Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 19:

Central committee member of the CPN-UML, Pradip Gyawali, today said the seven agitating parties would fight for 20 years for ‘complete democracy’ but would never side with any gun-wielding powers.

“We choose democracy, not powers that wield guns. For this, we are ready even to fight for 20 years,” Gyawali said, replying to former minister and Prajatantric Janamukti Party president Gore Bahadur Khapangi, who challenged the seven-party alliance to join hands with the Maoists “if they believed that the monarchy was the people’s biggest enemy”.

Addressing an interaction organised by the Sambad Club Nepal, Gyawali said they could in no way support authoritarian rule over the mistakes in democratic rule.

Saying that 100 days of the government were a ‘total failure’, he wondered: “If over 1000 people were killed in three months, how many people can be expected to be killed in three years — the period sought by the King to restore peace.” He said the seven-party alliance’s demand for scrapping the Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) was justifiable, as it ‘violated the principle of natural justice’. He said municipal elections will not solve the problems confronting the nation.

Khapangi flayed the parties for demanding the restoration of the House of Representatives, which the King dissolved on the recommendation of an elected prime minister.

“It is unfair to press the King for House revival,” he said doubting that the revived House would ever be able to hold general election.

Vice-chairman of the Janmorcha Nepal, Pari Thapa, said there had occurred ‘senile peace’ in the country after the royal takeover and added that national economy was heading downwards.

Thapa said all the political parties were in favour of controlling corruption but drive against it should be carried out by a lawful institution.

He pointed out the need for an ‘inclusive democracy’ to address social anomalies.

Central committee member of the RPP, Bhuvan Pathak, claimed that the country’s security situation was gradually improving after the King assumed power on February 1. “It is in the process of improvement. This is a reality,” he said adding that the drive against corruption was a positive development.

He warned that the seven-party alliance’s resolution to go for an election to a constituent assembly by reviving the House would further escalate violence.

President of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party and former minister in the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led coalition, Badri Prasad Mandal, asked the agitating parties to give up confrontation with the King and join hands with the latter for restoring peace and democracy in the country.