A group of second-rung leaders of the Maoist party, which heads the agitating 30-party opposition alliance, held talks with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala as well as other leaders from the ruling Nepali Congress(NC), at Baluwatar on Wednesday morning.
The Maoist team comprising Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Barsha Man Pun and Shakti Basnet conveyed to the NC leaders that they are in favor of settling the disputed issues of the new statute through consensus before the next CA meeting convenes on April 13. They maintained that the decision of the ruling parties to put off the CA meeting till April 13 had created a 'new environment of trust.'
"We decided to put off our protest planned for Wednesday and Thursday in response to the positive gesture of the ruling parties to postpone the CA meeting till April 13. We have initiated talks with an intention to forge consensus before the CA meeting on April 13," Maoist General Secretary Mahara told Media persons after the meeting.
NC Joint General Secretary Purna Bahadur Khadka, who was presnt on the occasion, said the talks with the Maoists Wednesday had ended the mistrust, suspicions and bitterness existing between the ruling and opposition parties since nearly three and a half months ago. "The Maoists were convinced that the NC and the UML did not want to leave them behind in the constitution-drafting process. If we continue with negotiations the same way as today I am hopeful we can reach a consensus before the CA meeting on April 13," said Khadka.
The NC, UML and Maoist leaders have reached an understanding to hold informal bilateral and trilateral talks among themselves and with the Madhes-based parties over the next few days. Party insiders said discussions are underway on several options for resolving the disputes seen over the eastern plains districts of Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa and for the preparation of a draft statute incorporating all the suggestions from different parties.
NC and the UML have proposed keeping the number of federal states down to six, with a provision for settling details concrning boundaries and the names of the federal provinces later on through local referendums or through discussions with local stakeholders. Sources said the Maoists have also agreed to the NC-UML proposal to prepare a draft of the new statute incorporating the different suggestions that have cropped up for resolving the disputed issues.
Although the Maoists maintained in public that they decided to cut short their planned general strike in response to the positive gesture from the ruling parties in putting off the CA meeting till April 13 and despite strong reservations on the part of constituent parties of the opposition alliance, party insiders said the decision was taken in view of the backlash from the general public, the lesser number of party cadres that took to the streets to enforce the strike, and some unknown elements apparently out to incite violence in the course of the strike.
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