DHULIKHEL: Minister for Culture Dr Minendra Rijal today said it would be difficult to draft the new constitution if the present state of affairs prolonged.

Speaking at a function held to mark the second anniversary of the publication of the vernacular periodical Hamro Indrawati here, he said political parties should not exchange blames while they should be writing the statute. "The largest party in the Constituent Assembly, Unified CPN-Maoist is working against the people's sentiment," he said. "The party is not treading on the path of peace. It has flouted the popular aspiration that it would bring all the parties together to the task of constitution writing."

Minister Rijal said UCPN-Maoist could not go beyond peace and democracy -- the crucial points of the 12-point pact reached among parties. Stating that the Maoists' threat did not hold much water, he said the new constitution would institutionalise the federal democratic republican order.