Oppn parties warn of stir to oust govt

The opposition political parties Monday reiterated their demand for immediate resignation of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to pave the way for formation of a national unity government, warning that they would be forced to launch agitation for the Maoist-Madhesi government's ouster .

Sixteen opposition parties including Mohan Baidya's CPN-Maoist and CPN (UML) met at Nepali Congress headquarters, Sanepa, reaching the conclusion that the government must step down for the politics to take a definite course.

Majority of leaders present in the meeting emphasised that further consensus on any key issue including fresh Constituent Assembly election is not possible without the resignation of the government. Emerging from the meeting, NC vice president Ram Chandra Poudel said that the meeting decided to give priority to 'movement' to compel PM Bhattarai to step down as the possibilities of forging consensus with the ruling parties have ended. According to him, the meeting of the opposition parties scheduled for Thursday will announce programmes of protest against the government.

The opposition parties met in a bid to step up pressure on the government.

They are apparently alarmed by the decision of the Maoist-led ruling alliance on Saturday to make efforts to turn the current government into an election government. nepalnews.com