Nepal PM vows to stay despite Maoist demands
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KATHMANDU, MAY 10 -
Nepal's prime minister has refused to stand down despite a week of Maoist protests in the capital Kathmandu, state media reported Monday, as a key deadline in the country's peace process approaches.
The Nepali Congress party said that Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal would stay in power until the opposition Maoists fulfilled conditions laid out in peace negotiations, the Rising Nepal newspaper reported.
"A consensus for the government change is not possible until the completion of peace process and constitution writing," party spokesman Arjun Narsingh KC told the paper after a party meeting on Sunday.
Until 2006, Maoist rebels fought the state in a 10-year civil war, and they then became the largest party in parliament in elections two years ago.
Under the peace agreement, the left-wing former guerrillas agreed to dismantle their aggressive paramilitary youth wing and to return seized property -- but little progress has been made.
A new national constitution must also be drafted by May 28, a crucial date in the effort to secure lasting peace in the Himalayan nation, but lawmakers appear unlikely to meet the deadline.
Large Maoist demonstrations have disrupted Kathmandu for the last week, although the party called of a general strike late on Friday due to public anger at all shops and offices being forced to close.
Prime minister Nepal wrote a letter to Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday urging him to solve the deadlock through talks.
But the Maoists instead repeated their demands that he must step down.
"The prime minister should resign to make an appropriate environment for dialogue and consensus," Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma told reporters.
Posted on: 2010-05-10 01:11
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