Kathmandu, November 1:

Nepali Congress central leader Narahari Acharya today said that the King will flee the country if his party switches its agenda from ceremonial monarchy to a republican order.

The reaction from Acharya came at a time when the peace process is stuck on the issue of how to deal with monarchy, with some demanding a referendum on the issue while others calling for elections to a constituent assembly.

“The Maoists are changing. We must also change. In fact, we will not even have to go to a referendum if the NC switches its agenda to a republican order,” Acharya, who has always been a radical in politics, said at the Reporters’ Club.

His views were strongly supported by CPN-UML senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal, who said that NC would do well to do the needful, given the change the announcement could bring. He said the time has come to go to a “republican order from total democracy.” He also said that all the ideologies were “melting and merging” before the nation eventually “graduates” to the republican set-up.

Earlier, Maoist central member Ram Karki denied arms would be laid down before the objective was achieved and that the entire nation was undergoing a process of political radicalisation.