Police check in participants with metal detectors.[break]
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal mounts the stage along with security personnel and Maoist volunteers. He does not shake hands with party cadres, unlike at earlier functions. The organizing committee officials garland Dahal.
The occasion was a tea reception of the UCPN (Maoist) wing Newa Front to mark the Nepal Sambat new year 1133 on Tuesday. Security was very tight, following Dahal´s slapping by party cadre Padam Kunwar on November 16.
Dahal whispered time and again with Nara Bahadur Karmacharya, founder of the Nepal Communist party, who was sitting with him.
After extending greetings to the Newar community in Nepalbhasa, he gave a speech in Nepali. In his speech, Dahal reviewed Nepal´s major political movements of 1950, 1990. He said that there was more compromise than necessarily with forces that were the main enemies. He also voiced fear about danger to federalism and the republic, pointing out how parties had failed in the past.
"Various forces have been attacking the current changes in Nepal. Is this not the result of compromising with those forces that we had fought and that were our enemy?" Dahal asked.
"We lost the achievements of the 1950 movement. It was a result of selecting as prime minister Mohan Sumsher JBR although we had fought against the Rana regime. The same thing was repeated in 1990 when we compromised with the king to only end the Panchayat regime though the movement was centered against the monarchy."
Dahal´s historical review came in the context of the failure to form a consensus government in a package, including filling the vacancies at constitutional bodies and writing the constitution. He did not disclose the reason for his review but just accused the Nepali Congress of backtracking on previous accords.
He did not mentioned the current visit here of ruling Indian Congress leader Karan Singh. But after Singh´s visit Dahal and President Ram Baran Yadav had said that the best option would be to convert the current government into a consensus government.
The Maoists had fought against the monarchy and then the parliamentary parties Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML, and purportedly also Indian expansionism.
The opposition parties -- NC, UML and CPN-Maoist-- have proposed the stepping down of the current government to make way for a consensus government.
Dahal also turned on NC President Sushil Koirala, saying the latter had forgotten the spirit of the 12-point deal and also the comprehensive peace accord. According to Dahal, the main spirit of those accords was to end all discrimination based on caste, region and gender.
"In the absence of Girija Babu [Girija Prasad Koirala], the current thrust of the NC is against that spirit although now also a Koirala [Sushil] heads the party. Has the NC leadership rejected that deal?," he asked.
"We signed the comprehensive peace accord to end discrimination. Is the same force that fought for that now turned against it?"
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