Nepal is determined to hold general elections in April next year even if peace efforts initiated with Maoist rebels fail to bring any concrete results, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said.‘‘We will try our utmost to bring about peace through holding talks, but if our efforts fail, we will have to go to the polls by the end of April next year,’’ Deuba said yesterday.He said no decision was made to extend the ceasefire, which is on between government forces and Maoists during the nine-day Hindu festival of Vijaya Dashami. Both sides began the truce on October 20. However, Minister for Information and Communication, Mohammad Mohsin said the government would not resume military action against Maoists after Thursday, when the ceasefire ends, if the rebels maintained the peace.Meanwhile, Nepal Communist Party-UML, a key coalition partner, said the government must bring Maoists to the negotiating table.
