16 parties adamant on vote ‘fraud’ probe demand

KATHMANDU, DEC 10 -
Sixteen political parties led by the UCPN (Maoist) on Monday decided not to submit the names of candidates for Constituent Assembly ( CA ) seats under the proportional representation (PR) category if the government fails to form a committee to probe ‘irregularities’ in the November 19 election.

A meeting of the parties, who have been saying that the votes were rigged, lambasted the major parties and the government for not taking their demands seriously.

The parties said the formation of the probe panel will pave the way for their participation in the new CA .

Earlier on Sunday, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML urged the UCPN (Maoist) to cooperate when it comes to submitting the names of the PR candidates to the Election Commission.

“We have decided not to submit the PR list until our demands are addressed,” UCPN (Maoist) leader Barsha Man Pun said after the meeting.

The 16 parties also objected to the government’s preparations to amend Article 69 of the Interim Constitution to pave way for the first CA meeting.

The Article says that the prime minister will call the first meeting of the CA within 21 days of the final election results.

However, as the government is now chaired by chief justice Khil Raj Regmi, who is not the prime minister, the government and the President’s office are preparing to amend the Interm Constitution so that the head of state can call the first meeting of the new CA .

“An all-party consensus is needed for such an amendment and we draw the attention of the political parties, government and the President’s office on this matter,” Pun said.

The meeting also discussed formation of an alliance of parties who are committed to identity-based federalism in the country.

The parties said discussions on this has begun and that they will soon announce the new bloc that will work to have a progressive constitution drafted.

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