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Maoists urged to come for talks

Ameet Dhakal

Koirala appeals to global community to support Nepal in rehabilitation, reconstruction

Kathmandu: Girija Prasad Koirala, who was sworn in Nepal Prime Minister on Sunday, urged the Maoist rebels, who have been waging an insurgency against the government for the past 10 years, to shun violence and come to the dialogue table.

Addressing the House of Representatives, which unanimously passed a resolution calling for elections to a constituent assembly, Mr. Koirala also requested the international community to support the country in its rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. He is expected to announce his Cabinet by Monday.

No timeframe for polls

In its deliberations, the House did not discuss any time frame for elections to the constituent assembly. This is mainly because the Seven Party Alliance, that successfully led the pro-democracy movement, recognises the need for the Maoists' broad concurrence.

There are also a host of other issues, including the modality of the constituent assembly itself, which has to be discussed extensively before a consensus is reached. Since Nepal awaits the formation of a full cabinet that will begin the dialogue process with the Maoists, for now, these issues will have to wait. At the same time, the general feeling among MPs is that elections to the assembly should be held in a year.

Health concerns

Mr. Koirala, 84, a patient of bronchitis, has lately been suffering from an injury to his ribs, received during a scuffle with the police while leading a demonstration a few months back in Kathmandu. Despite his appearance in Parliament on Sunday, concern over Mr. Koirala's health still remains. Dr. Madhu Ghimire, Mr. Korala's private physician, told The Hindu that the octogenarian leader was likely to take some rest and go in for intensive treatment for a few days. "That treatment could be in Nepal or abroad," said Dr. Ghimire. King Gyanendra sacked the elected Prime Minister on October 4, 2002, and assumed absolute power on February 1, 2005, declaring himself the chairman of the Council of Ministers. His father, King Mahendra, had also dismissed Nepal's first democratically elected Prime Minister, B.P. Koirala, in 1960 and put dissenting politicians in jail.

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