Tripartite talks inconclusive

Posted by Anup Baral December 05, 2015 :

Talks among ruling parties, main opposition and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) held at Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar on Saturday night failed to make any headway to end the political deadlock. The ruling partners and the main opposition Nepali Congress have developed a three-point joint proposal in a bid to forge an agreement with the Madhes-centric agitating parties. The meeting of top leaders of the parties in the government and of NC held at the Prime Minister’s official residence Baluwatar agreed to take forward the constitution amendment proposal registered by the previous government in the parliament. The ruling parties have agreed to take the disputed matters on the demarcation of federal provinces to a political discourse and incorporate these in the constitution on the basis of political consensus. As per the agreement, a political committee will be formed to sort out the contentious issues within the next three months. The meeting decided to call on the agitating parties to withdraw their protests. Talking to media after the meeting, Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba said the major political parties have agreed on a proposal of carving out electoral constituency on the basis of population and on the issue of proportional inclusiveness. Similarly, CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa apprised the meeting about his recent India visit. Though the agitating Madhes-centric parties were supposed to sit for talks with the ruling parties and main opposition, they were unable to attend the meeting as they remained busy in the internal discussions.