KATHMANDU, Aug 26: Concluding that the newly formed Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA) headed by UCPN(Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was ´unacceptable´, the two main opposition parties -- Nepali Congress and CPN-UML--announced on Saturday that they would not hold any dialogue with the 20-party alliance.
A meeting of the NC and UML held at Dillibazar in the capital took the decision to boycott the FDRA, concluding that formation of the alliance under the name of ´federalist forces´ had only pushed the country toward confrontation and fresh conflict.[break]
"The activities of the so-called alliance that divides parties into pro and anti federalist forces are not acceptable to us," NC Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel told media persons after the meeting.
Paudel argued that the move of the ruling parties, mainly the UCPN (Maoist), had undermined the path of consensus that all the major parties had walked together after the historic 12-point agreement. "This is meaningless and a foul conspiracy by the Maoists. We won´t hold any dialogue with the ruling parties in their alliance capacity," he said, adding that negotiations in the capacity of parties could continue.
The announcement by the opposition parties that they would boycott all activities of the FDRA comes in the wake of an alliance meeting on Friday mandating its chief Dahal to negotiate with opposition parties including NC and UML for resolving the political deadlock.
The Dahal-led alliance also decided to hold an interaction in Kathmandu on September 4 with all political stakeholders, including civil society members, to forge a consensus on resolving the political stalemate.
The meeting concluded that the present Baburam Bhattarai-led government was bent on worsening the political crisis and ruling the country through ordinance. "The meeting concluded that the government is bent on ruling the country through ordinances, regulations and directives and imposing autocratic rule in the country," said NC leader Minendra Rijal.
Though President Dr Ram Baran Yadav recently rejected two election-related ordinances, the government is preparing to forward nearly a dozen more ordinances for his approval. The meeting questioned the intentions of the government, saying it was forwarding ordinances to the president instead of forging consensus with other parties.
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had invited the NC and UML for talks Saturday. However, talks could not materialise as top NC and UML leaders remained busy in bilateral meetings.
The NC and UML leaders have decided to reiterate their demand that the prime minister first step down for consensus, at the meeting scheduled with the Maoists at 4 pm on Sunday.
The NC and UML have maintained that the current government should create a conducive environment for consensus by stepping down from power. “The onus for forging consensus lies with the ruling parties. The current government must first step down,” said UML leader Bhim Rawal.
According to Rawal, the meeting took strong exception to the failure of the government to implement past agreements reached among parties on the integration of Maoist combatants. Alleging that the Maoists had raised the issues age and academic qualifications in contravention of past agreements, he said, “We will raise the issue of implementation of past agreements regarding integration, during the Special Committee meeting scheduled for Monday.”
Related story
Early setback for left alliance as Bhattarai decides to quit
_20240311121839.jpg)
