HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Consensus takes country out of crisis
Leaders pledge to help govt for talks with Maoists

BY KRISHNA SHARMA

Kathmandu, Aug. 10: With the commitment shown by the leaders of various political parties for the peaceful solution of the Maoist problem in an all-party meeting today, it seems ways are paved for solving not only the long stalled Maoist problem but also the other problems that have marred the nation for years.

Today’s meeting, which was called by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for seeking opinions from all the parties in the parliament and other national parties to end the six-year long insurgency problem in the country, has also proved that leaders of those parties were serious in finding a way out to the national problems by maintaining the culture of consensus.

"In the meeting the top leaders of all the parties having faith in the present Constitution and multi-party democracy, reached to a conclusion that national consensus could help in solving the problems, thereby leading the country in the path of overall development," states a joint press statement issued after the meeting this afternoon.

The joint statement further states that the leaders welcomed the ongoing move of the government for a peaceful solution of the problem by holding dialogue with the Maoists. It also said that both the government and the Maoists should be present at the negotiation table without any preconditions if the present amicable atmosphere is to become result-oriented and meaningful for the lasting solution to the problem.

`Likewise, the statement maintains that all the forceful activities leading to disturbance in educational, social and economic sector of the country should be immediately stopped to make the atmosphere of talks more favourable and trustworthy.

The statement has, meanwhile, suggested the government to uphold maximum restraint and alertness thereby safeguarding the fundamental and human rights of the people.

The all-party meeting was participated by all the high ranking leaders of eight different political parties including ministers and MPs in the Upper House. The meeting, which started at Singha Durbar this morning, was addressed by the top leaders of all the political parties.

Addressing the meeting Nepali Congress party president and former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said that the Nepali Congress had always been in favour of peaceful solution to the problem and that it has lauded the efforts of the government in this regard. "On the occasion, I would like to reiterate the commitment of the party that it is ready to provide every support to the government," Party President Koirala said.

"Being a democratic party, Nepali Congress, in the mean time, believes that everybody and every institution has the right to change his/its manners and behaviours," Koirala was hinting at the CPN-Maoist and its leaders and was calling them to come to the mainstream politics by accepting the democratic norms and values.

He further said that following the government’s moves the Maoists should also stop threatening the elected representatives of the local bodies for resignation, looting of public and private properties and launching violent activities if the atmosphere of talks are to be made more conducive.

Talking about the outcome of the meeting former deputy Prime Minister and Member of Parliament Ram Chandra Poudel said that today’s meeting had initiated the tradition of building national consensus among the political parties for the peaceful and lasting solution to any problem.

"By joining the table for national issues, we, the political parties, despite having faith on different principles have set a new example in the South Asia and this should be regarded as a big achievement," Poudel remarked. He hoped that this kind of consensus building measures would always help solve other problems of the country.

Welcoming the government’s move of building national consensus for addressing the Maoist issue, Jhalanath Khanal of the CPN-UML said that this was the beginning of the process of developing new mechanism for addressing national issues.

Similarly, Radha Krishna Mainali of the CPN-ML said that government’s initiation for building national consensus to address the burning problems like the Maoist insurgency was a welcome move in itself.

"I believe that this kind of consensus building measure would teach us to put our political differences behind when it comes to the problem faced by the nation."

Likewise, MP and leader of United Peoples’ Front Lilamani Pokharel said that the all-party meeting was the most sought after political target for the solution of the Maoist problem.

Today’s 4-hour long meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Deuba, will sit again in the near future for an elaborate discussion on the issue.

Present on the occasion were former Prime Ministers Girija Prasad Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Surya Bahadur Thapa, Speaker of the Lower House Taranath Ranabhat, Chairman of National Assembly Dr. Mohammed Mohsin, leader of the main opposition in the Parliament and CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, President of CPN-ML Sahana Pradhan, President of Nepal Sadbhavana Party Gajendra Narayan Singh, President of Nepal Workers and Peasants Party Narayan Man Bijukchhe, President of United Peoples’ Front Amik Sherchan and President of National Peoples’ Front and MP Chitra Bahadur K.C.,

The meeting was also attended by NC leaders Sushil Koirala, Chiranjibi Wagle, Khum Bahadur Khadka, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, Mahesh Acharya, Amod Prasad Upadhyaya, Arjun Narsingh K.C., Bijay Kumar Gachhedar, Govind Raj Joshi and Narahari Acharya.

Similarly, Khadga Prasad Oli, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Ishwor Pokharel, Subhash Chandra Nembang and Jhalanath Khanal of the CPN-UML; Bamdev Gautam of the CPN-ML; and Pashupati Shumsher J.B. Rana, Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani and Rabindra Nath Sharma of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party along with its president were present at the meeting.

The leaders from other political parties and few government officials were also present during the meeting.

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