Govt ready for talks to run House

BIRATNAGAR: Minister for Culture, Dr Minendra Rijal, on Saturday said that the government was ready to hold talks with the Unified CPN-Maoist to end the obstruction of House proceedings.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the Morang chapter of Nepal Press Union here, Rijal said, “The government is ready to hold any kind of talks with the UCPN-M within the parameters of the interim constitution.”

Accusing the Maoists of forgetting the essence of democracy and parliamentary system, Rijal said that the Maoists were playing with the sentiments of the people by disrupting the House businesses.

“How can the Maoists be fighting for the supremacy of the people, while they themselves are obstructing the people’s representatives form expressing their views in parliament?” the minister questioned. He also chastised the Maoists for not giving up violence and said that they had lost the people’s trust by keeping their own army.

When asked about the Maoists’ plan to prevent President Dr Ram Baran Yadav from entering the CA during the announcement of the government’s policies and programmes for the new fiscal year, he said the Maoists’ such plan was not only undemocratic and it would never materialise.

“The new budget cannot be presented if the President is prohibited to enter the CA for the same,” said Rijal, adding that the President was like the guardian of the nation.