Kathmandu, August 29:

The ninth central committee meeting of the CPN-UML today came to the conclusion that a new constitution is “indispensable” for a peaceful political solution to the Maoist problem, and also for the establishment of complete democracy and transformation of socio-economic conflict of the society. A press statement issued at a press conference at the party central office said that the party “wants to go for an election to a constituent assembly based on the 1990 constitution, which can be used as an interim one”. The party has taken the call for a republican order on a positive note and has reinforced the need for directing the ongoing movement towards a republican set-up. The party’s main political slogan would be to bring an end to “autocratic monarchy for the establishment of complete democracy through the election of constituent assembly.”

Reading out the statement, party general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said the party would give full attention to the joint movement launched against the autocratic monarchy. To make the movement a success, the party has formed a 27-member people’s movement mobilisation committee, headed by Nepal. Three separate taskforce teams have also been formed to draft reports on restructuring the state, reviewing the 14 year democratic rule and internal democratisation in the party. The three taskforces would be headed by Nepal, standing committee members Jhala Nath Khanal and K P Sharma Oli respectively. The meeting that lasted for two weeks has also demanded that children should have the right to acquire citizenship certificates even in the name of their mothers. The meeting also condemned the government for preventing the Nepali Congress from holding a general convention at the BICC and for issuing jail terms to ex-PM Sher Bahadur Deuba and former minister Prakashman Singh on charges of corruption.