Pokhara, August 9:

Chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) Kamal Thapa today said that the Maoists should be given an opportunity to form their government.

Addressing a gathering of RPP-N cadres in Pokhara, he blamed the NC and the UML for trying to deprive the Maoists of their rights. Blaming the big parties for delay in the formation of a government, he said,” We do not believe that those hungry for power will draft a new constitution.”

“Can government formation and constitution-making go side by side at a time when CA members have not entered into the process of drafting a new constitution?” he said, adding that the government formation and constitution drafting should go separately. He said the government should be formed on the basis of all-party consensus.

Saying that the one-week deadline given by the president for the formation of government has expired, Thapa said the president should be bold enough to call the CA to appoint new prime minister within a week.

Thapa said the government had not taken initiatives to hold talks with Tarai-based armed groups. People have been facing hardships as prices of basic commodities have soared by 50 per cent after the Constituent Assembly elections, he said. RPP-N vice-chairman Padam Sunsar Lawati, general secretary Ganesh Sherchan, central members Chandra Bahadur Gurung and Govinda Khaniya also spoke on the occasion.