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| Kathmandu, Saturday February 15, 2003 Falgun 03, 2059. |
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Cease-fire will be short-lived: Koirala
Post Report
MORANG, Feb 14 : Nepali
Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala today said that present cease-fire would be
short-lived though it has brought a wave of happiness among the people. He said no
homework has been done for confidence building measures for the upcoming peace talks even
after the announcement of the cease-fire.
Talking to reporters at
his residence in Biratnagar, Koirala said that the cease-fire was not reliable and
transparent.
"Both the sides
should have come up with a code of conduct along with the cease-fire. Therefore, it is not
transparent," he said, adding, "I have heard that the Maoists and the
King’s representatives are holding dialogue. Rather than holding talks with the
King’s representatives they should hold talks with the people."
Any dialogue between
the Maoists and the King’s representatives would be irrelevant if both sides kept
major political forces at bay, he added. He claimed that there has been a division within
the Maoist ranks over the questions of whether they should side with the palace or
parliamentarian forces.
He reiterated that the
King should revive the dissolved parliament and allow it to resolve the national issues
including the Maoist one. He also questioned about the modality of the much-talked
roundtable conference.
When asked about his
stand regarding the constituent assembly, Koirala said that it should first be made clear
whether the rebels have dropped the concept of republic or they are still adamant about
it. "Will the King go for the constituent assembly accepting the challenge of a
republican concept?" he asked.
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