Roundtable not a solution: Koirala

CHITWAN, Aug 24 : Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala has said that the roundtable conference proposed by the 33-party alliance led by Mohan Baidya-led cannot resolve contentious issues of the new statue.



Koirala said the talks between the High Level Political Committee and CPN-Maoist led alliance of the agitating parties failed to make headway as the agitating side demanded that all the contentious issues of new statute be settled through roundtable.



“They proposed holding a roundtable with participation of the parties represented in the erstwhile Constituent Assembly, agitating parties and the civil society. How can such a roundtable take any decision?” asked Koirala. [break]



Addressing a press conference organized by Nepal Press Union at Bharatpur Airport, Koirala, who is also coordinator of HLPC, said the demands put forth by Baidya-led alliance were impractical. “Why do we need fresh elections if all contentious issues are to be settled through the roundtable?”

Koirala arrived in Chitwan after convening the HLPC meeting in Kathmandu to inaugurate the general convention of Trade Union Congress scheduled to begin from Sunday.



Koirala said the agitating parties are reluctant to join the election process even as HLPC has assured that the Constituent Assembly would prepare the first draft of new constitution within six month of the election. “We have asked them to do some homework before sitting for talks again,” he further said.

Asked if HLPC has decided to go for election without participation of the agitating parties, Koirala said, “We have been asking them to join the election process. But they do not appear interested in joining the election process.”



Koirala said that the election scheduled for November 19 was inevitable and that the election would not be deferred at any cost. “All necessary preparations have been made. Deferring election would only invite a disaster,” he said.

He said it is not possible to fulfill all the demands put forth by the Baidya-led alliance during their meeting with HLPC on Saturday morning. “Nepali Congress adopted maximum flexibility. But they were unrelenting in the demands,” he added.

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