Says NC can’t be blamed for all that goes wrong

Kathmandu, August 13:

The Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress (NC), Ananda Prasad Dhungana, today criticised the CPN-Maoist for blaming the NC for every single incident that occurs in the country.

He also urged the Maoists to “control” the activities of the Young Communist League (YCL).

Speaking at the special session of Parliament, Dhungana said no party can shy away from its responsibilities, as all major decisions are taken after a consensus of all the eight political parties. “All parties should take equal responsibilities,” he said, and said “some parties” were behaving “irresponsibly.”

He also said the parties were not sincerely implementing the 12-point understanding. “No party should now even think of obstructing the constituent assembly elections scheduled for November 22, as this also has been decided on the basis of an eight-party consensus,” he added.

Raising serious concern about sporadic clashes between people of the Pahade and Madhesi origin, Dhungana termed such clashes a “ploy” to obstruct the elections.

MP Sunil Prajapati of the Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (NWPP) said the practice of blaming other parties should be stopped.

Saying that the current political situation indicated that elections cannot be held in November, he said all the parties in the government would be equally responsible if the polls are not held on time.

MP Salikram Jamakatel of the CPN-Maoist raised concern about the “exploitation” of workers in the factory of Dabur Nepal.

He also threatened to take to the streets if the government failed to release those arrested from the APCA House premises at Anamnagar this morning. Police, in the morning, rounded up some protesters affiliated to the Maoist party who were trying to disrupt work in the offices of The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post dailies by stopping employees from entering the offices.

MP Birodh Khatiwada of the CPN-UML demanded that Speaker Saubash Nemwang either stop the practice of speaking during zero hour or make it more effective.

“This is a wastage of time,” Khatiwada said, referring to the very few speakers during the zero hour. Only two MPs, out of the 15 names called by the Speaker, spoke during today’s zero hour.