Big 3 give themselves a mid-Sept deadline
KATHMANDU, AUG 29 -
Three major political parties have finally given themselves a deadline to resolve the current stalemate. They said on Wednesday that they will go for fresh elections if disputes over the new constitution are not resolved by mid-September.However, top leaders of the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML agreed to make one last effort at reaching a compromise on state restructuring, the major bone of contention that led to the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly on May 27.
It is very likely that the parties could still opt for a CA revival in case of an agreement on “the fundamentals” of the new constitution within September 16. If the consensus effort fails, parties will abort the idea of CA reinstatement and go for fresh elections by forming a national unity government.
“We have set a deadline for resolving differences on core contents of the new constitution. If we fail to meet the deadline, we have agreed to go for fresh elections,” said UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. “I know striking a new agreement on constitutional issues is difficult, but I don’t think it is impossible,” he added. The three-party talks come in the light of growing constitutional crisis generated by the CA’s dissolution. This was the second round of talks in less than a week following three-months of blame game among the major parties.
During the two-hour talks on Wednesday, Dahal proposed two options—revival of the CA and holding fresh elections by forming a national unity government—to end the current deadlock. He also suggested the opposition parties come up with their roadmap so that a meeting point can be found.
NC President Sushil Koirala said his party was open to either CA revival or fresh polls. Consti-tutional issues that cannot be agreed upon at the political level can be referred for referendum, according to the NC president.The Maoist-led government is pressing for fresh CA polls, while the NC and the UML are in favour of electing a legislative body that will also assume the responsibility of constitution writing “for a brief duration.”
The three parties will prepare the first draft of the constitution and revive the CA, given that they reach an understanding on state restructuring. They plan to garner political support by conducting all-party meetings and will reach out to President Ram Baran Yadav and the Supreme Court to take them into confidence.
If efforts to strike accord on constitutional issues fail, the parties will discuss ways to conduct fresh elections and form a national unity government. They will hold talks to determine the size and mandate of the body to be elected, the process of constitution amendment and date of elections. UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said parties have set a deadline of Sept 16 to end the stalemate. He said the ruling parties should exhibit more flexibility to lessen the level of trust deficit. Major parties are also not in cohesion over the candidate to lead the unity government that will replace Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.
If there is no agreement on contentious issues of constitution making, the Maoists are planning to offer the premiership to a non-partisan civil society member. Dahal said parties should take a decision on the ‘alternative’ if there is no agreement on the candidate to lead a unity government. Leaders also discussed formation of a taskforce so that a common proposal can be prepared.
Posted on: 2012-08-30 09:05
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She’s an actress....Had approached for acting lessons...they took her in their party!
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