KATHMANDU: Minister for Energy, Dr Prakash Saran Mahat, today requested the UCPN-Maoist to withdraw its protest plan.

Stating that such protests were meaningless in the present context of the country, Dr Mahat urged the Maoists to immediately abandon their move.

Speaking at a face-to-face programme at the Reporters Club today, Minister Mahat said the protest plan being prepared by the UCPN-M was against the civilian supremacy.

"The Maoists talk about civilian supremacy but they are blocking the parliament and street which only gives negative message to the people," he said.

Minister Mahat also said that the protest plan would be detrimental to constitution writing process and peace process.

He reasoned that the Maoists were simply harbouring a wishful thinking that they would gain power in the name of civilian supremacy. Minister Mahat also ruled out any hurdles that the Maoists were likely to cause in passing the budget.

"It becomes crystal clear now that the Maoist wants power at any cost," he stated.

However, speaking on the occasion, Narayan Kaji Shrestha 'Prakash' UCPN vice-chair refuted Mahat's argument and said their immediate goal was not power but the establishment of civilian supremacy. "We proposed the package deal with an avowed aim of solving all the problems at a time. But other parties like Congress and UML were not ready for that," he said, adding, "Our top priority is still consensus, not protest."