Kathmandu, Oct. 13: With just seven months left for the new Constitution deadline to expire, Nepal’s Opposition Maoist party on Wednesday backtracked on its pledge, refusing to let go of its rebel army unless it has its say in the formation of a new government.
The Maoist chairman, Mr Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who had pulled out of the prime ministerial race in September after failing to win even after seven rounds of vote, on Wednesday made it clear to the caretaker Prime Minister, Mr Madhav Kumar Nepal, that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with its nearly 20,000 soldiers, will not be disbanded till the ruling parties reached an agreement with his party on power-sharing.
The backtrack comes less than two months after Mr Prachanda signed a fresh agreement pledging to rehabilitate the PLA fighters by mid-January.