Kathmandu, June 17 :

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Subhas Chandra Nembang, said today that the nation has got a clear political course after the summit of the seven-party alliance (SPA) and the Maoists agreed to frame an interim statute, form an interim government and declare the date for election to a constituent assembly.

Inaugurating a two-day workshop on “Citizens’ Initiatives for Future-2” organised by

over a dozen organisations at Tribhuvan University, Nembang said the election to the constituent assembly would be inclusive and would decide the fate of the monarchy.

Nepali Congress central leader Narahari Acharya said the views expressed by NC president and PM Girija Prasad Koirala did not reflect the party’s stance on monarchy. Many district committees, he said, have already decided to campaign for a democratic republic during the election to a constituent assembly and that the NC’s 11th national convention had decided to stonewall the issue of monarchy.

Dev Gurung, a member of the Maoists’ talks team, said that election to constituent assembly would provide the people an opportunity to exercise their sovereign rights. He, however, added that it were the political parties, Maoists and civil society which would exercise the people’s sovereign rights during the transitional period until a new constitution is made after the constituent assembly election.

Noted human rights defender and coordinator of Ceasefire and Code of Conduct National Monitoring Committee, Devendra Raj Panday, said that the future of the country lay in a federal system along with a democratic republic set-up.

Friday summit decisions historical: UML

Kathmandu: The standing committee meeting of the CPN-UML, chaired by general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, on Saturday hailed as “historical” the decisions taken at the summit of the top leaders of the seven-party alliance and the Maoists. The meeting stressed the need to implement it at all levels.

UML standing committee member Bishnu Poudel said that Nepal briefed the meeting about the decisions of the summit and concluded it was a historical move towards restoring political stability in the country.

He said that the meeting also took stock of the political scenario and the role to be played by the party in the days ahead. — HNS