Nepal President urges all parties to prepare for polls

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged all the political parties to work towards ending the current stalemate over the constitution amendment bill for the sake of implementing the charter by holding the elections.

During an all-party meeting held at Sheetal Niwas on Sunday, President Bhandari advised the ruling coalition of the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Nepali Congress, the main opposition CPN-UML and the Madhes-based parties to work jointly on holding the three layers of elections to be held by January, 2018, reports the Kathmandu Post.

The President stressed that it was because of consensus among the political parties that the country had come so far with the new constitution.

The government registered a constitution amendment bill in Parliament last Tuesday with an aim to address the demands of the Madhes-based parties, mainly over the provincial boundaries, citizenship, language and representation in the Upper House.

However, the amendment bill seems to have further polarised the political forces, with the UML objecting to the proposed reshaping of Province 5 and the Madhesi Morcha refusing to accept the bill in its present form. The UML has hit the streets and obstructed parliamentary proceedings demanding that the ruling coalition withdraw the amendment bill.

In the meeting, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is learnt to have expressed his readiness to seek political consensus with the UML and the Madhesi Morcha for the sake of implementing the constitution.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, the Madhes-based forces said they had apprised the President on the need for revising the bill.

UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli reportedly told the ruling parties and the President that his party was fully committed to holding the polls.