KATHMANDU, Sept 27: Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and Chairman of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal met at the former residence at Maharajgunj in the capital, Sunday and agreed to hold further talks to end political deadlock once CPN-UML chief returns.
The CPN-UML Chairman, Jhala Nath Khanal, is out of the country at present. [break]
Dahal reached Koirala residence in the afternoon. Coming out of the meeting, Dahal told the waiting mediapersons that the parties are "closer" to reaching an agreement.
"We agreed to take the peace process to its positive conclusion and write the constitution in the stipulated time," the Maoist chief said.
The top leaders of the three parties -- the Maoist, the NC and the UML -- would meet and will find a solution.
The two leaders, it appeared, had praises for each other after months of bickering. Earlier in the day, Koirala told reporters in Biratnagar that since Dahal was
"serious" in finding a solution, it was possible to end the deadlock.
Dahal paid back the compliment in the capital.
Dahal said he found Koirala in a very "confident" and "upbeat" mood and added that the solution to political crisis was possible since the NC president has been speaking positively in recent times. The Maoist chairman also said that the NC president said that all Nepalis should come together to find a solution since the problem was between the Nepalis.
"He said the foreign friends would support us if we Nepalis come together," Dahal further said. "I fully support his sentiment."
The relation between the Maoists and the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML has deteriorated sharply soon after Dahal resigned after President Dr Ram Baran Yadav blocked the Maoist government´s move to sack the last army chief, Rookmangud Katawal. The Maoists and a couple of other parties termed the president´s move "unconstitutional" while NC, UML and 16 other parties backed it.
The Maoists have, since then, launched a series of protests, both in the parliament (which stands disrupted) and the streets, demanding that their resolution motion against the president be discussed in the House.
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