Army to move if CPA breaks: Pokhrel

KANTIPUR REPORT

In the face of protest and agitation, the government will not remain penniless. We are preparing some alternatives that will facilitate approval of the budget

KATHMANDU, NOV 03 - Information and Communications Minister Shanker Pokhrel warned on Monday that if the Maoist agitation violates the letter and spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the government would be compelled to mobilise Nepal Army to bring the situation under control.

"If the agitation respects the CPA, we will tolerate it. However, if the situation goes beyond control and the Maoists break the spirit of the CPA, then we will have to seek more options. This means the deployment of all security agencies," he said.

Announcement of a parallel government or a blockade seriously violates the CPA and all effort to restore peace will be imperilled, he said.

Speaking to the reporters in Kathmandu, Pokhrel said such attempts would blunt the thrust of the CPA and derail the politics of consensus. "In such a situation, the government will take its course and move forward by resorting to all means and options," he said.

He however said the government did not expect things to deteriorate so much that the Army would have to be deployed.

"In the face of protest and agitation, the government will not remain penniless. We are preparing some alternatives that will facilitate approval of the budget," he said.

We need a parliamentary majority to approve the budget. For this, it is not necessary to get the support of any particular political party, he claimed.

"We are trying our best to get the budget approved by the House, but we have other options also." He added that the government would not have to endure the worst if everything else failed to resume the House.

Who says this is the people's movement? He questioned, "It is the movement of cadre thrown out from the cantonments and YCL."

The early days of the Maoist agitation has come up with fewer black flags and more brickbats and this has drawn the government's serious attention, he said.