POKHARA: Minister for Law, Justice and Constituent Assembly Affairs Dev Gurung said on Saturday that there was no alternative to removing Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal as the latter had tried to politicise the national army.

Addressing the third Kaski district conference of Tamu Rastriya Mukti Morcha here onday, he also accused the CoAS of breaching Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) in the name of carrying out his duties.

“The UCPN-Maoist will sack the CoAS at any rate even if the House proceedings are disrupted for two months,” Gurung said, adding, “Katawal is the CoAS of the foreigners.” He also accused Katawal of not obeying the rule of the land and working as per the hint of the foreigners.

Stating that Katawal is being operated by two nations, Gurung said that the UCPN-Maoist was adamant on sacking the CoAS notwithstanding the foreign pressure. He, however, did not name the two nations. “We are ready to quit the government and launch street protests to remove the CoAS,” he added.

He also said some foreign nations were threatening the government over phone to withdraw its plan to remove the army chief. “Some countries are threatening us of imposing Presidential rule,” he said, adding that the Maoists will leave no stone unturned to foil such attempts.

Gurung also said both the NC and the UML were dancing on the tunes of foreigners. He also criticised the political parties of deceiving the Maoists. He also said the country should adopt federalism on the basis of ethnicity.