Rai-led FSPN shifts position on polls Says the party will foil the CA elections held under existing circumstances
KATHMANDU, JUL 22 -
The Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party Nepal (FSPN) is likely to follow in the CPN-Maoist and its 32 allies’ footsteps as it has decided to foil the Constituent Assembly elections held under the ‘existing circumstances’.
A meeting of the party’s Standing Committee on Sunday unanimously agreed to launch ‘result-oriented protests’, which might include a ‘forceful retaliation’ in the long run. Its decision comes after several rounds of futile talks with the government and some political parties through formal and informal channels.
“The government is not in a position to address our concerns as the real power lies somewhere else. The party has decided that it’s no use talking with the puppet government,” said Rajendra Shrestha, general secretary of the FSPN.
The party is reportedly making internal preparations for a fresh round of protests, expected to start this month. Leaders said that an anti-election campaign will begin with an awareness drive and end with “people’s revolt” across the country. “They said a confrontation is inevitable if the four parties and the government go ahead with the election plan by sidelining our concerns,” said a FSPN leader requesting anonymity.
Like other dissident parties campaigning against the November elections, the FSPN has been demanding an end to the four-party ‘political syndicate’ by terminating the 11-point and 25-point agreements. The party has stressed that the current political deadlock, including differences over the Khil Raj Regmi government and the CA elections, should be addressed through an all-party political assembly. The party’s other demands are keeping a 60:40 ratio of proportional CA seats intact and providing voting rights to Nepali diasporas, among other things.
Earlier, the party had collaborated with the CPN-Maoist-led 33 parties alliance to launch a protest against the election date announcement. But the FSPN refused backed out citing differences over their demands.
While the dissent bloc headed by Baidya want the incumbent government to be replaced with a political one, other parties, including Rai’s and Upendra Yadav’s, are ready to go to the elections under an interim government if their other demands are addressed. Unlike the CPN-Maoist and its allies, Rai and Yadav have already registered their parties at the Election Commission.
FSPN leaders are particularly irked with the High-level Political Committee (HLPC) for paying attention to the 33-party alliance. “Many parties, including the CPN-UML, do not want our party to contest the CA polls. That’s why they are in no mood of addressing our concern,” said Shrestha.
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