Maoists not creating obstacles to party
activities: Acharya
One of the senior leaders of Nepali Congress, Narahari Acharya, has said the ultimate aim of the seven political parties is to work together
with the Maoists but there remains a lot to be done before this
could happen.
Talking to Nepalnews on Monday, Acharya said the
aim of the agitating political parties is to bring the Maoists
to the mainstream of politics and work with them to strengthen democracy, adding there were many steps to be passed before
reaching to an agreement with the Maoists.
He said that the differences between the political parties and
Maoists should be solved before such agreement, which is very
challenging. He said talks are the means to resolve the differences
between the Maoists and the political parties to reach to their
goal.
Acharya, the only contender of the party president Girija Prasad
Koirala in the 11th general convention of the party, recently
completed his ten-day long tour to Salyan, Jajarkot and Rukum
of mid-western region, which are considered as the Maoists’
strongholds. He said that Maoists are not creating obstacles in
the activities of other political parties following the declaration
of unilateral ceasefire.
He informed that Maoists were working to create conducive environment
for talks with the political parties by allowing party activities
in their strongholds as well.
The Maoists, who had been targeting the cadres of political parties,
had declared unilateral ceasefire on September 3 expressing solidarity
to the ongoing agitation of the seven political parties against the royal takeover.
On recent comments made by the United States' embassy in Kathmandu regarding the possible
alliance between the Maoists and the political parties he said
the comment was not based on ground reality.
Issuing a press statement on Friday, the US Embassy in Kathmandu
warned against possible “alliance” between Nepal’s
major political parties and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists)
saying the embassy had noted with alarm recent
reports in Nepali media on the emerging potential for an "alliance"
between one or more of major political parties and the Maoist
rebels.
Regarding the agitation of the seven political parties, which
they said would be decisive after the Tihar festival, Achrya said
there was no alternative to agitation to restore full-fledged democracy
in the country, adding, "All political parties were busy in
their internal activities till December 10 so they will start
joint movement from December 11."
He, however, added that the alliance of the seven political parties
should make clear the way and the destination of the agitation
to gain popular support and to make it a success.
When asked about the possibility of working with the Maoists
in the ongoing agitation of the seven political parties, Acharya
said it would be possible if the Maoists were ready to shun the politics
of violence and join the peaceful movement of the people.
The alliance of seven political parties is protesting the royal
takeover of February 1 demanding restoration of full-fledged democracy
in the country.
Commenting on the King’s visit to Bangladesh to take
part in the 13th SAARC summit, Achraya said the king did not have the authority to represent the country in the regional
forum. He also expressed dissatisfaction over the silence of the
agitating political parties over the King's participation in the
SAARC summit.
"The parties that had compelled the King to postpone his
visit to UN general Assembly are not protesting his participation
to the SAARC, which is quite mysterious," he added.
The King, as the executive head of the government, is leading the
Nepali delegation for the 13th SAARC summit slated for Nov 12-13
for the first time after the restoration of democracy in the country
in 1990. nepalnews.com pb Nov 07 05
