By NNN-Nepal News
Kathmandu : A meeting of the top leaders of the seven political parties held in Baluwatar Wednesday evening ended inconclusively.
Leaders were engaged in bilateral and multilateral parleys, but could not arrive at a consensus on the two main demands of the Maoists – fully proportional representation-based election system and announcement of republic from the interim parliament.
The meeting will resume in Baluwatar at 9 am Thursday.
According to Hridayesh Tripathi, a Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi) leader, there was intense debate on the issues raised by the Maoists, but no formal discussion took place today. “Leaders put their views on the issues of election system and republic, but there was no conclusion on any of the issues,” he told reporters after the meeting.
The NSP leader hinted at the possibility of postponement of the Nov 22 election, saying, “My observation is that things are moving towards a situation whereby postponement of election is compulsory. I feel most leaders want a postponement,” he said.
“Agreement or no agreement on the Maoist demand for proportional system, postponement of election seems very likely. Changing the election pattern will obviously require amendment in the election law, which takes time,” he added.
CPN (Marxist Leninist) general secretary C.P Mainali revealed that “some leaders” had proposed to postpone the polls. He, however, didn’t name the leaders who made the proposal.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had held separate meetings with Maoist chairman Prachanda and UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Koirala is learnt to have told Prachanda that he was not ready to go for fully proportional election system.
Meanwhile, the Maoist side has reportedly offered to give up its demand for proportional system if Koirala, who heads the Nepali Congress, becomes ready to announce republic from the parliament.
Chances of agreement on the latest Maoist proposal look slim as the most of the NC central working committee members whom PM Koirala consulted with this afternoon opposed both the demands of the Maoists, sources said.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokharel has warned the parties against postponing the election for another time.
Speaking at the Reporters club on Wednesday, Pokharel suggested that the parties reach an understanding by this evening if they wish to hold the elections on the scheduled date.
Alluding to the Maoist demanded for fully proportional electoral system, Pokharel said that change in electoral system would require amendment in laws and the amendment process would take time, which may lead to postponement of the polls.
Reiterating that the polls should not be postponed, Pokharel said the polls date was fixed by the parties and that they must stick to their decisions.
He also questioned the credibility of election if it is postponed again. He, however, expressed confidence that the parties would take a decision according to the sentiments of the people.
Pokharel also drew the attention of the government and the parties over the deteriorating security situation in Terai.
The commission had postponed the date of the polls for five days on the request of the seven parties seeking time to find consensus on the deadlock.
In a related development, the envoys of three very influential countries met Koirala Tuesday and advised him against postponing the election.
US ambassador Nancy J. Powell, Indian ambassador Shiva Shanker Mukherjee and Chinese envoy Zheng Xianlin held separate meetings with Koirala and conveyed this message.
According to Baluwatar sources, they also warned that if the election is not held on the scheduled date then it would be “very counterproductive for the country”.
Taking a strong exception to the pre-conditions the Maoists have put forth for holding the election, they said that the seven parties should further consolidate their unity and do what is needed to hold the election on the scheduled date.