Kathmandu, December 26:

Chairman of the CPN-Maoist Prachanda claimed today that the imperialists are hatching a conspiracy to split the nation in the name of empowering the ethnic people.

Addressing a programme organised by the Maoist-affiliated Kiratee National Liberation

Front Nepal (KNLFN) to felicitate its advisors and trainers, Prachanda claimed that the Maoists had to agree on the mixed election system to safeguard other “important achievements.”

“We have not abandoned the demand of the fully proportional electoral system. We were compelled to agree on 40 and 60 per cent weightage for two electoral systems — first past the post and fully proportional systems — just because we wanted to take the peace process ahead,” he said.

On the occasion of 114th birth anniversary of Mao, he recalled quotes of Mao, who had told late king Mahendra that Nepal will be independent and prosperous only when the indigenous nationalities are made sovereign. Prachanda said only the unity among all the Nepalis can counter the conspiracy of the imperialists and reactionaries.

“During the 10-year-long people’s war, we never witnessed any incident of ethnic conflict,” he claimed. He added that the final battle is yet to be fought but that battle will be fought on ideological grounds. “For the first time, our constitution has incorporated the word republic. The constituent assembly would approve the proposal for a republic,” he said.

“We are close to victory,” said another influential leader of the party Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’. He said a conspiracy is being hatched to divide the people and prevent the party from achieving victory.

He requested the KNLFN to support the ‘storm’ about to come in the near future.

Talking to reporters following the function, Prachanda said his party will join government within Thursday or Friday.

At the function, Prachanda felicitated advisers to the KNLFN, including Badal, Dev Gurung, Suresh Ale Magar, Gopal Kiratee, MP Tilak Pariyar, MP Kumar Fudung and poet Bhupal Rai. He also felicitated trainers of the four-day political schooling to its members. Prachanda, other key Maoist leaders and people of the Kirant community also performed the Sakela Sili dance.