Nepal parties allege foreign 'meddling', want polls deferred

The alliance of 33 fringe parties in Nepal led by the CPN-Maoist today alleged that some foreign missions were interfering in the country's internal affairs and appealed to the world community not to support the forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections.
The parties have claimed that foreign 'meddling' in Nepal's internal matters such as the electoral process and drafting of constitution, was 'weakening Nepal's sovereignty and democracy' and want the polls to be deferred.
The dissenting parties' call comes at a time when the CPN-Maoist has been invited by the government and the high level political committee for talks to resolve the prevailing political crisis in the country.

In a statement issued today on behalf of the 33 parties, CPN-Maoist Secretary Dev Prasad Gurung described some foreign envoys' public speeches and political parleys with Nepali stakeholders as "increasing diplomatic manoeuvring and interference in domestic affairs of Nepal".
The alliance, in its statement, without naming any country, criticised what it called "diplomatic endorsement" of recent "unconstitutional, illegal and anti-nationalist moves" such as formation of the current dispensation under the leadership of a chief justice and distribution of citizenship certificates to immigrants with an "ulterior motive to reduce Nepalis to minority".
Claiming that the upcoming elections will not solve Nepal's problems, the dissenting parties have said that it would rather invite a bigger national crisis as the polls were announced by "an unconstitutional government" without ensuring consensus among political parties.

"The election is not a solution and it will invite a bigger national crisis. The recent movements have weakened our national sovereignty," says the statement.
The parties have been demanding that the current Khil Raj Regmi-led dispensation be replaced with a political party-led government and the election scheduled for November 19 be deferred.
The CPN-Maoist, the breakaway faction of Unified CPN-Maoist, is leading the alliance and is also demanding an all-party round table conference for ending the political stalemate.