At a meeting of 19 political parties held at the prime minister´s residence at Baluwatar on Monday, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal proposed holding a counter rally in the capital, stating that the NC and CPN-UML were responsible for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (CA) without promulgating a new constitution. [break]
"We should organize a rally to counter them [NC, CPN-UML] as they did not allow us to salvage the CA despite our efforts till the last minute," Chandra Dev Joshi, chairman of CPN-Samyukta, quoted Dahal as telling the meeting.
Responding to Dahal´s proposal, leaders of the fringe parties said they could not support any activity that would push the country toward confrontation.
"How could there be consensus among the political parties when you start countering each other," Joshi said he told in the meeting, adding, "You must not engage in activities that could invite conflict in the country."
According to Joshi, the leaders of fringe parties stressed the need for forging consensus among the four political forces - UCPN (Maoist), NC, CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), the alliance of five Madhesi parties.
"We don´t not know what you all (four forces) did behind the curtain, but you all are responsible for the dissolution of the CA," Joshi further said he told the meeting.
The fringe party leaders also suggested that the ruling parties not drag the president into ´unnecessary´ controversy.
General Secretary of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal (TMDP-N) Dan Bahadur Chaudhary, who was present at the meeting, said they decided to inform the people about the facts behind the dissolution of the CA.
"We concluded that it was necessary to inform the people about how the NC and CPN-UML stood against federalism," Chaudhari added.
He said they will hold an all party interaction that will also include intellectuals, civil society leaders and journalists, among other, in the capital on Tuesday to decide about organizing a rally.
Meanwhile, a joint meeting of 22 various parties including the NC and CPN-UML has decided to make the protest rally scheduled for June 8 in the capital a grand success.
According to a press statement issued after the meeting held at NC headquarters at Sanepa on Monday, the parties have asked people from all walks of life to participate in the rally aimed at piling pressure on the caretaker prime minister to vacate his position.
The meeting, while concluding that the Maoists had plotted to ´orchestrate a drama of the Constituent Assembly´ (CA) to impose authoritarianism, decided to forcefully oppose the government´s move.
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