The fringe parties expressed such views during a meeting called by the prime minister in his bid to garner support for the coalition government he heads. [break]
“We told him (the prime minister) that we´ll support him in whatever way he wants if he manages to speed up the task of concluding the peace process and writing draft of the new constitution,” said Pari Thapa, parliamentary party leader of CPN (Unified) who was present in the meeting.
Stating that the security situation has deteriorated, the leaders of small parties also suggested the prime minister to work to restore peace and security to instill confidence in people.
According to Chandra Dev Joshi, chairman of CPN (Samyukta), the political leaders of the fringe parties also suggested Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai to move ahead wisely keeping in view the difficult challenges that lie ahead.
“We told the prime minister that handing over the keys of arms containers is not a big deal. It is just a step in the peace process in which the major tasks, such as the modality of integration and the number of combatants to be integrated, are yet to be finalized,” said Joshi.
According to Sarita Giri, chairperson of Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi), the leaders of small parties also suggested Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai to take all parties into confidence while taking major decisions.
In response, Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai reiterated his commitment to bring the peace process and constitution writing to a logical end within the extended timeframe of the Constituent Assembly (CA) and sought their support, according to Thapa.
Thapa said the small parties also urged Prime Minister Bhattarai to bring relief packages for general public.
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