'Don't declare Nepal republic through Par'

Kathmandu, Sep 22: The proposal of the Maoists of declaring Nepal a republic through parliament should not be supported, a majority of the Nepali Congress (NC) central committee leaders today urged party president and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

During a meeting held at party headquarters Sanepa, the leaders advised Mr Koirala to stick to the constitutional arrangement of deciding the fate of monarchy through the elected Constituent Assembly.

Most of the leaders opined that declaring the country a republic through the interim parliament would be harmful while leaders like Narahari Acharya and Mahesha Acharya echoed that endorsing the prosopal would help maintain the unity with the Maoists, Kantipur quoted sources as saying.

A preliminary draft of the NC manifesto for the Constituent Assembly polls was also presented in the meeting.

Besides, the prime minister discussed the preparations and agenda for the Mahasamiti meeting, Congress unification and recent political developments.

The Mahasamiti meeting is scheduled to commence tomorrow.

UNI