Tripartite talks at 5 pm today

The government, the opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) and the agitated parties of United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) are holding talks at 5 pm today. According to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the three major political parties–ruling CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist, and the main opposition party –will hold a separate meeting prior to the talks this afternoon. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had cancelled the tripartite talks scheduled for Wednesday after he was informed that the agitating parties had assigned their second-rung leaders for the talks. Earlier on Thursday, though the three major political parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist could not make a common stance on the demands of agitating UDMF, they reached a conclusion that the demands of the Front could be resolved through a dialogue. The meeting of the major parties held at Baluwatar yesterday, however, had decided to table the Constituent Amendment Bill in the Parliament and were optimistic about reaching a deal with the alliance at the earliest. The UDMF has been protesting for more than three months in the Tarai demanding amendments in the newly adopted constitution including the issue of provincial boundaries. Source: The Kathmandu Post