Maoist general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa has said a consensus government is a must to expedite the peace process and constitution-drafting process.

Speaking during a media gathering organised by Revolutionary Journalists Association in Nuwakot on Wednesday, Thapa, however, said the consensus government should be led by the Maoist party.

The hardliner Maoist leader did not mention whether the party was going to find a replacement to Baburam Bhattarai as the Prime Minister or would try to bring other parties into the current government.

Thapa, who had earlier said that the party was on the verge of split, also claimed that all kinds of dispute in the UCPN (M) had now been settled.

He arrived in Nuwakot for a cadre training programme accompanied by a dozen central leaders. nepalnews.com