Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had personally called Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leaders over the phone Wednesday morning to inform them about the postponement of the meeting in view of the transport strike called by various 13 student unions against the recent hike in fuel prices.[break]
“We were informed about the postponement of the meeting in the morning. The next meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday morning,” said NC Vice-president and parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel.
A three-party meeting held on Monday at the residence of Paudel had agreed to sit for yet another round of talks on Wednesday. The two opposition parties -- NC and CPN-UML -- had asked the Maoists to first withdraw the decision to legalize conflict-time land transactions carried out by the then Maoist ´people´s government´ for ´meaningful´ dialogue.
The Maoists were supposed to hold talks with the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) on the issue before sitting for another round of talks with the NC and the UML.
Sources said the three-party meeting was also put off as the Maoists were yet to hold a meeting with UDMF leaders. The Maoists held talks with the UDMF Wednesday evening.
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