Nepali Congress not to join new Nepal govt

Kathmandu, May 13: While declining to join hands with the Maoists to form the next government in Nepal, the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML have set pre-conditions for support, calling for disbandment of the Maoist army, its armed youth wing-the Young Communist League (YCL) and its kangaroo courts.

Central committee meetings of the second and third largest political parties in the newly constituted Constituent Assembly (CA) took the decision of not allying with the Maoists yesterday after days of deliberation on whether to join a Maoist-led coalition or remain outside, Kantipur reported.''Nepali Congress is committed to giving continuity to the politics of consensus in a wider sphere under the mandate of the epoch-making Janaandolan even after the CA polls,'' NC General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said in a press statement.

''However, the NC concludes that the consensus should not be for participation in the next (new) government but for accomplishing the two goals of the Janaandolan and the CA elections - framing of a democratic constitution and taking the peace process to its goal.'' ''The UML won't join the next government under Maoist leadership,'' said party central leader Shankar Pokharel. He said the peace process and the drafting of a new constitution are the major issues and the party should concentrate on those.

Acting General Secretary Bohara at yesterday's meeting stressed the need to focus on constitution-making instead of getting involved in government business, to concentrate on strengthening party structure while remaining outside the government.

Though under the agreement Maoist people's army, people's courts and people's government should be dys functional but the Maoists have always ignored in practice.

Both the parties called for dissolution of the semi-military structure of the Young Communist League. The NC has also called for a time-bound plan to integrate the Maoist army and dispose of or surrender their weapons to the state.

Maoists emerged as the largest party with 220 seats in the 601 CA in the election held on April 10.

The first meeting of the CA will be held on May 28 that will formally abolish monarchy and declare Nepal a federal democratic republic.

UNI