‘Armed’ Maoist MP growls at parliament BY YUVRAJ ACHARYA KATHMANDU, Feb 27 - Even after serious controversy over the Maoist practice of entering parliament with pistols, a Maoist member in the Interim Legislature on Monday said he still has a weapon and challenged other lawmakers to take action against him for possessing it. Putting his right hand on his waist, Maoist Central Committee member and member of the Interim parliament Lokendra Bista said, "I have my weapon here, with me." He immediately pulled his hand from the waist and said, "I had the weapon registered with the UN and brought it here. I have kept it there (in the party's parliamentary office in another building)." In a meeting at the parliament secretariat, he also challenged anybody to arrest him. "If you have the capacity to take action for my rough remarks, you can arrest me," Bista said. As he started using abusive words, Speaker Subas Nembang had to intervene. Nembang asked Bista to take into consideration that there were other lawmakers around him. He was furious that the weapon kept for his security was caught at the Singha Durbar entrance on February 15. He also accused the government of neglecting the problems faced by Maoist combatants in the camps. Lawmakers from most parties represented in parliament, and Home Minister Krishna Sitaula were discussing the problem of managing Maoist cantonment sites at the time. None of the members protested Bista's remarks, and instead Home Minister Sitaula came forward and apologized. "Whoever commits a mistake, as the convener of the government's peace negotiating team, I apologize for everything," Sitaula said. He said it is time for all to join hands to make the Constituent Assembly elections a success despite past hostilities among parties. "Our destiny is common, as we are traveling in the same boat. We will sink together if there is a hole in its bottom," Sitaula said. Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara defended Bista, saying, "He (Bista) meant he came here after registering his weapon with the UN. It was just a tongue-slip." Talking to journalists after the meeting, Mahara said it will take time for Maoists to transform themselves, and this includes the use of proper language. "But in essence, it was the present reality that Bista spoke of irrespective of the language he used," said Mahara.