Political parties in Nepal intensify talks to defuse deadlock

Kathmandu, Oct 25 (UNI) Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala held talks with the leaders of other political parties to break the existing logjam and reach a consensus in the run-up to the Special Session of the Interim Parliament.

Peoples Front Nepal (PFN) Chairman Amik Serchan informed newspersons after the meeting that he proposed a new alternative to end the stalemate.

''Let's declare the country a republic through the special House session and empty the Narayanhity Royal Palace,'' The PFN leader was quoted as saying by kantipur.

''But, we can work out the implementation aspect of the declaration of a republic. This could be a meeting point,'' he said, adding that PM Koirala was positive about the new proposal, and has agreed to hold further discussion on the matter.

Mr Sherchan, however, said the Prime Minister did not want to budge an inch from his stance on ''a mixed electoral system''.

Yesterday, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal held separate meetings with Mr Koirala and CPN-Maoist Chairman Prachanda and requested both the leaders to take timely initiative for resolving the prevailing political crisis by giving up their respective stances.

Nepali Congress has outright rejected the Maoist demand of PR system, one of the stumbling blocks that resulted in the indefinite postponement of the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls.

However, the parties seem to have reached a consensus on passing a commitment motion on a republic through the House instead of declaring the country a republic ahead of the CA elections as demanded by the Maoists.

The decision would be formalized through the first session of the elected CA, according to party sources.

UNI