PM emphasises need for Nepal political parties to join hands

Singh and Nepal met on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit during which they held detailed discussions on the status of the peace process in Nepal, including the redrafting of the Constitution.

Nepal, while apprising Singh about the latest on the peace process front, said that differences persisted among the parties because of which much progress could not be made on redrafting of the Constitution, sources said.

He particularly talked about the stiff attitude of the Maoists which was hampering the process of redrafting the Constitution, they said.

As per the agreement between mainstream parties and Maoists in 2006, the new Nepal Constitution is to be written by May 28. However, the parties continue to be divided, making very difficult the possibility of new Constitution being drafted within the prescribed time.

Singh underlined the need for the Nepalese parties to sink their differences and join hands to take the peace process to its logical conclusion, the sources said.

The Nepalese government does not seem to be much hopeful about the process of rewriting the Constitution to be completed by the targeted deadline.

"It does not look like. I don't know what will really happen. We still have to decide, all parties. Right now we are in discussions whether to continue Parliament or to have other arrangements," Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala said here two days ago.
She said her Nepal Congress party feels that there should be a national consensus government which will include Maoists.

"We should solve the problem through dialogue... Maoists are the single largest party in Parliament and we need their support to write the Constitution. We need them inside the government. So we will try to bring them in the government. Without them how will you write the Constitution," she said.

She said Maoists had been asked to join the government and support the peace process.
However, "they don't want this government. They want their own Prime Minister. Prachanda wants to be the Prime Minister himself," Koirala said.

"But national consensus is needed. We have to solve the problem through dialogue," she said, adding "We are telling them how much ever provocative you may be, how much ever you break the peace process, we will stand by our issues".

Maoist leader Prachanda has been at loggerheads with the mainstream political parties ever since he quit in anger in August 2008 after President Ram Baran Yadav overturned his decision to sack the then Army Chief R Katawal.