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High-level Nepal gov't-rebels talks postponed

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Sept 28, IRNA
Nepal-Maoist-Talks
High-level talks between Nepal's seven- party alliance (SPA) government and the Maoists supposed to be held on Thursday has been postponed for another day after the SPA failed to come to a conclusion on prickly political issues.

SPA leaders were busy in hectic informal meetings Wednesday but could not finalize the political agendas for the "summit talks" with the rebels scheduled to be held in the capital today, Kantipur Daily reported.

"We are still working on the agendas to be presented during the high-level talks to be held between top SPA and Maoists leaders so Thursday's planned talks is likely to be postponed," said a member of the government talks team who declined to be named.

A meeting of the SPA three days ago had decided to hold the talks today.

The government and the Maoists are yet to reach a consensus on political issues including the position of the monarchy, an interim legislature, interim government and modalities of constituent assembly elections whose representatives elected by the people will rewrite the country's constitution for the first time.

However, there remain differences among the SPA and the Maoists on the primary issue of the king's role in the interim period.

The Maoists and CPN-UML, the second largest party in the ruling alliance, want a referendum deciding the future of the monarchy, while the Nepali Congress says the present position of the king, who is apparently powerless, should be kept until the constituent assembly elections, which will decide the fate of the monarchy.

"Some political parties want a referendum on the future of the monarchy before the constituent assembly elections, while some others insist that the monarchy be abolished right now. But our party says that as the nation has already promised to go for constituent assembly elections, that poll will address all such issues," said Ram Chandra Poudel, adding that "serious differences have erupted among the seven parties and the Maoists on such issues."

Maoist leader Dina Nath Sharma says the SPA government has not paid attention to resolving the political problem.

"We are always ready to have talks but the government never shows its interest in addressing the political issues. There are several such issues needed to be addressed by the draft interim constitution, which has remained incomplete," said Sharma.

Sources said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala directed Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula to discuss postponement of the talks with the Maoists by one day, saying funeral rites of the Minister for Forests Gopal Rai, who died in the Taplejung helicopter crash, would be held tomorrow.

The government and the Maoists, in a landmark power-sharing agreement in late June, agreed, among others, to dissolve the reinstated House of Representatives and pass an interim statute to open doors for the rebels to join the interim government, which will be mandated to hold elections to the constituent assembly by mid-May next year.

Meanwhile, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, a party from the SPA, today said that the party was unaware about the summit talks and the agenda to be discussed in the talks.

The party has also suggested that it would be appropriate to sit for talks with the Maoists only after reaching a concrete agreement among the SPA on the political issues.

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