and blocked roads in the capital city in the afternoon. nepalnews.com sd Feb 04 08