KATHMANDU, Feb 11: Arguing that UCPN (Maoist) has still not brought any serious proposal concerning the formation of a new government to hold election, two main opposition parties -- Nepali Congress and CPN-UML -- have decided to hold ´decisive talks´ with the ruling Maoist party on Monday.
A meeting of the two parties held at the UML headquarters in Balkhu also decided to intensify anti-government protests if the Maoist party was not sincere enough to step down from power for the formation of national consensus government to hold polls by May-end. NC and UML are scheduled to hold talks with the Maoist party on Monday.
Talking to Republica, UML leader Raghuji Panta said the two-party meeting reviewed the talks held so far with the ruling Maoists and also decided to hold ´decisive talks´ with them to know whether they are really willing to form a new government to go for fresh election. "Maoists have been floating several proposals. It has been difficult to ascertain whether whether they are really serious about forging consensus," he said.
The meeting has decided to ask the Maoists to bring one "concrete" proposal for the formation of new national consensus government as Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that formation of new government under chief justice is one of their several proposals. "What do we discuss with them now?" he asked.
The meeting had pointed out the need to ask both Chairman Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to bring a concrete proposal for negotiations. "The Maoist strategy so far seems to be to avoid election by bringing up the issue of election. We discussed this seriously," said NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula.
According to Sitaula, the meeting has given NC President Sushil Koirala and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal the authority to decide on whether to accept the Maoist proposal. The meeting also decided to maintain maximum flexibility for forming consensus government for holding CA election at any cost by May-end.
The opposition alliance led by NC and UML, which concluded the first phase of 20-day-long anti-government protests on Friday, is all set to unveil second phase of protest if consensus efforts fail.
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