Now government can mobilize Nepal Army in CA elections: Pokhrel

KATHMANDU: CPN UML Secretary Shankar Pokhrel has asserted that the government can mobilize Nepal Army in the forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections.

Elaborating on his statement, Pokhrel said that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) had been baring from mobilizing the NA and said that the conclusion of army integration on Tuesday had paved the way.

Speaking at an interaction program organized by the Reporters Club Nepal on Tuesday, Pokhrel said ” conclusion of the army integration has empowered the government to mobilize the NA as and when required in the CA elections.”

Commenting on the ongoing efforts to bring dissenting political parties into Constituent Assembly (CA) election, Pokhrel said that special provisions for registering political parties for CA election could be made if they conceded to hold elections in November.

He ruled out the possibility of conceding to every demands of the disseting parties and warned that remaining out of a democratic process like the election would endanger their existence in the future.

However he said that efforts were made to bring all the dissenting political parties into confidence and added that inability to hold CA elections on time would pave way for foreign interventions in Nepal’s internal affairs.

Speaking at the same program, Nepali Congress leader Dr. Minendra Rijal said that the government was strong to hold CA elections in secure environment.

Rijal opined that the CA elections cannot be foiled as all Nepalese people were determined to hold them. He also denied the possibility of deferring the Nov 19 date for holding CA elections.