KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress (NC) acting president Sushil Koirala Friday demanded the re-verification of the Maoists’ combatants as their real number was proved to be around 7,000 to 8,000 instead of 19, 000 after the video tape of Prime Minister Prachanda was made public recently.
“The number of combatants should be reduced to the real number by re-verification process,” he said at a programme here. He criticised UNMIN for its poor role in the verification process and its failure to find the real number of combatants.
He accused the Maoists of betraying the people and other political parties by speaking lies. “PM Prachanda, in public meetings, frequently expressed commitment on democracy, but his video tape dismissed his commitments and exposed how the Unified CPN-Maoist was going to capture the state,” he said.
Koirala said that President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav saved the country from a great coup of capturing the state power by the UCPN-M.
“The President dismantled the Maoists’ dangerous plot of capturing the state by sacking Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rookmangud Katawal. He played the role of patron of the constitution,” said Koirala at a programme here.
“Before he made such a decision he frequently advised Prime Minister Prachanda not to take such a decision as it would violate the constitution and past agreements. Seventeen political parties also suggested the President stop the government’s decision to sack Katawal. The President’s step saved the country from a great accident,” Koirala said. Prachanda’s video tape exposed the Maoists’ conspiracy of taking the national army into their grip before capturing power, he added.
“Though almost all political parties and the President suggested that Prachanda not sack Katawal, ultimately he made such a decision. Therefore, it proves how the Maoists were committed to make their conspiracy successful for imposing their autocracy in the nation,” Koirala said.
He said that the NC would not be involved in any power games and wanted to lead the government by CPN-UML. He urged the UML not to backtrack from leading the country.
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Posted on: 2009-05-08 16:28:18
We have now heard from the horse’s mouth about the real strength of the Maoist PLA – somewhere in the vicinity of 7,000. This number falls in line with the original speculation that most people had. It was public knowledge that exodus into the cantonment comprised of fresh recruits in an attempt to inflate the number. The nation had banked its hope on UNMIN and its verification process to reveal the truth. UNMIN failed utterly to capture this reality. It betrayed Nepal and the lovers of peace by not taking its job seriously. With the benefit of hindsight and with the preponderance of evidence, we can now deduce that UNMIN has been part of the problem and not a part of the solution. Albeit late, Ian Martin and his boss, the UNSG, were given this indication by the intellectual circles in Nepal. The current video fiasco also brings into perspective the reasons behind the complaints about UNMIN to the SG by no other than Girija Koirala a few months ago.