'It is the Maoists who have betrayed us and not the other way round,' Nepali Congress (NC) general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said.
With Maoists threatening to launch a new anti-government agitation, Nepali Congress, a key partner in the ruling alliance, today asked them to show sincerity by fulfilling their commitments relating to peace process and Constitution-drafting before seeking resignation of the prime minister.
"It is the Maoists who have betrayed us and not the other way round," Nepali Congress (NC) general secretary Bimalendra
Nidhi said, dismissing the former rebels' claim that the ruling alliance had assured them that premier Madhav Kumar Nepal would resign soon after the extension of the Constituent assembly's term.
Maoists have breached past agreements and understandings
a number of times and have not shown sincerity to the Constitution-making and peace processes, he told PTI after a
high-level meeting between Nepali Congress and CPN-UML at the prime minister's residence.
The former rebels should first agree to a timetable and modalities to complete the peace process, including rehabilitation of their combatants and their integration with army, and drafting of the Constitution, before asking the prime minister to resign, he said.
His remarks came as Maoists threatened to re-launch their agitation, alleging that the ruling alliance had betrayed them
after securing their cooperation in signing of a three-point
agreement to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly,
which was to expire on May 28, by one year.
Though there was no time frame for the prime minister to resign, Maoists claim that the ruling alliance had assured them he would resign by Wednesday last.
Nidhi said the prime minister is ready to tender his resignation provided the Maoists agree on a time-bound plan to return properties seized by them during insurgency, dissolve their paramilitary structure called Young Communist League and
manage their combatants.
Maoists, in the past, had signed agreements 5-6 times on return of the land and buildings they seized from the people during their decade-long armed struggle, but they never returned them, he said.
Nepali Congress and CPN-UML would not budge from their stances relating to the peace process and the Constitution-
making process, he said.
While signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement three years ago, Maoists had agreed that their combatants would be managed within a six-month period, but it never happened, he
pointed out.
Nidhi, however, said that there was no other way than forging consensus and cooperation to move forward the peace process and complete the task of drafting the Constitution.
Apart from prime minister Nepal and Nidhi, the NC-CPN-UML
meeting was attended by NC acting president Sushil Koirala,
former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, NC Vice President
Ramchandra Poudyal, UML president Jhalanth Khanal, its general secretary Ishwor Pokharel and Home Minister Bhim Rawal.
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