Putting an end to weeks of political deadlock, top leaders of three parties have declared that they have found mutual grounds to agree upon. The parties say they have resolved a crucial issue of governance form. After the meeting, top three leaders interacted with the media and said they have agreed on a directly-elected president and parliamentary elected prime minister with executive powers divided between the two. The leaders also said they are close to resolving dispute on state restructuring.
For the last couple of weeks, parties have been staying put on their respective stance on federalism. Last week, the constitutional committee asked the dispute resolution sub committee to prepare a list of unresolved issues to be tabled for voting in the CA, but the exercise was dropped after the committee realised that voting would be inconclusive. So it asked top leaders to find a mutual point of agreement on all issues.
NC leader Minendra Rijal says voting on outstanding issues is a futile exercise as it will only polarise opinions. “Nobody has the numbers required to push through their agendas, so breaking down negotiation now will only upset the environment of trust needed to move ahead,” he told Nepali Times.
Leader of cross party political caucus of indigenous lawmakers, Prithvi Subba Gurung believes that parties have no choice but to agree on federalism based on identity. He ridiculed public statements made by NC and UML leaders asking lawmakers to respect partys' whip if there is voting and warning them of serious action if they failed to follow instructions. “Trying to stifle dissenting voices is not acceptable in a democracy and such statements only expose how undemocratic Nepal’s political parties are,” said Gurung.
But even Gurung seems confident that there will be no voting and parties will arrive at a point of agreement. He said, “We are already standing here, now our leaders will have to find the courage to take a step forward and stand with us. Only then can we hope to move ahead.”