The Maoists have been disrupting House meetings to protest what they call the “extra-constitutional” move by President Ram Baran Yadav to reinstate Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal on May 3, overturning the Maoist-led government´s decision to sack him.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal held a meeting with Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior NC leaders Monday morning, and he again met the Maoist top brass in the evening at Singha Durbar to end the impasse.
“The talks with the UML and the NC are moving ahead in a positive direction. All of us have concentrated on resuming house business by tomorrow,” said Dahal after a meeting with the prime minister in the evening. The two parties will also hold a meeting Tuesday morning.
The Maoists have demanded that the prime minister in his speech to parliament include the issue of the President´s move and that would pave the way for House resumption.
“We are close to striking a deal on the House. We hope to reach an agreement at the meeting tomorrow morning, without violating the existing legal provisions ,” said the prime minister´s political advisor Raghuji Pant who also participated in the meeting. According to him, the political parties will try their best to find a middle path to end the deadlock.
Previously, Prime Minister Nepal had met Chairman Dahal at Godavari on June 21 and they agreed in principal to resume the house. The UML had stated that the party would consult other political parties on the Maoist demand and find a solution within a month, while the UCPN (Maoist) had argued that the prime minister´s speech in parliament, which was scheduled for June 23 but deferred due to the House obstructions, should uphold “civilian supremacy”.
The initiatives led nowhere after the NC pulled out of talks with the UML saying that they did not want the issue of the President to enter the House as the Speaker had already rejected it.
The Nepali Congress has stated that the UML and the Maoists should settle the issue themselves. “We will give our approval if we find the agreement acceptable and say so if it is not,” said NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel after holding talks with the UML and the Maoists on Monday morning.
The winter session, which is also known as the bills session, generally lasts for one to one-and-half months, but the ongoing session has continued for nearly three months, perhaps the longest in the country´s history, thanks to continued disruptions by the major political parties turn by turn. The disruption has not only affected normal House business, but also its prorogation, affecting the date for the budget session that normally starts by the beginning of July.
Presenting the government´s programs and policies as well as the budget for the new fiscal year will be seriously affected if the ongoing winter session is not prorogued immediately, and the budge session summoned. According to parliamentary officials, the UML-led government has failed to take the opposition UCPN (Maoist) into confidence for House resumption.
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