By IANS
Kathmandu : Nepal’s Maoists were humbled in the battle in parliament with the ruling parties Sunday, as they withdrew their demands for immediate abolition of monarchy and a fully proportional electoral system.
After six days of interminable debates in the house, preceded and punctuated by consultations among the ruling parties that left the nation dazed, Maoist spokesman and chief of their parliamentary party Krishna Bahadur Mahara announced late in the evening that his party was withdrawing the demands.
However, it was not a total defeat for the former rebels, who said they would support a modified pro-republican proposal put forward by another communist party.
Raghuji Pant, former minister and MP of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, had struck a compromise Sunday, saying parliament should give instructions to the government to start the process for turning Nepal into a federal republic.
However, the process would be completed after the stalled constituent assembly election was held, as per the peace pact signed by the parties and the Maoists.
Pant also suggested that the election system could be decided after a consensus among the parties.
With Pant’s proposals being passed by an overwhelming majority of MPs, time will run out faster for King Gyanendra.
However, given the inability of the parties to implement any of their decisions, the end to monarchy is not at hand yet.
But the capitulation allows the Maoists to partly save face. It also allows Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to continue without any immediate challenge to his leadership.