Kathmandu, May 27: Nepal’s president urged the leaders of the three main parties Thursday to resolve a deadlock that threatens to plunge the troubled nation into political chaos without a functioning government.
Ram Baran Yadav called an emergency meeting after days of talks between the parties failed to make any progress on agreement to extend the term of the current parliament, or Constituent Assembly (CA), which expires on Friday.
“The president expressed his concerns at the impending turmoil that will hit the nation if the CA tenure is not extended on time,” Yadav’s spokesman Rajendra Dahal told AFP.
“The president urged all leaders to forge consensus and move ahead to save the country from a political crisis.”
Nepal’s coalition government has introduced a bill to extend the term of the parliament, which was elected in 2008 with the task of writing a new constitution within two years to pave the way for fresh polls this year.
But the parties failed to agree on the contents of the constitution and now the opposition Maoist party, which holds the highest number of seats, is refusing to vote for the bill unless the prime minister stands down.
The Maoists fought a decade-long civil war against the state before winning 2008 elections, but have been in opposition for the past year.
Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, has been locked in talks with the leaders of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and Nepali Congress to press his demands for a new power-sharing government.
But the other parties are refusing to stand down, resulting in the current deadlock.
“The president asked us about the efforts being made to solve the prolonged political crisis,” UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal told reporters after the meeting with Yadav.
“In order to avert a constitutional crisis, which is likely following the failure to extend the CA, we all agreed that there is no alternative to consensus.
“We told him that we are trying to forge consensus,” he added.
—Agencies