Kathmandu, October 5:

CPN-Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said said that the party stands for a “free and competitive press.”

Talking to media persons at an interaction, he said that the party has no intention of suppressing media and imposing the party’s stand on all media houses. “We strongly believe in free press. Let there be no doubt that the Maoists promote press freedom,” he said.

He also said the press should provide information in accordance with the present political situation and should not deviate from the people’s will to set up of a republican state. “We cannot take things easy; if a handful of people chant slogans in support of the king in a specially arranged event, the media should not explain it as the voice of the common people,” he said.

Citing unity of the press in national issues in the US and India, he said that similar consensus among the media is needed in Nepal, especially to back up the present critical situation, adding that the political parties should also cooperate with the media.