Janadisha: What will happen if the new constitution is not written on time? 
Baburam Bhattarai: When the Maoists won in the CA elections, regressive and foreign forces were startled and isolated us, for example, by requiring only a majority vote to topple the government. The President's coup attempt and election of the constitutional committee head are other examples of this. The United National People's Movement has been announced to check the return of regressive forces. For that we need to create public pressure.
Many believe the movement is to get power back.
For us, being in government is just a means to fulfill our objectives. If we were power hungry, we would never have resigned and would never have sacked Katawal. We never bowed to any forces. The main objective of this movement is to scrap the President's unconstitutional move, establish civilian supremacy and expel this puppet government.
What are the short-term and long-term goals of the movement?
The short-term goal is to get our 45-point demands met, to establish civilian supremacy and form a national unity government. The long-term goal is bring the government under the people's control completely.
How long do you think this 'puppet government' will last?
The government is like a weed in water and will soon fall, hopefully to be replaced by a more progressive government. Once it falls, a national unity government will be formed under the leadership of the Maoists.
What is the role of the media?
The media is important in the struggle against the anti-democratic, imperialist, feudalist forces. Even though media workers are generally in favour of the people and the nation, as long as the media is in the hands of a few capitalist owners, it cannot be independent and inform the people objectively. So media workers have to consider how to free themselves from the interests of the rich and join themselves to the cause of the people.
