Spokesperson: Nepali gov't decides to sack army chief

KATHMANDU, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Nepali government has decided to sack Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) Rookmangud Katawal, a governmental spokesperson said Sunday.

Nepali Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara, also the spokesperson of the Nepali government, made the announcement to the media people at Prime Minister Prachanda's official residence in Nepali capital Kathmandu after a cabinet meeting.

Earlier, other coalition parties, disagreeing with the stance of the ruling party, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)(UCPN-M), boycotted the decision and the cabinet meeting.

According to local news website THT Online, UCPN-M's largest coalition partner in the government, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML), the Communist Party of Nepal (United) and Sadbhawana Party boycotted the cabinet meeting while Madhesi People's Rights Forum wrote a note of dissent.

However, Mahara claimed that all ruling political parties except the CPN-UML supported the government decision.

Minister Mahara is also a senior leader of the UCPN-M.

Mahara also declared that the government has appointed second-in-command Kul Bahadur Khadka as the acting CoAS.

Nepali Prime Minister Prachanda met with Katawal and Kul Bahadur Khadka separately first, then jointly, on Sunday morning before the cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister Prachanda has gone to meet President Ram Baran Yadav with the cabinet decision. The decision will come into effect only after the approval of the President.

Local news website Nepalnews.com reported that UCPN-M's largest coalition partner in the government, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and the main opposition Nepali Congress, the second largest party in the CA have initiated exercise to make a new coalition.

A standing committee meeting of the CPN-UML has begun on Sunday in party headquarters in Kathmandu to discuss the party's strategy in the latest political developments.

Nepali Congress has called an all-party meeting on Sunday afternoon.

The Defense Ministry, led by another senior leader of the UCPN-M Ram Bahadur Thapa, seeking clarifications from Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal on April 20 -- accusing him of defying a series of government orders -- has invited flaks from different quarters.

The UCPN-M emerged from the Constituent Assembly elections in April 2008 as the single largest party and led the formation of the first republic government in August 2008.

Ahead of that, the formerly Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led by Prachanda signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord with the then government in November, 2006, ending the decade civil war in Nepal. link...