"Even the incumbent ministers are publicly speaking against secularism, republicanism and federalism. The government has become a vortex of rightist activities. So the government must be toppled at any cost," Maoist spokesperson Dinanath Sharma said. [break]
According to him, Maoists will step up parleys with other political parties for the formation of a new government committed to peace process and constitution-drafting. "We will push for a Maoist-led national unity government at first. But we may even go for a majority government if the attempt fails," said Sharma.
At the meeting, the party analyzed the political situation after the demise of Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and reached a conclusion that the country faces the risk of counter-revolution from the rightist quarters if the current state of political confusion persisted. So the party decided to show "maximum flexibility" while dealing with other political parties and strike a package deal including the formation of a national unity government and agreement on peace process and constitution-drafting.
The Maoist decision comes in the light of the recent statements from some high-profile individuals against republicanism, secularism and federalism.
Maoists have been especially shocked by the statements of former king Gyanendra, former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh, and BJP activities to turn Nepal into a Hindu state again.
With the latest surge of the rightist activities, the Maoists have also decided not to go for the extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA) deadline at any cost. The former rebels are for shortening the existing constitution-drafting procedures at the CA to hold direct talks among the parties to resolve the differences on constitutional provisions.
On Sunday, Bhattarai had issued a statement terming the concepts of republicanism, secularism and federalism as "hastily-imported alien concepts that were against the original national identity" and called on the political parties and citizens to revive the 1990 constitution.
The remarks of the only living founding member of Nepali Congress came a few days after former king Gyanendra told a television channel that "monarchy has not ended". When BJP leader Singh was in Nepal to attend the funeral of late Koirala he had publicly demanded that the country be turned into a Hindu state again.
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