Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai addressed the nation on Tuesday upon completion of one year in office. In his televised address, Bhattarai mainly blamed the opposition parties for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly as he defended the actions of the government, claiming that he made all possible attempts to reach out to the leaders of the opposition parties for consensus.

Referring to the allegation of dissolving the CA, Bhattarai said, "Those who were against the government proposal for extension of the Constituent Assembly are now making hue and cry."

"History will evaluate the role of the parties in terms of CA dissolution but the main cause was the conflict between the status-quoists and the forces of change," he said claiming that declaring the elections was the only option before the government when death of the CA had become certain.

"That step of the government prevented a serious crisis in the country," PM Bhattarai said, adding that the parties now have no choice other than arriving at a consensus and said he was fully prepared to make way for a consensus government, but resigning without consensus might invite chaos in the country.

"Who will take responsibility for the chaos that might trigger if I resign without an alternative?" asked he.

PM Bhattarai described the "progress" in peace process as a main achievement of the government, saying that the government took initiation for integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants despite facing protests from a "narrow-minded" group with the Maoist party [the then Mohan Baidya faction]. He said he was hopeful that the remaining tasks of the peace process including the establishment of a commission to investigate war-time disappearances and human rights abuses would be completed soon.

Likewise, he described some of the programmes and projects outlined in the partial budget announced last month as the priorities of the government, saying that the government was working serious on them.

Defending the signing of Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with India, PM Bhattarai denied that the government had decided to hand over the management of Tribhuvan International Airport to India.

He also said the government was obliged to introduce ordinances to ensure its smooth functioning. nepalnews.com

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