BIKRAM RAI
In a free-wheeling interview UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal spoke to Nepali Times and Himal Khabarpatrika on Thursday about the need for the government and Election Commission to still aim to have elections in June.
He defended his commitment to address human rights violations committed during the war through the Truth and Reconciliation Commssion and urged Nepalis not to always seek foreign approval for domestic issues. He did not rule out eventual unity with the Baidya faction.
Elections: “We must push for elections in June, it is still possible. If the High Level Political Committee which I chair can convince the smaller parties, then the government and the EC can solve the technical issues. The continuation of the election government will be in doubt if polls can’t be held in June.”
Executive president proposal: “A leader should be directly accountable to the people and allowed to govern for full five years. At present, coalition leaders always need money and muscle to stay in power and have no time to think about stability and growth.”
Baidya: “Today’s meeting of the HLPC decided to invite Baidya and Upendra to talk and involve them in the committee to address their concerns about elections.”
Truth and Reconciliation Bill: “It meets international standards. We Nepalis listen a bit too much to outsiders. We have to get out of the habit of seeking international approval for everything we do.”
Madhes: “I want to contest elections from the Madhes and address the grievances of the Tarai and bring all Madhesis into the national mainstream. We can’t treat Madhesis as if they are Indians.”
Personal inconsistency: “What you call inconsistency, I call dynamism and pragmatism. If I were rigid in my belief, we would be stuck. I can’t just be a locomotive, I have to pull the carriages along.”
Media: “The media is a bit confused and some like your newspaper are a bit prejudiced against me and our party.”
Click here to read the complete interview in Nepali
Excerpt of the interview with UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal
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