Though the talks held among top leaders of the major political forces were expected to reach an understanding on endorsing the constitution amendment bill, which is under discussion in parliament, and ending the ongoing crisis, the meeting resulted in disappointment.
Talks were held at the top level as discussions at the joint taskforce comprising members of the major political forces and the agitating Madhesi parties could not decide some contentious issues.
Discussions at the meeting on Thursday began on a positive note as the interlocutors found Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's opening statement encouraging.
But this positive environment couldn't last long, said participating leaders.
"The prime minister's statement at the outset of the talks made us feel optimistic but the discussions turned into heated exchanges in the end as the prime minister came across a little aggressively," Dilnath Giri, chief whip of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), told Republica.
According to Giri, the prime minister at the beginning said that he and his party were ready to find a common ground with a view to salvaging the country from the ongoing crisis, but despite this he [Oli] had reservations about various provisions proposed in the amendment bill.
"Later, leaders from the agitating parties became irked when the prime minister asked the dissident side if they were ready to own any of the proposals, registered by Nepali Congress lawmakers, to revise the amendment bill, and if they were ready to withdraw their protests," said Giri.
Discussions between the prime minister and Madhesi leaders then degenerated.
Bishnu Rimal, chief advisor to the prime minister, said however that the talks couldn't reach any conclusion as leaders from Madhesi parties couldn't give any specific answer to the prime minister's query about the solution.
According to Rimal, leaders from agitating parties had said at the beginning that they were positive toward the revision proposals registered by NC lawmakers, but later they said they were not ready to hold discussions on specific proposals.
Lawmakers from NC and other parties have registered altogether 24 revision proposals to the constitution amendment bill and these are under discussion in the House.
"The prime minister wanted to discuss which specific revision proposals could be agreeable for all," Rimal told Republica. "But the Madhesi leaders then said that they couldn't own the proposals registered by the NC lawmakers."
Ram Naresh Ray of Tarai-Madhes Sadbhavana Party, who was present at the meeting, held the prime minister resposible for "foiling the talks that were heading toward an agreement".
He accused the prime minister of being hell-bent on deceiving the Madhesi parties and leaving the problem unresolved.
According to the participants, at times the meeting saw heated exchanges even between NC leaders and the prime minister when the latter accused the NC of registering the amendment bill without consulting coalition partner CPN-UML, erstwhile major opposition UCPN (Maoist) and the agitating parties.
The constitution amendment bill was registered by the previous NC-led government.
NC Pesident Sushil Koirala gave a harsh reply to Oli, saying not every move made by other parties needed the consent of the UML.
UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal then proposed to discuss the matter among leaders from the big three parties first and convene another meeting to discuss things with the agitating parties.
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