As they prepare to join the interim government, the Maoist leaders have started to comment on the proposed appointments by the current government. Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara told Kantipur Television on Monday that any appointment of ambassadors, promotion of army generals or transfer of bureaucrats without their consent would be unacceptable to them.

His remarks were in response to news reports that the government is planning to fill vacancies in a number of diplomatic missions abroad.

Mahara also staked his party’s claim to the Defense Ministry in the forthcoming interim government. “The interim government will have to conduct the job of restructuring the army. This is not going to be an easy job. Therefore, we have staked claim to this ministry,” he said.

His comments come in the wake of central committee meeting of the Maoists, which has decided to form a taskforce headed by Ram Bahadur Thapa aka Badal to recommend representatives of the party to take part in the interim parliament and the government. A separate taskforce headed by Nanda Kishore Pun aka Pasang was also formed to recommend on issues of arms management. As per the November 8 agreement, the interim parliament will be formed by November 26 while the interim cabinet will be in place by December 1.

Meanwhile, another Maoist leader Dinanath Sharma said the meeting focused on issues of sending representatives to the interim parliament; arms management; November 8 agreement; and other likely changes the party structure would have to undergo in view of Constituent Assembly elections.