Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (File photo)

At a time when the Maoists have been insisting that integration of their combatants should take place only after the promulgation of the new constitution, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Friday expressed his confidence to complete the integration before May 28, the deadline for issuing the statute.

Inaugurating the national convention of the pro-UML Press Chautari in Butwal, the Prime Minister said constitution-drafting and the peace process will be hampered if integration does not complete prior to the promulgation of the constitution.

The government has been making necessary preparations for timely integration of the combatants, he added, clarifying that the government is not ready to agree on the number of combatants given by the Maoist side for integration.

The PM, however, did not reveal how many combatants the government could consider in the security forces including the Nepal Army.

Referring to the reports of the discussion in the high-level political mechanism on forming a new ruling alliance, Prime Minister Nepal said the government can be toppled only through certain procedures and emphasised that applying unconstitutional means to replace the government will undermine the system. nepalnews.com