Kathmandu, June 21 :

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal today said that the most challenging task for the seven-party alliance and the Maoists is to hold an election to a constituent assembly on time. He also asked the government to execute the decisions of the revived House of Representatives announced on May 18.

Addressing the third National Council meeting of the UML-affiliated All Nepal National Free Students’ Union at his party’s headquarters, Nepal said the alliance and Maoists were considering holding the election to the constituent assembly by March or April 2007, as they need time for its preparations. He said that the constituent assembly election would be held only after arms of both sides have been managed by the United Nations, for which the government would formally request the UN.

Highlighting the HoR’s achievements, Nepal said the Nepal Army needs to be democratised and asked Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to appoint a Defence Minister to reorient the army towards democratisation. Appreciating the Nepal Army’s commitment to democracy and its loyalty to the government, he also asked the army officials to stop using soldiers as domestic servants and treat them as respected employees of the state.

Nepal also asked Maoist supremo Prachanda to renounce the post of supreme commander of his People’s Liberation Army and declare that the Maoists are committed to competitive politics. Nepal laid emphasis on forming a panel of experts to pen a national anthem. He called for setting up another panel to determine actual property belonging to the King and the royal family so that they pay commensurate taxes. Implementation of the HoR declaration is more important than its announcement, Nepal said. He also made it clear that it was not the right time to talk about giving the monarchy a ceremonial role, as the people would decide on it during the poll to a constituent assembly. He said the HoR declaration did not say anything about the kind of monarchy the country would have in the future.

Saying that the 8-point agreement on June 16 between the SPA and the Maoists was historic, Nepal said nobody imagined Prachanda would come to Baluwatar (PM’s residence) so fast and reach an agreement with the SPA without international mediation. He thanked Prachanda for showing commitment to peace and willingness to join mainstream politics.

Nepal conceded there was some dissatisfaction among the constituents of the SPA-Maoist agreement. But this would not affect the alliance unity or SPA-Maoist mutual trust differences would be sorted out at the SPA meeting scheduled for tomorrow.