Prez will not set next consensus deadline

KATHMANDU, DEC 24 -

A day before his India visit, President Ram Baran Yadav said his efforts to prepare the ground for a national unity government will continue.

His statement is indicative of a renewed call for the parties to stitch together a political deal so as to bail the country out of the present political quagmire within the deadline. The President is disgruntled with the UCPN (Maoist), the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha as they have repeatedly failed to pick a prime ministerial candidate.

With the major parties’ failure to strike a deal despite five extensions of the deadline, the President has invited all parties represented in the erstwhile Constituent Assembly (CA) to Sheetal Niwas on Monday to inform them about his new initiative.

“The process of forming a national unity government as per the Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution will continue. The President, however, will not  immediately set any deadline,” said Yadav’s Press Advisor Rajendra Dahal. The President will request the parties for a roadmap to end the deadlock, said Dahal.

Sheetal Niwas believes that divergent opinions held by leaders would eventually bring parties together to agree a deal on a nonpartisan government.

Though UCPN (M) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had earlier proposed an election government headed by a ‘neutral candidate’, top leaders of his party, NC and UML are now against such a proposal, said an NC leader. 

The head of state held joint talks with the top leaders of the three major parties on Sunday afternoon and had a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai in the evening. In the two-hour discussion, the leaders told the President that they would reach an agreement by Monday afternoon. The President does not ‘believe’ in the parties’ claim, but he wished them best of luck with their efforts, said his advisor. The head of state reportedly told the leaders that he was ready to shorten or withdraw his six-day visit to India if the parties want him to do so. “The proposed visit schedule is intact,” said Dahal.

Source: The Kathmandu Post