No question of having Cong president, says Prachanda

The Maoists in Nepal will under no circumstances yield the president’s post to the Nepali Congress, their chief Prachanda has said.

The Maoists in Nepal will under no circumstances yield the president’s post to the Nepali Congress, their chief Prachanda has said.

Speaking at a function to celebrate the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy, the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) said giving up such an important post to a party which was rejected by the people in the recent elections to the Constituent Assembly would be politically and morally wrong.

“Nobody has a majority, but as the largest party, people have given us the mandate to lead the government,” he said. Prachanda has said he is willing to become Nepal’s first president “if the masses want to give me the responsibility.”

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He did not, however, disclose if his party will pocket both prime minister’s and the president’s post.

But Prachanda’s assertion gave a clear signal today that his party was not interested to compromise on policy for post, and that it will be willing to stay out of government in that case. The CPN-M, with 220 members in a house of 601, is yet to respond to the invitation by G P Koirala in his capacity as head of the state to explore possibility of forming the government.

“Together, Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) are less than our strength, and yet they are hankering for power. This is clearly against the spirit of democracy and mandate of the people”, he said.

Prachanda accused that not only these parties had sided with the king to finish off the Maoists, they had been trying to stall the passage of the resolution to declare Nepal a republic on May 15, the deadline slated for the purpose. They were pro-Gyanendra earlier, and now with him gone ‘they want to be king themselves’.

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Hitman Shakya, a CPN-M member of the Constitutent Assembly, created quiet a sensation when he declared that deposed king Gyanendra will be hacked (to death) if refused to vacate the palace within the stipulated time frame.

“That has happened to the Tzar in Soviet Union and the king in France. You will be hacked if you refused to vacate the palace”, he said in a programme that was telecast live by radio in television.