Gyanendra: Term extended

Kathmandu, Oct. 29: Maoist rebels who have been campaigning for abolition of the institution of monarchy have now agreed to allow Nepal’s King Gyanendra to continue as the constitutional monarch till next June’s constituent assembly elections.

Maoist chief Prachanda told Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today that his party would not raise the issue of monarchy till the elections. The rebel leader also agreed to Koirala’s proposal of formulating a set of guidelines for managing the arms of the Maoists.

The Maoist climbdown on monarchy is significant considering that they had been campaigning for its abolition as a precursor to the formation of the interim government.

The seven-party alliance government has been saying that the fate of monarchy should be decided either through a referendum or elections to the constituent assembly.

During the two-hour meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence this morning, the two leaders agreed to go ahead with the peace process in consonance with the letters they wrote separately to the UN.

Prime Minister’s adviser Suresh Chalise said both leaders agreed to resume the stalled summit talks within the next few days.

Home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said the meeting was focussed on the fate of monarchy and the management of Maoist arms, among others. “The meeting was extremely positive about evolving consensus on unresolved issues,” he said.

The summit talks were deferred indefinitely on October 15 after the leaders failed to reach an understanding on the twin issues of monarchy and arms management.