More details have emerged from Monday’s High Level Political Mechanism meeting. Nepali Congress president, Girija Prasad Koirala, asked the Maoist leaders to abandon their “anti-India campaign”, which Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal refused. From The Kathmandu Post:
UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the party wouldn’t withdraw its programmes as they were not meant “to create antagonism with India but to oppose the injustices meted out to Nepal by India.”
Dahal, however, tried to distance his party from the allegation that it was trying to force an Indian investor out of a major power project.
In response to Koirala’s concern over the Maoist obstruction at Upper Karnali in Dailekh, Dahal claimed it was not as per the party’s decision, but “due to a local dispute.” He said the party would soon take stock of the situation and respond. Soon after last week’s obstruction at the site, the Indian Embassy warned that such a move would have serious impact on Indian investment in Nepal.
The Maoists also put out forward a three-point proposal to end the political deadlock, as The Kathmandu Post reports:
Firstly, the proposal floated at Monday’s meeting of the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) calls for a statement from President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav asking all the parties to work in unison in view of the deadlock.
Secondly, the proposal seeks a joint resolution motion in the House to address the controversy over the president’s move reinstating then-Army chief. Thirdly, it demands a constitutional amendment clearly outlining the executive and ceremonial status of the prime minister and the president. “The HLPM has decided to further discuss the proposal at its next sitting,” said Maoist Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
After seeking a place in the mechanism in her role as the foreign minister unsuccessfully, Sujata Koirala now wants women’s representation in the body. And, she probably thinks she is the one to do it. Nepalnews writes:
[Koirala] asked the women lawmakers on Tuesday to start lobbying for inclusion of a woman representative in the mechanism, which is headed by her father Girija Prasad Koirala.
At an interaction programme organised by peace and reconstruction ministry in Kathmandu Tuesday, Koirala said the government is preparing strategies for women and children's participation in the peace process. as mandated by the UN.
Koirala heads the team formed by the government to design strategies for women and children's participation in peace process.
Meanwhile, the other deputy prime minister, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, has said Maoist government would be acceptable to him. Kantipur writes:
Deputy prime minister, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, said a Maoist government is acceptable but he would not support Nepali Congress’s leadership in the government. He said that the nation is suffering adverse consequences due to Nepali Congress.
“If Maoists want to join the leadership, they should come to us and we will give it to them,” he told reporters in Morang. “But we cannot accept Girija Prasad Koirala’s leadership.”