A day after arriving in Kathmandu to prepare ground for ‘summit level talks’ between his party and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) government, spokesman of the CPN (Maoist), Krishna Bahadur Mahara, has alleged that the government is not serious towards negotiations.
“The have neither announced a full-fledged negotiation team nor responded to our code of conduct. It has created confusion,” Mahara told Nepal F. M.—a private sector radio station based in Kathmandu—Monday morning.
Mahara said that the environment for talks was yet to be crated. He insisted that the government release all the Maoist detainees before the talks would resume. “A lot of political and practical things need to be done before talks could resume. The government doesn’t look eager, serious or pro-active for negotiations,” said Mahara. He, however, said his party was ready to sit for peace negotiations as soon as “environment for talks were created.”
Responding to a query by Binod Dhungel, news editor of the Nepal F. M., Mahara said allegations of extortion, abduction and continuing recruitment in the Maoist army were unfounded. “We have been looking at such allegations very seriously. Domestic as well as foreign forces that want to spoil the environment of negotiations could be behind such allegations,” said Mahara. Referring to allegations of extortion from industries based in Birgunj, he added that his party did not have a policy of raising forced donations. “Of course, we will collect voluntary donations,” he added.
Mahara reiterated his party’s demand that the existing constitution should be scrapped and the reinstated House of Representatives (HoR) be dissolved immediately. He said the basis of the reinstatement of the HoR was the constitution of 1990. “The country has moved far ahead. The 1990 constitution can’t represent today’s people’s sentiments. So, the present constitution and parliament needed to be dissolved,” he added.
The Maoist spokesman demanded that the government convene a grand political conference – which he said would be a supreme body and much powerful than the reinstated parliament. “Only then an environment for forming an interim government would be created,” he said. He, however, said as an important partner of ‘jana andolan’ (people’s movement), the Maoists were ready to help the government to move towards the constituent assembly.
“The crux of the matter is whether the SPA government understands us as yet another political party or a new regime and political force that had its own army,” said Mahara.
Meanwhile, reports say Mahara arrived in Kathmandu Sunday to prepare for negotiations with the government and also to take part in a first public meeting being organized by his party in Kathmandu on June 2. Kantipur daily reported that Mahara arrived Kathmandu from the mid-western town of Nepalgunj aboard Buddha Air along with his two ‘bodyguards.’ Security officials stopped Mahara’s body guards as they tried to board the aircraft along with their weapons. The team, however, agreed to leave behind their weapons after Home Minister Krishna Sitaula asked them to do so, the news report said.
Other members of the Maoist negotiation team, Dev Gurung and Dinanath Sharma, are also expected to arrive Kathmandu within the next two days, according to reports.