News from Nepal

NEW DELHI, April 5 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Thursday said that the Nepali Congress (NC) will come up with a final decision regarding the king before the CA elections are held.

Talking to Nepali reporters in New Delhi — where he went to attend the 14th SAARC Summit — PM Koirala, albeit in a roundabout way, said that there was no chance of king Gyanendra being active during the CA elections.

When asked "What will you do if king Gyanendra tries to disrupt the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections?", Koirala replied with a question of his own, "Do you mean ‘king Gyanendra’ or ‘Gyanendra’?"

Koirala also said, "Forget the king, let's talk about Gyanendra."

"I can not talk about the issues of CA right now; we need some “spice” to create an environment for the CA and NC will provide the “spice”."

When asked about NC unification, Koirala said that in the present condition, unification was necessary, not only of the two Congress parties but among all the eight parties.

He also revealed that talks were being held with NC-D President Sher Bahadur Deuba regarding NC unificaiton.

"When I managed to get united even with the Maoists, of course unification with NC-D will happen," said Koirala.

The PM also said that Nepal's prestige among the international community had increased as the peace process was moving ahead positively.

Stating that the peace process was yet to reach a conclusion, Koirala expressed his commitment that he would make it (peace process) reach a final destination within his tenure.

Answering to a query regarding the Terai problems, PM Koirala said that he was ready to hold talks with concerned groups to resolve the Terai problems and would begin the needful consultations with all concerned as soon as he returns to the capital.

PM Koirala, who is scheduled to return to Nepal tomorrow, met Bangladesh's provisional government's Chief Advisor Fakrudhdhin Ahmed this morning.

Koirala is also scheduled to meet Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee later today.