Ready to make any sacrifice for national consensus: Nepal PM

Kathmandu: Nepal’s embattled Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Thursday said that he is ready to make “any sacrifice” for the sake of national consensus to resolve the current political deadlock plaguing the nation. In a live telecast address to the nation following a crucial cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister called political parties to forge cooperation and collaboration saying that he is ready to make any sacrifice to end the current deadlock. [caption id=“attachment_532209” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Baburam Bhattarai, however, blamed the opposition parties for the government’s failure to draft the new constitution. Reuters[/caption] The Prime Minister’s remarks came at a time when the main opposition parties including Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have intensified pressure on him to step down to pave way for formation of a national consensus government. His speech coincided with the date announced by him for holding new election after he dissolved the Constituent Assembly on May 27 without promulgating the constitution. The Prime Minister, however, blamed the opposition parties for the government’s failure to draft the new constitution and to find a way out from the current political deadlock. He expressed his anger over the opposition’s “non-cooperation” and urged them to help resolve the current crisis through agreement and cooperation. The Prime Minister also claimed that the coalition government led by him has successfully concluded the peace process started six years ago and integrated altogether 1,460 Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army through the process of army integration. “I am ready to cooperate and make sacrifice to form national consensus government”, Bhattarai said but did not categorically say whether he would step down as per the demands of the opposition. Meanwhile, the civil society leaders today asked the Prime Minister to resign to pave way for forming a national consensus government as the government has failed to keep its promise of holding new election on 22 November. Senior human rights activist Charan Prasai said that the Maoists are not serious and sincere about drafting the new constitution through the Constituent Assembly, rather they are bent on capturing state power by hook or by crook. He asked the Maoist leadership to show sincerity to implement the comprehensive Peace Accord they had signed some six years ago after joining peaceful politics. A group of civil society members also held a mock election by installing a ballot box in public at Babarmahal on the outskirts of Kathmandu symbolising a Constituent Assembly election in a bid to expose the government’s inability to hold election on the stipulated date. PTI