KATHMANDU: The Ashok Rai led Federal Socialist Party (FSP) has formally agreed to compete in the proposed November 19 Constituent Assembly elections after reaching a five point agreement with the High Level Political Mechanism on Friday.

Among others, both sides agreed to hold a political round-table conference in the last week of September and to hold CA elections for 601-member Constituent Assembly.

The agreement to have a 601 member CA contradicts the earlier agreement of the major parties to downsize the membership to 491 and later on had agreed to increase the size to 585 while signing deal with Upendra Yadav.

Other issues included in the agreement is that the new CA would acknowledge the issues resolved by the first CA. The agreement has also agreed to provide voting rights to Nepali Citizens residing abroad.

ILAM: Chairman of Federal Socialist Party Ashok Rai has said that his party would take part in the upcoming CA elections. At a program today in Ilam, Rai said his party was formed for ethnic and class liberation through federalism through socialism.

He also demanded the scrapping of 11-point agreement reached among four political parties. A 53-member town committee was formed with Tek Bahadur Gurung as Chair on the presence of leader Rai.

RUPANDEHI: Federal Socialist Party Chairman Ashok Rai has accused the major political parties of giving the gift of Prime Minister to Chief Justice Khilaraj Regmi for giving a verdict to dissolve the CA.

Rai also said that major political parties admitted their failure by giving the post of Prime Minister to the same figure who gave a verdict against the CA term extension.

At a press meet in Butwal this morning, Rai said that the new government cannot hold the free and fair elections. Rai reasoned that the agreement of the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and Madhesi Morcha to make the CJ as the new prime minister was no more than a conspiracy and their failure.

Similarly, Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) has said that its serious attention was drawn to the political agreement for the formation of the CJ-led government. “This is the matter of shame for democracy,” chairman of Nefin Ram Kumar Lekhi said by issuing a press statement today.