Maoist ministers warn to quit govt.

Rejecting a recent change of their personal security personnel, CPN-Maoist ministers have warned to quit the interim government on Monday.

Addressing a press conference at the parliamentary party office at Singha Durbar, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, the government's spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications said, “We are thinking seriously whether we should continue in the government or not after seeing a series of conspiracies, the latest being deployment of troops trained at the Bhairabnath Battalion."

Mahara said the Maoists have taken the replacement of existing security personnel with troops from Bhairabnath Battalion as a matter of grave concern.

"We are seeking a response from Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on whether it was the Defense Ministry that decided to send the new personnel without informing us or the army did so itself, seeking a role in politics,' said Mahara.

Mahara claimed that the replacement of the security personnel without Maoist consent and consolidation, promotions and transfers of Nepal Army (NA) personnel were in violation of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) and the interim constitution.

Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Matrika Yadav, who was also present in the press meeting said that the prime minister's visit to army headquarters followed by unilateral replacement of security personnel for the Maoist ministers has raised a serious question whether the PM mobilizes the army or the army mobilizes the PM.

Yadav claimed that the home minister also was not informed about changes in the security arrangement.

Issuing a press statement, all five Maoist ministers have also demanded dissolution of the ranger force, action against those found guilty of disappearing 49 citizens in Bhairabnath Battalion and implementation of a parliamentary committee report on the murder of MP Hem Narayan Yadav.

They have claimed that the deployment of troops trained to fight the communists and suppress the people's war has created suspicion that the army is plotting to obstruct the upcoming constituent assembly (CA) polls.

On Sunday, the NA had changed the personnel that it had sent for the personal security of the Maoist ministers. However, the Maoist ministers had rejected the change of security personnel.

Meanwhile, the NA headquarters said the deployed army personnel were from Singha Nath battalion based in Tokha, not from the Bhairavnath Battalion or ranger force, like it has been reported.

NA also said change of the personal security personnel was a regular process. Army personnel deployed for security of the important personalities are changed every two months with notification to home and defence ministries, said a press statement issued by the Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) of the NA.