Nepal Maoist party supreme Prachanda threatened to move a "no confidence vote" to dislodge the government if it fails to accept his new proposals for the integration of the former guerrillas as parliament began a key session today.
UCPN-Maoist party chairman Prachanda said he had prepared different proposals for the integration of the former combatants that could be considered by the political parties.
He said the failure of the ruling 22-party alliance to move ahead on his proposals may push the Maoists to mull a 'no confidence vote'. Prachanda said 'no confidence vote' against the current coalition will be decided on the basis of support his party gets from the UML leaders, the nepalnews online reported.
Nepal's parliament began its winter session today amid deadlock among the political parties over the Maoists' demand for the integration of its former guerrillas who are housed in different UNMIN-supervised camps.
While the Maoists leaders have demanded their en masse integration into the army, it has been opposed by other parties as it would politicise the neutral military.
Prachanda said told mediapersons today that this party would table three alternatives proposals -- PLA combatants who wish to join the Nepal Army be allowed to do so; PLA set up as a separate security force; and a new security agency set up incorporating the PLA personnel, the Nepal Army and the paramilitary Nepal Police and Armed Police Force.
He said his party with about 40% of seats in the 601-member Constituent Assembly has the right to lead the government as it is single largest party in the parliament.
Political tensions have been high in Nepal since a government led by the Maoists resigned earlier last year amid a dispute with president Ram Baran Yadav over the reinstatement of former army chief Rukmangad Katawal, who was dismissed by the Prachanda-led government last May.
Prachanda said the political parties will decide this week whether the constitution can be promulgated by May 28, the timeframe for the process. He also said his party was in favour of extending the term of the UNMIN until peace process ends here.
Analysts fear that the death former Nepalese leader Girija Prasad Koirala, who was instrumental in bringing the Maoists to mainstream politics after a decade-long insurgency in 2006, could derail the faltering peace process.
Koirala, who died on March 20 aged 85, spent the final months of his life engaged in a desperate effort to ensure lasting peace in the country after a bloody 10-year civil war between Maoist rebels and the government.
