Our main focus is economic revolution: Dr Bhattarai
Senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai has said his party would now be focusing on bringing about an "economic revolution" in the country, affirming that without substantial economic development political stability can't be achieved.
"The CPN-Maoist has given importance to economic revolution as the country enters into a new era because without economic development political stability can't be achieved," Bhattarai said.
Speaking at a programme "The Role of Press in the Changed Context" organised by the Kathmandu branch of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) in the capital Sunday, Bhattarai said that only CPN (Maoist) could lead the country to prosperity as other political parties failed to do so.
Bhattarai, however, said that prior to the economic revolution the party's agenda would be establishing republic, which he was sure would be
implemented by the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly.
He emphasised that there should be unity among three major parties (NC, UML and CPN-Maoist) and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), which emerged as the fourth largest party in the CA.
As it was a programme organised by the FNJ, an umbrella organisation of thousands of working journalists in the country, the Maoist leader requested the media sector to play a strong role in strengthening this "unity", warning that regressive forces may raise their ugly heads once again if this could not be done.
Saying that the media would enjoy maximum press freedom - "the kind it had never enjoyed till now" - during the Maoist rule, he also promised to mention "press freedom" in the preamble of the statute
While asking the press not to engage in "destructive criticism", he said he never said that the party is ready to retain a "cultural king" and that the media totally misquoted him.
"I had to be a mad person to say that the party would allow cultural king. I only said was that after he leaves his throne the king would be able to enjoy political, economic and cultural rights as any other citizen of Nepal," Bhattarai clarified, "But the media totally misquoted what I said."
He also asked Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to play a role of a nation's guardian a la Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela after the new government takes over the mantle from him, warning that if he runs after power even after that then he would lose the respect he has gained till now. nepalnews.com ag May 18 08
