Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Friday yet again invited the Opposition parties for negotiations to find a consensus on the contentious issues of the new Constitution.
“I specially ask the leadership of UCPN-Maoist and the Madhes-based parties that are heading for protest to come for dialogue to explore a consensus on the remaining issues of the Constitution by remaining committed to national unity, consensus, coordination and reconciliation,” the Prime Minister said in a special message on the occasion of completion of his first year in office. Mr. Koirala took oath of office on February 12, 2014, two days after being elected.
“The liberal democracy that we committed to in the past agreement would inspire us,” he added. “Once our effort and understanding to draft the Constitution through consensus takes shape, the relevance of other processes will automatically vanish.”
This is the second formal call from the Prime Minister in about two weeks. On February 8, he invited the Opposition alliance of UCPN (Maoist) and the Madhesi Morcha and smaller parties for talks. The alliance has boycotted the Constituent Assembly and announced a series of protest programmes. The Opposition rejected the previous call, terming it “vague” .
The government has initiated the process of settling disputes through voting in the CA, a step severely criticised by the Opposition. The ruling parties have more than the required two-thirds majority in the Assembly to endorse the statute. However, the process has been put on hold after the UCPN (Maoist) requested the Prime Minister and CPN-UML chief K.P. Oli.
