By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Nepal’s ruling parties Wednesday began making frantic efforts to woo the Maoist guerrillas back into their fold, a day after the rebels walked out of the government and pledged to oppose the crucial November election.
The seven parties left in the alliance will hold parleys with Maoist leaders late Wednesday afternoon in a bid to reach a compromise on the unfulfilled demands that made the rebels quit the government.
The four Maoist ministers in Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s cabinet resigned Tuesday after Koirala refused to concede their demands.
Though the communist party had made 22 demands, which they said were needed to create a conducive atmosphere for the November 22 election, the main issues were monarchy and the electoral system.
The Maoists want the government to scrap King Gyanendra’s throne and declare Nepal a republic by making an announcement in parliament instead of letting the election decide the king’s fate.
They also want the government to adopt a fully proportional electoral system instead of the mixed system that has been chosen for the upcoming election.
Koirala has ruled out abolishing monarchy through parliament on the ground that since the house is not an elected one, such a step would lack credibility and would not be accepted by the international community.
As Koirala’s Nepali Congress, the biggest party in the government, began a meeting of its top leaders Wednesday morning prior to the eight-party talks, a senior member of the party said it was possible to reach an agreement.
Narahari Acharya, who had in the past challenged Koirala for the post of party president and belongs to the faction that favours the abolition of monarchy, said the Nepali Congress was ready to be “flexible” and “generous”.
“It is possible to agree on a fully proportional electoral system if the Maoists pledge to let the election take place on November 22 as per schedule,” Acharya told IANS.
“We can also reach an agreement on the abolition of monarchy and sign a pledge.”
But if there was no agreement and the Maoists decided to go ahead with their protests, Acharya said it would make the polls difficult.
The Maoists have announced a three-week protest programme that is timed to throw the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission out of gear.
They plan to picket district administration offices on September 30, when the parties have to submit their list of candidates.
They have also called a three-day general strike Oct 4-6 with Oct 5 being the day for submitting the second list of candidates.
The guerrillas however underlined that their protests would remain peaceful.
“We are not pulling out of the peace pact,” said Maoist MP Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who resigned as information and communications minister Tuesday.