Kathmandu, October 2 :

Vice-president of the Janamorcha Nepal, Pari Thapa, today said the parliament should be revived to resolve the constitutional stalemate and find a political solution to the problem created by the Maoist insurgency. “Without reviving parliamentary, these two problems cannot be resolved,” Thapa said at a talk programme here.

Thapa said House revival was a must for solving the constitutional stalemate and also issues raised by the Maoists as there was no immediate possibility of holding parliamentary election. Thapa said that there was no other option left but to go for election to a constituent assembly. “But the revived parliament should be able to restructure the state, bring the army under civilian control, manage the Maoist militia and induce them to surrender their arms in order to bring lasting peace to the country,” he said. Rastriya Prajatantra Party vice-president Padma Sundar Lawati, however, said the demand for revival of the dissolved parliament was not feasible. He likened the demand to a date-expired medicine that creates more side effects instead of curing the ill.

Lawati claimed that parliamentary election could be held provided all democratic forces joined hands and fought the Maoists unitedly. He also accused the seven-party alliance of not playing any fruitful role as per people’s expectations. “The agitating parties are confined to the capital and their presence in villages is minimal,” he said. He said people wanted dialogue between the King and the agitating parties. Rastrabadi Morcha president Rajeshwor Devkota said the Indian leaders’ visit to Nepal turned out to counter-productive for the seven parties, though the alliance had invited the former here to muster support for their agitation. Devkota said the Indian leaders advised the leaders of the agitating parties to drop the demand of parliament’s revival and not to reach any alliance with the Maoists. “How can the alliance claim it has been able to muster the support of Indian leaders when they advised it to drop the idea of parliament’s revival?” he questioned.

Former leader of the Nepali Congress, Ram Babu Prasain, who renounced the party membership after it deleted the monarchy clause from its statute, suggested that as a head of the state the King should invite the political parties for dialogue to find a solution to the crisis. “Except for those who want an active monarchy and others who want a republican order, most people want reconciliation between the parties and the King,” Prasain said.