Fresh elections to CA in Nepal on Nov 22

Immediately after the meeting the Prime Minister went to the Rastrapati Bhawan and conveyed the decision of the cabinet recommending for the fresh election date of November 22.

"We had completed the army integration process by taking a big risk and tried to forge consensus but the peace and the constitution drafting process could not move forward", Prime Minister Bhattarai said in an address to the nation.

The Prime Minister indirectly blamed the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML for "not cooperating with the government`s move to draft the constitution based on the principle of federal structure" and justified his step to announce the Constituent Assembly election in the televised address.

Nepali Congress has raised strong objection to the Prime Minister`s announcement of fresh election without consulting other major political parties.

"This is conspiracy and we will expose the move," said Nepali Congress vice president Ramchandra Poudyal.

"The Prime Minister`s move was totally against the constitutional provision and also illegal," he said.

"We have proposed to convert the Constituent Assembly to function as Parliament so that it could complete task of drafting the constitution, but the Prime Minister unilaterally announced the election which is totally against the law," he said. .

However, Sadbhawana Party President Rajendra Mahato blamed the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML for failure to draft the Constitution saying that both the parties had blocked the promulgation of the constitution with the provision of federal structure.

Bhattarai also claimed that all the executive powers now rest upon himself and the cabinet headed by him and the present government itself will hold the election.

Prime Minister Bhattarai said that he was compelled to announce the fresh election to the Constituent Assembly as the statu-quo forces did not let them to fulfill the aspirations and wishes of the marginalised, backward and the exploited people who wanted total change in the society.

He said that some political parties (Nepali Congress and CPN-UML) did not allow institutionalisation of the changes brought about through the Peoples Movement of 2006 and obstructed the move to promulgate the constitution based on the principle of federal republic.

Top Nepalese leaders were unable to find a way out to end the political crisis with sharp divisions on contentious issues of Constitution drafting including ethnicity based federal structure.

The Maoists and the Madhesi Front were in favour of a singular ethnicity based federal structure while the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML were in favour of multi-ethnicity based federal structure to be incorporated in the new Constitution. .

"Now it is not possible to draft the new constitution from the Constituent Assembly," Maoist chief Prachanda told journalists earlier as he emerged from a crucial meeting at Singhdurbar secretariat.

Sunday`s decision was taken after top leaders of the major political parties held consultations with the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly to discuss possible ways to avert the crisis after efforts to draft the Constitution failed.

The Constituent Assembly election held on April 2008 had elected 601 members to a two-year term for drafting a new constitution. Its tenure has been extended four times.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a three-month extension proposed by the cabinet and asked political parties to complete it within tonight`s deadline.

Meanwhile earlier today, half a dozen people including three policemen were injured when the various ethnic groups staging sit-in in front of the Constituent Assembly hall at Naya Baneshwor area demanding timely promulgation of the constitution clashed with the police in the evening, according to the police.

Security has been stepped up in and around the capital to prevent any untoward incident. The government has mobilised some over 10,000 security personnel in the capital and the army is also kept on alert, according to officials.