KATHMANDU/KHOTANG; The President of the ruling CPN-UML, Jhala Nath Khanal, today said he had no knowledge of the main opposition’s immediate plan to table a no-confidence motion against the government led by his

party senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

Khanal was addressing a press conference organised here to make public the decisions made by the party’s third central committee meeting that kicked off on February 17 and went on for 15 days.

“The political forces

may come up with such ideas in any part of the country. But I have no knowledge of it,” Khanal said, replying to a query.

He said the next central committee meeting will assess the government’s performance though many central committee members had criticised it for failing to maintain law and order and create an environment conducive to writing a new constitution. He said that the Minister of State for Home Affairs Mohammad Rizwan Ansari was asked to quit as he had “breached” a minister’s discipline.

Khanal, however, said the meeting had strongly directed the government

to ensure a feeling of security among people.

Asked to comment on Chief of Army Staff of the Nepali Army Chhatra Man Gurung’s statement on integration of the Maoist fighters yesterday, Khanal said, “Individual comments do not hold any significance. Agreements reached in the past will prevail.”

He also said that the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) should provide details of the exact number of Maoist combatants living in UNMIN-monitored camps to the government.

Asked if it was possible to adopt a new constitution by May 28, Khanal said the same would be possible provided that major political stakeholders reach a consensus on key constitutional issues.

The central committee meeting passed a resolution keeping all options open for national consensus, which will ultimately pave way for finding lasting peace and adopting the constitution on time, he added. The party will

also launch a nationwide campaign calling for

lasting peace and for the constitution-drafting process under party vice-president Bamdev Gautam. For this, a 77-member committee has been formed.

The meeting also entrusted the party’s standing committee to resolve the organisational disputes based on the reports presented by separate task-forces formed earlier.

Parallel district committees have been formed in some districts, including the Kathmandu one, reflecting rivalries between the Khanal and standing committee member KP Sharma Oli factions.

Later today, in Khotang, where he laid the foundation stone of a party building in the headquarters Diktel, Khanal said his

party was ready to make “any sort of sacrifice and contribution” for the formation of a national unity government. Talking to reporters in Diktel, he said the UML was open to all alternatives for the government as the constitution will not be drafted within the deadline without a consensus of all parties.

He stressed on the

need of deciding the

leadership of the national government to be formed. He also urged the Maoists not to create hurdles in drafting the statute.