By NNN-PTI
Kathmandu : Nepal Maoists Friday set in motion a process to convene a special parliamentary session to abolish the monarchy and declare the country a republic.
“We have done it to ensure declaration of republic through the interim parliament and to ensure all out proportional representation,” Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara said after registering the document at the Prime Ministers Office. The motion was later registered at the Parliament Secretariat.
The move comes amid failure of the main political parties to arrive at a consensus on proportional representation for conducting the November constituent assembly elections.
Chief whip of the Maoist party Dina Nath Sharma was quoted as saying in the media that the special session has been demanded to pass a resolution to abolish the monarchy before the elections are held on Nov 22.
As per the interim constitution, the prime minister has to call a special session of the parliament if one-fourth of the lawmakers support such a move.
In the interim parliament, 83 members are needed to meet the quorum while the Maoists have 84 members.
Nepal’s ruling alliance Thursday failed to persuade the Maoists to rejoin the government even as they agreed to pass a “commitment” proposal for turning the country into a republic through the parliament in a bid to defuse the political crisis in the Himalayan nation.
Though there was no formal announcement, the agreement on the “commitment” proposal was reached at a meeting between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Maoist chairman Prachanda and CPN (UML) general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal.