Claiming that the major reason behind the CA´s failure to promulgate a new constitution was its composition, Oli said the need of the hour was to hold fresh CA polls in April or May.[break]
"The people have learnt an important lesson in the past four years and they want to rectify their mistake," Oli said at a function organized by Press Chautari in Kathmandu. Stating that a new generation has grown up during these years, he said neither old nor new voters should be deprived of their right to elect the right representatives.
In the CA election in 2008, the former rebel Maoists emerged as the largest party, winning 238 seats in the 601-member CA.
The Nepali Congress (NC) was a distant second with 114 seats, and the CPN-UML came out as the third largest party with only 109 seats. The newly-formed Madhes-based parties had won a significant number seats, emerging as key players in the legislature.
Oli accused the ruling UCPN (Maoist) and its leaders including Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai of dissolving the CA to deliberately prolong their stay in power by creating a political and constitutional void.
He further claimed that the CA was doomed to fail because what the Maoists always wanted was to capture state power, not to write any new constitution.
"The CA didn´t fail to draft a new statute because of lack of time or lack of sufficient members. Rather, it was doomed due to the Maoist ploy," he said.
He described the proposal to reinstate the "non-functioning CA" as a regressive idea.
He also rubbished the idea of forming a government led by an independent individual, saying that the political parties, despite their weaknesses, were competent enough to lead the country.
"Once the right person leads the government, the country can be lead towards progress," he said.
The UML is likely to field Oli as its prime ministerial candidate if the party is yet again required to propose a candidate. His chances of nomination from the party are believed to be high as UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and another leader, Madhav Kumar Nepal, have already become prime ministers in recent years.
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