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Maoist
leader expresses commitment to press freedom
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FNJ
News, 30 June 2006
Maoist
chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, has expressed Maoists' commitment
towards press freedom, multiparty democracy and human rights.
Addressing
an interaction organized by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ)
in the capital on Thursday (29th June 2006), the Maoist supreme leader
said that the development of the Nepalese media after 1990 has been positive.
He also said that the Nepalese press has been victimized by the government.
He emphasized that the constituent assembly is also a process to make the
press sovereign. He further added that press freedom will be protected
and preserved in the interim constitution as well.
He
also stated that the restructuring of the state also means the restructuring
of the media and they are committed to institutionalizing the right to
criticize. Confessing the mistakes that have been committed during the
conflict period, he assured that immediate directives have been issued
to stop violations of media rights by Maoists in districts.
"We
can place the armed forces of both sides under a single command when an
interim government is formed according to the new interim constitution,"
he said. He also proposed that the prime minister should be the commander-in-chief
of the joint command.
The
rebel leader also said contentious issues like people's courts, Maoists'
local governments, and the display of arms by the rebel army will be settled
once the interim government is in place. "If we give up our stance on these
issues, we will have no bargaining cards." He also admitted that "some
mistakes" have been committed by rebel cadre at the local level.
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