ITAHARI: CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal today said Singapore or Hastinapur (India) could not suggest ways to solve the problems facing the country. He was referring to the talks Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had with ailing Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala in Singapore recently.

Addressing the fifth district convention of the party in Sunsari's Itahari, Khanal said, "It's merely an illusion to suppose that our problems can be solved from Singapore or Hastinapur. The problems should be solved in Kantipur (Kathmandu) itself."

He asked the UCPN-Maoist not to dream of capturing the state. "Talks for forging a consensus shold be held in Mustang or Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve or Lumbini or the Chure hills, instead," he proposed.

He urged the former rebels not to practise double standard by saying one thing in Singapore and another elsewhere. He said his party was ready to pay any price for the sake of national unity.

"If other parties were as flexible as the UML, consensus could be built within hours," the UML chief said. Khanal claimed that the existence of two opposition forces -- extreme leftist anarchists and status quoits -- were adding to the country's problems.

Khanal said it was high time for consensus, warning that the constitution writing and peace processes would be upset if the largest party in the Constituent Assembly was isolated. Citing that no single party had earned a majority in the parliament, he stressed the need for a national unity government.

He said forming and toppling governments were not big happenings at present. "The nation can get into a bloody conflict if the constitution cannot be drafted over the next seven months."

"The integrity of the nation can be threatened while such a situation can also make military rule inevitable," he warned, adding that a prosperous Nepal was possible only after the promulgation of the new constitution.

"The statute should address the ethnic, geographic, linguistic and gender diversities of the people while guaranteeing all fundamental rights," he opined.