Kathmandu, September 20:

General secretary of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal said today that a military coup could not be ruled out in Nepal just like what happened in Thailand yesterday if the present transitional period continued to remain indefinitely. “Another military coup cannot be ruled out in Nepal just like in Thailand if the present transitional period continues for a long time,” Nepal said while addressing the first anniversary of the founding of the party’s Federation of Nepal Democratic Indigenous and Nationalities at the party headquarters, Balkhu. 

Nepal said that his party was insisting on holding an election to a constituent assembly by April/May 2007 by completing all preparations required for the same. He said that the seven-party alliance and the Maoists should finalise the draft of the interim constitution by the second week of October and form an interim legislature by the second week of November so that the constituent assembly polls could be conducted by April/May 2007. Besides, finalising the interim constitution, he also stressed the need to immediately appoint the chief election commissioner and commissioners of the Election Commission so that it could make necessary preparation for the constituent assembly. He said a task force of the alliance had been doing homework to finalise the interim constitution and the parties concerned were also holding bilateral and multilateral consultations about the finalisation of the draft of the interim constitution. 

Nepal reiterated the party’s stance that referendum should be held along with the constituent assembly election to determine the fate of monarchy so that a new constitution could be made based on the people’s verdict and without much complications. He said the issue of arms management of both the state and the Maoists and the political agenda must be settled simultaneously. While speaking at the launch of a book Loktantra: Apaharan ra Awataran, written by Shrawan Sharma and Madhav Panth, Nepal criticised the coup in Thailand.  

“It is really sad that the government has not been able to cope with the fragile situation. The possibility of a military coup in Nepal, just like that in Thailand, cannot be ruled out if the government keeps ignoring the critical situation,” he said. Meanwhile, standing committee member of the CPN-UML Amrit Kumar Bohara, today strongly condemned the military coup in Thailand. Bohara said that encirclement of Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra’s office by military tanks with a view to imposing a military rule in a medieval style cannot be taken positively in the 21st century. Bohara also called upon the Thai military to return to the democratic process.