Kathmandu, November 22

Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today said he would form a new force including intellectuals, experts and vibrant youths to make a prosperous Nepal.

Addressing the inaugural programme of the campaign for the new force here today, Bhattarai said this constitution was like a half-filled glass with no rights for Madhesi, Dalit, Janajati, women and peasants. “I had told the leaders not to leave any seed of revolt in the constitutional provisions,” he said adding, “One-third people are celebrating the new constitution without addressing the dissatisfaction of two-thirds of Nepal’s population.” Bhattarai further declared that he didn’t want to become prime minister again.

He said he would consult every Nepali citizen about the new force and the new force had taken the initiative to get suggestions through a campaign. “We will develop an ideology to govern our party and change the country instead of being driven by any ideology,” he said.

On the existing problem in the country, he said this constitution should be amended to make it a complete document with changes in demarcation of provinces through fruitful dialogue. “We are ready to support dialogue between the government and the agitating parties,” he added.

The former Unified CPN-Maoist leader said the main focus of the new force would be liberty, equality, social justice and sustainability and its policy and programmes would be developed with the help of experts to convert Nepal into a developed country within the next 40 years.

The new force will also focus on practising participatory democracy with proportional inclusion of different ethnic groups. He accused Maoist leaders of plunging into the quicksand of corruption and said leaders of the new force must change their views, programmes and ideals so that the new party will be different right from its base.

Addressing the function, Mahantha Thakur, chairman of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party, said Madhesi people were insecure even in their homes. He expressed best wishes for the new force. Chairman of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal Upendra Yadav said the new force should make a breakthrough as Madhesi people had never enjoyed the status of citizen neither during the Rana nor Panchayat eras and not even in republican Nepal.

NC leader Pradip Giri, human rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar, writer Khagendra Sangroula, industrialist Ravi Bhakta Shrestha and artiste Ashok Sharma were present at the gathering that included former Maoist combatants.