Prachanda to govt: Step down by May 1

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) on Monday warned the 10-party coalition of an indefinite strike if Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal...

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) on Monday warned the 10-party coalition of an indefinite strike if Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal fails to step down and pave the way for a national unity government by May 1.

Addressing a press conference,UCPN-M chairman and Maoist leader Prachanda said: Well bring 700,000 people in the capital on May 1 and they will be peaceful in their effort to pressurize the government to quit. Any attempt by the government to suppress the protests may have serious consequences for which the government will be responsible.

Prachanda denied that his cadres were extorting money for the rally and threatening those who resisted them. People are fully cooperating with our demands and if our volunteers come to the capital with sticks,it will be only to manage and regulate the crowd and not allow them to go wild. All this is meant to put pressure on the government to quit and pave the way for a national unity government so that the peace process and Constitution drafting proceed smoothly in collective ownership, Prachanda said.

The Maoist leader added that any sort of arms will be strictly prohibited during the protests. He,however,refused to accept Prime Minister Nepals offer on Sunday to resign and make way for any prime ministerial candidate other than Prachanda.

In the parliamentary system,it is the political agenda and the number in the house that decides who the Prime Minister will be. Prime Minister Nepal nominating his successor,like the king used to do in the past,is not acceptable, Prachanda said.

It was a tactical ploy on Prachandas part to have by his side Baburam Bhattarai his rival within the party who has made his prime ministerial ambitions clear.

Prachanda,who has met 10 European Union ambassadors and visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Robert Blake,claimed that the international community is convinced that the Maoists in Nepal have been denied that share in power even after a victory in the elections.

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We were able to convince them about our commitment to the peace process, he said.

Regarding India,Prachanda said that he has a feeling that the neighbouring country was interfering too much in Nepals internal affairs.

There is a huge population in India which supports us whereas there are others who suffer from an imperial mindset and they dont like us. I had raised the issue of interference with Indias Foreign Secretary when I quit last year. The Nepal-India relation needs to be reviewed as it is not based on quality of spirit and commonality of interest.