Inter-party talks shelved till mid December

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Nov 30: Absence of the prime minister and top CPN-UML leaders in the coming weeks is going to affect inter-party talks, the scheduled work of the high-level taskforce on constitution-writing and the summoning of parliament.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is leaving for Cambodia on Tuesday, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal will fly to Johannesburg Wednesday and another top UML leader, KP Sharma Oli, has already left for Cambodia.

"Talks will take place after we return home," Khanal told Republica. The leaders including him are scheduled to return latest by December 10. The prime minister is leaving on a nearly two-week visit two days after leaders from the two largest parties-- UCPN (Maoist) and Nepali Congress (NC) -- urged Speaker Subas Nembang to summon a House session at the earliest. Second-rank leaders involved in inter-party talks said the top leaders´ foreign trips come at the wrong time since it was urgent to settle issues including government formation, summoning a parliament session to endorse the budget introduced through ordinance and expediting constitution-writing. "Foreign trips by the head of government himself and top leaders from the ruling party UML will certainly affect the talks and the scheduled work of the high-level taskforce on statute-drafting," said UCPN (Maoist) Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha. Summoning parliament has become essential for endorsing the ordinance budget through parliament and forming the government. There was an expectation that leaders would intensify talks after the gap of 10 days allocated for the Maoist plenum that concluded on Saturday. But a day after Maoist leaders arrived back in Kathmandu, leaders from the ruling party started leaving the capital. The leaders had earlier agreed to resume the work of the high-level taskforce from December 1. The taskforce, headed by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and with represention of top leaders of the major parties, had resolved around 40 contentious issues in the constitution-writing process. The extended deadline of the taskforce expires on December 11. "Summoning parliament has become quite urgent to form the government. Similarly, reaching an agreement on concluding the peace process has become equally pressing also since the term of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) is expiring on January 15," said a leader, preferring anonymity. "Leaders seem quite irresponsible in leaving on foreign junkets at such a crucial period."
Published on 2010-11-30 00:00:01