RNA is under government's control: Minister Nidhi
A day after Maoist supremo asked a series of questions including the control mechanism of the armed forces in the country, a senior member of the government said the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) is very much under the control of the government.
"I would like to assure the Maoists that there was no dispute regarding the RNA. It is fully under the control of the government as per the constitutional provisions," Minister of Education and Sports, Bimalendra Nidhi, said at a meeting in his hometown Janakpur.
Article 118 of the constitution of the kingdom of Nepal, 1990, has a provision of a three-member National Security Council led by Prime Minister.
Then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had resigned from his post in July 2001 after the army reportedly refused to pursue the Maoist rebels who had abducted dozens of policemen from Holeri in the mid-western district of Rolpa.
The army was mobilize in counter-insurgency operations only after the state of emergency was declared in November 2001.
Minister Nidhi said Saturday that the appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister had already answered Maoists queries. He also termed Maoists' questions as meaningless, reports said.