Kathmandu - Nepal's Prime Minister, Mr Sher Bahadur Deuba, yesterday rejected a demand by Maoist insurgents to convene a "constituent assembly" of all parties including the rebels. "It is not proper to talk about calling a constituent assembly to adopt a new constitution by replacing the 1990 constitution of the country," Mr Deuba told a seminar marking the adoption of Nepal's constitution.
Mr Deuba's comments come a day after Maoist rebels said they would "defer" their key demand that Nepal's constitutional monarchy be scrapped.
The popularity of the monarchy soared after it shed its absolute powers to become a constitutional monarchy in 1990. But the rebels from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) said the traditional monarchy had ended with the massacre in June of King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family.
The government, which held two rounds of talks earlier this year to end a revolt that has killed more than 1,800 people across the impoverished nation, has consistently rejected the rebels' demand for an end to the monarchy.