Parties play it safe in Nepal

Nepal's main political parties said on Monday they were prepared to cooperate with King Gyanendra on forming an interim government to ensure...

Nepal’s main political parties said on Monday they were prepared to cooperate with King Gyanendra on forming an interim government to ensure an early return to constitutional rule in the Himalayan kingdom.

But the parties, who played down talk of a confrontation with the king over his decision to sack the Prime minister and temporarily take over running the country, insisted on respect for the 1990 Constitution that ushered in multi-party democracy.

‘‘We will definitely cooperate with His Majesty if the process goes in accordance with the Constitution,’’ Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narasingh told reporters after a first round of talks among the kingdom’s parties. ‘‘We want an interim arrangement and power should go to the interim government.’’

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The Nepali Congress was the largest party in a Parliament dissolved in May.

The Communists, the second largest party in the Parliament, took a similar tack.

The talks, which lasted nearly two hours, brought together six parties in the dissolved Parliament. The king sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday.

The king has called for an interim government to oversee elections and gave the parties until Wednesday to come up with names, including that of an interim PM who would organise but not contest the election.

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A palace official said the king would hand over to an interim administration and had no plans to abandon the constitutional monarchy.

The main parties, while not supporting Deuba, say they need to know the terms of reference, mandate and accountability of the interim government before deciding whether to join.

Meanwhile, in the latest violence, soldiers killed 13 rebels in separate battles in west Nepal.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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