KP Sharma Oli (File Photo)
At a time when international communities are pressuring the agitating political parties and the King to find consensus to resolve the present political crisis, one of the senior leaders in the seven-party alliance has said that the parties were not against holding talks with the king.

KP Sharma Oli, an influential leader of CPN-UML, said that the parties were not against talks with the King if the talks were genuinely intended towards resolving present problems, according to reports.

“Parties engaged in peaceful democratic movement cannot refuse talks, but they are against making any compromise in the basic stance for loktantra (democracy),” said Oli.

Defending the 12-point pact between political parties and Maoists, Oli said the pact was for the restoration of peace in the country and to bring the Maoists to the mainstream of politics. “Our 12-point understanding with the rebels was an initial stage – the stage for commitment in principle – towards peace,” said Oli. “It was for the first time the rebels have agreed to enter politics of competition. It is a significant development.”

Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani

Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani (File Photo)
Co-chairman of Rastriya Janashakti Party Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani, however, claimed the parties-Maoist understanding can’t yield any results until the rebels make clear their stance on multi-party parliamentary democracy, desired economic model and socio-economic transformation of the society.

“The 12-point pact cannot be expected to go far and the alliance needs to be wary of the remarks coming from Dr Baburam Bhattarai that Maoists cannot take consolation from bourgeois democracy,” Lohani added.

CK Lal (File Photo)
Political analyst CK Lal said what US Ambassador James Moriarty commented about the parties-rebel 12-point understanding was made in an elitist perspective.

Moriarty had cautioned the alliance about the consequences of not cooperating with the monarch and making alliance with the Maoists.

Lal also claimed that the US attitude towards the seven-party alliance in general and the Maoists in particular can be analysed against the backdrop of the professed need reinforced by Moriarty to the effect that the 12-point understanding be sabotaged.

He further said that the visit of US president George W Bush to India could affect Nepal in either way depending on the outcome of interaction between the US and India.