POLL PREPARATIONS COMPLETE SAYS GOVT. Kathmandu, 24 June: : The government said it has created a conducive atmosphere for elections to the Constituent Assembly by formulating electoral laws, announcing the election date and forming the constituency delimitation commission, RSS reports.. Government Spokesman and Minister for Information and Communications, Madhav Prasad Poudel, said this at a press conference organised to inform about the government’s activities and achievements after 100 days of its formation. Stating that the government was formed under special circumstances with the sole aim of holding CA elections, spokesman Poudel, however, said despite some achievements on good governance and efforts made to end the political impasse, the government was not fully content with what it has done so far. “The task of the present government is to hold elections as soon as possible, and so far important achievements have been made in the field of good governance and in the efforts to find a way out of the political deadlock,” Minister Poudel said. The Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi-led government was formed on March 14 as per a 11-point agreement reached between the four major political forces, the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the United Democratic Madhesi Front. nnnn CPN MAOIST DETERMINED TO SCUTTLE 19 NOV.POLLS Kathmandu, 24 June: Backed by at least 32 parties, CPN-Maoist is determined to scuttle the Constituent Assembly election scheduled for November 19, Tika R.. Pradhan writes in the Himalayan Times.. CA election announced by the government has been on the agenda of the ongoing politburo meeting of the party that began on Friday. The leaders want to sabotage the election, claiming that CA would not be able to draft a pro-people constitution and will serve the interest of foreign power centres, and not the Nepali people. The leaders of CPN-M have claimed that the election cannot happen ignoring the opposition of so many parties. Senior party leader Khadka Bahadur Biswokarma said the CA polls will top the agenda even during the central committee meeting scheduled to begin in Pokhara on June 29. Party Secretary Dev Gurung said nobody would go to vote if the parties tried to hold election deploying the Nepali army. Asked whether they could bear the pressure from the international community, a senior CPN-M leader Hari Bhakta Kandel said his party leaders had already convinced the diplomats why CPN-M and 32 other parties could not join the election. The CC meeting of the party is expected to come up with a concrete action plan to ensure that the election was not held on the date announced by the government. The Himalayan Times Adds: he CPN-Maoist has been advocating opposition to the Constituent Assembly election scheduled for November 19. But why are they not ready to be a part of the poll process? According to party secretary Dev Prasad Gurung, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai began cornering the Mohan Baidhya-led group when the party was unified. “Party began isolating us and that continued till the party split,” he said. He said the CA was dissolved after Bhattarai refused to present the proposal that the remaining tasks of CA will be completed by legislative parliament, as he wanted his government to remain intact. After the CA was dissolved, the major parties, as well as the President, began ignoring CPN-M and it was not included in the negotiation process. “The President and the four major parties also rejected its suggestion to go for a political leader to head the election government,” Gurung said. Only after they decided not to register in the Election Commission did President Ram Baran Yadav call them for a dialogue. Even the major parties excluded them from the HLPC kept ignoring its demand to hold an all-sector round table conference to find a way out. nnnn :. FSP REFUSES TO JOIN GOVT. OR HLPM . Kathmandu, 24 June: Coordinator of the High Level Political Committee Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar held talks with Ashok Kumar Rai-led Federal Socialist Party to woo the latter to join the Constituent Assembly poll process, The Himalayan Times reports.. Gachhadar told FSP leaders that the four-party mechanism was ready to induct their party in the mechanism and their nominees in the Khil Raj Regmi’s Cabinet, said FSP’s General Secretary Rajendra Shrestha. Gachhadar’s offer, however, failed to FSP. Shrestha, FSP Chairman Rai and Organisation Department Chief Rakam Chemjong held talks with Gachhadar. Shrestha said Gachhadar urged the FSP to join the poll process, saying polls should be held at any cost or else the state’s failure to hold polls could invite disaster. “Sharing power is not our demand. Our main concern is that the 25-point presidential order should be replaced and 60 per cent seats in the new CA should be through proportional representation,” he added. Shrestha said there was nothing in their charter of demands that the government or the major stakeholders could not address. The FSP has also sought to revoke HLPC and provide voting rights to the Nepali migrant workers. Shrestha said his party was committed to the CA poll but wanted their demands addressed before they could join the poll process. “We are committed to electoral politics and we have already registered our party with the Election Commission,” Shrestha said. The FSP, along with CPN-M and Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Nepal, is steering a joint movement against the poll process and the government. According to Shrestha, Gachhadar said the Nepali Congress was positive about the review of PR ratio and they would discuss the issue with the CPN-UML. Shrestha said UML had no reason to oppose the 60:40 PR/FPTP ratio, as it won 70 seats under the proportional representation system and only 33 seats under first-past-the-post system. He added that three million Nepalis were working in foreign countries and it was important to enable them to vote in the upcoming elections. nnnn