Nepal’s sulking Maoist party on Tuesday agreed to join the recently elected Constituent Assembly, ending months of political turmoil and paving the way for a new Government and drafting of a fresh Constitution.
The Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist leninist (CPN-UMl) and the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) have agreed on a four-point accord, incuding the formation of a parliamentary panel to look into alleged rigging, NC leader Prakash Man Singh told PTI.
The agreement does not mention who will head the probe into the rigging allegations. The Maoists have been demanding that party chief Prachanda should be made the permanent head of the mechanism.
The political parties also agreed to form a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate atrocities committed by state forces and former rebels during Nepal’s civil war, UCPN-M leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha said.
They agreed in principle to draft the new constitution within sixmonths and promulgate it in a year.
With this agreement in place, the parties are likely to requestthe Election Commission to again extend a deadline to submit thenames of candidates for seats in the Constituent Assembly under the
Proportional Representation system. An earlier deadline set by thepoll panel will end tomorrow.
The formation of the new Constituent Assembly is vital for completinga peace process after the 10-year civil war that killed an estimated16,000 people.
The meeting of the political parties, called by NC President SushilKoirala, was attended by CPN-UMl chairman Jhalanath Khanal, UCPN-Maoistchairman Prachanda, Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum (Nepal) chief UpendraYadav and other senior Madhesi leaders. PTI SBP BOD RHl BOD12242036