New political basis needed to bolster eight-party unity: Mahara

KATHMANDU, Sept 19 - Newly-appointed spokesman of the CPN-Maoist, Krishna Bahadur Mahara Wednesday said that the seven parties have become “a bit serious” about their demands, including the declaration of a republic ahead of the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, after the party pulled out of the current coalition government and launched the street protests Tuesday.
“The leaders of the seven parties were not serious about our demands till yesterday. We found them somewhat concerned today after we declared the agitation,” Mahara said after the eight-party meeting today, “But, this realization must be taken to a meaningful conclusion if the eight-party unity is to be strengthened.”

“A new political basis has to be discovered to bolster the eight-party unity. The recent developments have already proved that the eight-party unity cannot be upheld on the old basis,” he added, referring to the 12-point historical agreement between then seven-party alliance and the Maoists that led to the success of the April uprising.

The Maoists have put forth 22-point “pre-requisites”, including declaring Nepal a republic through the interim parliament and fully proportional electoral system to “ensure” the CA elections. They pulled out of the eight-party government yesterday, citing seven parties’ apathy to their demands.

Stating that they have always stood and fought for “meaningful” CA elections, Mahara added, “The (November 22) elections are merely an illusion. They won’t be possible without a new and strengthened unity among the eight parties.”

Mahara also urged the international community not to doubt the Maoist intention.

“We have certainly not pulled out from the peace process. We are still in the eight-party alliance. We have only stepped down from the government,” he said.

He also informed that the Maoist central secretariat meeting this afternoon had mulled over ways to push for a special session of the interim parliament to declare a republic through the House.

Stating that the meeting, which re-appointed him the party spokesman, also assessed the impact of the Maoist decision to quit the government, he claimed that the decision was backed by the people