Lalitpur, July 15 :

Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Mahantha Thakur today said the responsibility to clear confusions regarding constituent assembly (CA) lies with the government.

“We all are talking about the constituent assembly but nobody, including the government, is clear about the process and other details of it, though we believe that it is the only solution of the present crisis,” he said.

He was addressing a two-day seminar on Role of Civil Society in Conflict Mediation and Peace Building in Nepal, organised by the Centre for Economic and Technical Studies (CETS) in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

He further appreciated the role of civil society members and urged them to keep up the same vigil on political changes which, he said, are “easy to bring about”. What is difficult, he said, is to bring about changes regarding social, ethic, lingual and regional issues; so one has to keep fighting for equal representation in the government. He said an interim government has become essential for a political solution.

Civil society movement leader Dr Sundar Mani Dixit claimed that the government is interested neither in making the talks a success nor in holding election to a constituent assembly.

“The government is now in the hands of such people who never want any solution. They want to play games in the fluid political situation and keep things on the boil forever,” he said.

He also warned that the government is trying to “chase the Maoist talks team away” and “rule infinitely” on the basis of an “illegitimate” parliament.

Presenting a paper, Dr Bishnu Raj Upreti, a conflict expert, said success or failure of the UN (in arms management) entirely depends upon the commitment, willingness and cooperation of the government and Maoists.

Prof Hari Bansh Jha, the executive director of CETS, said the process of consolidation of peace should proceed simultaneously with activities related to reconstruction and development.

Meanwhile, political analyst Nilambar Acharya has said the nation should be clear on whether the constituent assembly (CA) is for making the constitution alone or can exercise legislative and executive rights, before holding the CA elections, according to an RSS report. Speaking at a talk programme on “process of constitution of the CA and its structures’’ organised by the Mitrakunj here yesterday, he pointed out the need to think over republicanism.