Kathmandu, Nepal: A meeting held on Friday among the five major political parties ended inconclusively, thanks to the rigid stands of the parties, particularly the major three- ruling head Nepali Congress, CPN UML and the Maoist Center.
The meeting called by Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba at his official residence, Baluwatar, continued about two hours concentrating on the discussion of resolving the current impasse emerged over forming a national assembly.
As the ordinance forwarded by the government is jammed at the office of the President since two months, serious legal as well as constitutional questions have emerged over the issue of forming the national assembly.
Political parties have also divided over the issues triggering another form of political impasse in the country.
Going contradicting to the ordinance that has provisioned single transferable voting system, the leftist alliance has demanded multiple transferable voting systems with intent to reach in a bay to the Nepali Congress.
The existing constitutional provision neither allows returning back the ordinance to the cabinet nor to stick any ordinance for a long time, President Bidya Devi Bhandari has did so due to the pressure from the leftist alliance.
As president has urged the parties to seek solutions through the consultations, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had summoned the senior leaders of the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Janata Party and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal to hold discussions with intent to reach on a consensus on the National Assembly election Ordinance.
According to a source close to the meeting, UML Chair KP Oli and Nepali Congress senior leader Ramchandra Poudel indulged on heated debate after former claimed that the ordinance was unconstitutional and intended to prolong the tenure of the government.
As Oli demanded to call back the ordinance to incorporate the provision of multiple transferable voting systems, Congress leader Poudel said terming the remarks of Oli as inappropriate.
The ordinance is constitutional and follows the international norms and practice, Poudel said adding that the government would not call back the ordinance in the pressure of the leftist alliance.
The CPN Maoist Center, the integral part of the leftist alliance, has stood in the middle of the two parties insisting for solutions through consultations.
During the meeting, Nepali Congress president and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CN UML chair KP Sharma Oli, CPN Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, RJPN coordinator Mahanta Thakur and Federal Socialist Forum chair Upendra Yadav were present.
