UML for CA polls by June; EC demands appointment of commissioners

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has reiterated his stance that constituent assembly polls must be held by mid-June next year.

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal (File photo)

In his address to the inaugural session of the fifth Kailali district convention of the party in Dhangadhi on Tuesday, Nepal called on the seven parties and the Maoists to reach an agreement on arms management and the formation of an interim government immediately.

He also informed that issues of the structure of the constituent assembly and an interim government along with other political agendas would be discussed and attempts would be made to finalised those issues during the summit talks scheduled for Thursday.

Nepal said the people should be given the right to decide the fate of monarchy. He suggested a referendum on monarchy to be held along with the constituent assembly elections would be the best option to decide the fate of monarchy.

He also urged the Maoists to end the politics of arms and enter peaceful competitive politics. He further said there is need of ending extortion and abduction if the Maoists are to keep up their credibility.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) has asked the government to appointing commissioners immediately so that preparation for the polls would start.

The secretary at the commission, Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, told reporters at the commission's office on Tuesday that it would be very difficult to hold the election to constituent assembly by May next year, as decided by the government, if the eligible age for voting is changed to 16 years following the finalisation of the Interim Constitution.

"We are all prepared and will do our best to hold the election to a constituent assembly as per the decision of the government and the political parties. But lots of decisions have to be made before that if we are going to follow the government's decision of holding the election by May 2007," he said.

The EC said the government has allocated Rs 1.25 billion for the scheduled constituent assembly election. nepalnews.com ia Sep 27 06