JAJARKOT, JAN 23 - Spokesperson and politburo member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Krishna Bahadur Mahara, here said that the constitutional monarchy would be acceptable to his party provided that the king relinquished the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Nepalese Army and sacked top military officials loyal to him.
"The king must not lead the army and around 200 military officials should resign from their respective posts," Mahara said talking to reporters at Badakanda Village in Junga Thapachaur VDC. "But it is very difficult for him (king) to do so," he added.
"We still accept multiparty democracy," Mahara claimed, addressing Mid-Western regional meeting of the Maoists on Monday, "But there is no constitutional monarchy as the king has a control over the army."
When asked about the possibility of another round of peace process, he said that talks in the near future was not possible unless the government made its stance clear regarding the political way out of the crisis. "But we are still committed to peace," he said, adding that the army was responsible for the collapse of the last peace talks.
Mahara was aggressive against the monarchy while addressing the meeting, but conceded the fact that they had indirect discussions with the "king’s men" about resumption of peace talks. "We have not talked to the king’s representatives directly, but the king’s men have contacted us."
Mahara also claimed that the parliamentary forces were closing in with the Maoists and had held talks with them for the last few months. "In principle, they say that they are also republicans, but do not want to overthrow the monarchy now," Mahara said.
He also claimed that the Maoists and the CPN-UML had reached an understanding to launch anti-monarchy activities "keeping the king in the centre". He also said that his party would not allow anyone else to visit the Maoist-control areas with the views favouring the king and the army.
About his party’s shift regarding the activities of NGOs, Mahara said they would allow INGOs of selected countries to operate in "their" areas but bar the ones from the US and UK.Posted on: 2004-01-24 03:26

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