Nepal parties drafting C.M.P. to form Maoist-led govt

Kathmandu, Aug 6 (PTI) Nepal's President Wednesday extended by three days a deadline for the Maoists to form the new government, triggering hectic parleys among the four major parties to formulate a common agenda for a coalition led by the ex-rebels to end the four-month-old logjam.

A day after the Nepali Congress, C.P.N. (Maoist),
C.P.N.-U.M.L. and Madeshi People's Rights Forum decided to
form a coalition government based on national consensus, a
task force comprising their representatives held consultations
here.
They discussed the formulation of the common minimum
programme and the modalities of power-sharing, Nepali Congress
general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi told P.T.I.
President Ram Baran Yadav extended by three days the
deadline to allow the Maoists to form a new government as the
seven-day time-frame set by him expired yesterday without the
ex-rebels succeeding to cobble up a majority.
The coming together of the four parties have increased
hopes of a resolution of the political deadlock that plagued
the nation since the April 10 Constituent Assembly polls saw
the Maoists emerging as the single largest party.
The next government faces of the task of drafting a new
constitution within two years and then hold the first
parliamentary polls of republican Nepal.
The three other parties have rejected a C.M.P. formulated
by the Maoists on the ground of being "one-sided". They said
the fresh C.M.P. will accommodate the programmes of all the
four.
The Maoists' C.M.P. included land reform programme, plan
for youth employment, reviewing all international treaties
signed in the past if necessary, reforming the army,
restructuring state mechanism and attracting foreign
investment based on national interest.
The Maoists and other parties have also agreed to forge
"better understanding and clear all doubts and
misunderstandings" created during the presidential polls.
They have agreed to fully implement all past agreements
signed between the ex-rebels and the government including
managing the Maoist combatants and their weapons and
dissolving Maoists' semi-military organisations before the
formation of the next government, Nidhi said.