Kathmandu, April 15:

Leaders of the seven-party alliance said today that the goal of the ongoing movement is to bring an end to the King’s autocracy and uphold the people’s supremacy through an election to a constituent assembly. They said the movement has already become a people’s movement led by the alliance, in keeping with the front’s common political programme.

“This has become the people’s movement, in the sense that it has pervaded a large swathe of the country and more than 2.5 million people from different social strata have already joined it,” said CPN-UML standing committee member Bharat Mohan Adhikari. He was speaking at an interaction programme held by the Civil Society Alliance for Political Reforms.

Adhikari ruled out dialogue with the King unless the latter concedes that the state authority and the country’s sovereignty rest with the people. He said the peaceful movement reached such a height because of unity among the alliance members.

Adhikari said the movement had proved that political change is possible even through peaceful agitation and that the change can be sustainable and national interests can be safeguarded if a large number of people take part in the movement. “It has shown that a peaceful movement is more powerful and effective than any armed struggle,” he said.

General secretary of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Prakash Man Singh defined the term of “total democracy” as a democratic system that would respond to the problems faced by women, Dalits, ethnic communities and people from backward regions.

CP Mainali, general secretary of the CPN-ML, said that the alliance had already set its goal of ending the King’s autocracy and bringing the Maoists to the political mainstream. “The alliance set its goal keeping in mind the concerns of friendly nations and Nepal’s geo-political situation,” Mainali said. He also accused the royal regime of trying to “blackmail” the international community by alleging that the Maoists were about to takeover under the cover of the alliance movement.

Anil Kumar Jha of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi) said the two-week long peaceful movement had become more effective than the decade-old armed struggle of the Maoists.

Joint general secretary of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Khem Raj Pandit said a new constitution is essential to address the country’s burning issues. Professor Krishna Khanal urged the political parties to move ahead in tune with the people’s wishes.