Prez for wholesale deal for poll’s sake

KATHMANDU, SEP 01 -
President Ram Baran Yadav has asked the parties to take a broader political view while suggesting the removal of constitutional difficulties by first reaching an agreement with all the poll-opposing parties.

The head of state said this in a meeting leaders representing the High-level Political Committee (HLPC) on Saturday.

The cross-party mechanism separately handed over the copies of the agreement it had made with the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Democratic Front (FDF) to President Yadav and Interim Election Government Chairman Khil Raj Regmi, urging them to remove the constitutional difficulties once again.

“He [the President] was of the view that it would be better if an agreement was made also with the Ashok Rai-led party, rather than adopting a piecemeal

approach to remove constitutional difficulties,” said Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik (MJF-L) Senior Vice-chairman Rameshwor Raya Yadav.

The Rai-led Federal Socialist Party Nepal has demanded that the strength of the new Constituent Assembly should be 601 members. But CPN-UML leaders maintain that any decision to that effect should take place only after the party’s ongoing Central Committee meeting. According to Yadav of MJF-L, UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal reiterated the party’s position in the meeting with both President Yadav and Chairman Regmi.

The leaders also apprised the heads of state and government of Rai’s proposal for an all-party conference. President Yadav told the visiting leaders that any move should be taken quickly as further delay would affect the election schedule.

The head of state also reminded the parties that many stated tasks following the removal of constitutional difficulties to form the incumbent government are yet to be accomplished. “The President drew the parties’ attention towards the fact that while appointments to some constitutional bodies have taken place, several positions still remain vacant,” said President’s Press Advisor Rajendra Dahal.

As per the agreement signed on August 15, which brought the Upendra Yadav-led front on board the election process, the number of Constituent Assembly seats will go up to 585 from the 491 agreed earlier. Of the 585 members, 240 will be elected through the first-past-the-post system while the remaining 335 will be selected under the proportional representation system. Ten members will be nominated by the Cabinet.

Following the agreement, another presidential order for removing the constitutional difficulties will be required. The HLPC on Friday decided to ask both the heads of state and government to initiate the process to formalise the agreement. The cross-party mechanism took the decision after leaders representing the FDF threatened to boycott the HLPC meeting unless the agreement was formalised. Other political calculations also prompted the move. “In the absence of legal endorsement of the decision, a wrong message on the HLPC intent would circulate,” said UCPN (Maoist) leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha.

President Yadav and Chairman Regmi also urged the leaders to reach a deal with the agitating 33-party alliance led by the CPN-Maoist at the earliest. Leaders say that they will exercise “maximum flexibility” if the poll-opposing parties agree to join the November 19 election and that informal talks are ongoing with the party towards that end. But leaders privy to the negotiations maintain that they have not seen substantial changes in the official position of the CPN-Maoist from that of changing the poll date and replacing the incumbent government.

The HLPC meeting on Friday reiterated that the door for dialogue with the poll-opposing parties was not shut. The HLPC and the 33-party alliance have not held formal dialogue since talks foundered last Saturday.

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