Kathmandu, June 11
Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said on Monday that the political parties believing in democracy should not oppose the process of seeking people’s mandate through a fresh election.
The government, in an obligatory situation decided to go for a fresh election of the Constituent Assembly as the tenure of the CA automatically expired on May 27.
All the political parties who have faith in democracy should join the fresh election, he said.
Talking to the Kathmandu-based foreign envoys representing 27 countries at his official residence in Baluwatar, Prime Minister Bhattarai made clear that the government is all set to reach a consensus on forming a national unity government.
"Political consensus among major parties is a must for holding election by the given time and to sort out existing legal hurdles," the Prime Minister said.
He assured that the coalition government led by the Maoists would leave no stone unturned in seeking consensus so that the election could be held in the slate date.
The Prime Minister said that the Maoist combatants and their weapons were handed over to the Nepal Army though the integration of PLA and their rehabilitation had nothing to do with the contentious issues of constitution, he said.
Stating that the government led by him took bold steps in the peace process and achieved breakthroughs in the rehabilitation and integration of the combatants, he termed his ten months as important in the history of Nepal.
Dr Bhattarai said that despite the maximum effort and flexibility of the Maoist party, some political forces remained adamant not to accommodate the issues and aspirations of Janajati, Madheshi, Dalits, oppressed class and people from backward communities.
He claimed that the new constitution without addressing the issues and interests of these people would not be possible.
"The final talks among the parties collapsed on the issue of identity-based federalism as the traditional parliamentary parties rejected it," he claimed.
Dr Bhattarai said that peace and democracy would not sustain without economic development and prosperity.
During the discussion with the foreign envoys, the Prime Minister appreciated Nepal’s development partners for their consistent support in socio-economic development, peace process, and political transformation of Nepal.
"Nepal’s foreign policy is guided by the principles of the UN Charter, the ideals of non-alignment, peaceful coexistence, international law and practices and the importance of global peace," the Prime Minister said.
The recently established Board of Investment is one of the initiatives taken by the government to augment investment and to provide one window service to the domestic and foreign investors, the Prime Minister said.
Likewise, the Declaration of the Investment year 2012-2013, designation of the Visit Lumbini Year 2012, identification of projects of National Pride, and recent decision to bring in high priority projects under the ambit of BOT were the government initiatives intended for the economic growth, he said.
Dr Bhattarai said that the government was planning
to convene an economic summit in near future.
The Prime Minister appealed the envoys to convey his message to their respective governments for continued understanding and support.
27 different foreign envoys including those from China, India and US were present in the meeting.
The meeting was also attended by Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhaddar and Finance Minister Barsa Man Pun.
