Nepal parties mull national govt to meet post-quake challenges

Nepal's major political parties today proposed to form a national coalition government to effectively meet the challenges that have arisen in the wake of the devastating quake that has struck the country.
Former prime ministers Jhalanath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal from CPN-UML, Baburam Bhattarai of UCPN-Maoist and other leaders called on the country's political parties to come together to help speed the relief and reconstruction work.
They proposed the idea of formation of a national consensus government to deal with the challenges.
"Let's give the leadership to an able one and let's give a visionary leadership," said Bhattarai, a senior Maoist leader.

The leaders urged all parties to work with consensus and set aside their differences to work for the long-pending constitution writing process and holding local elections after more than a decade.
Speaking at a meeting of Legislature-Parliament, Khanal called for expediting re-settlement of displaced quake-victims and construction of the damaged infrastructure, in view of the monsoon.

"The earthquake certainly cost the country the loss of life and property, but has offered us an opportunity to build a new nation," Khanal said.
The CPN-UML leader said the government's relief operation was not up to the mark given Nepal's complex geology and due to difficulty in transportation in remote areas.

He asked leaders of all political parties to stay united.
The constitution writing process has proved to be a cumbersome work for Nepal's ruling and opposition parties.
For the last eight years they have vigorously argued their differences. The division between the parties are mainly on over four issues which include forms of governance, names and number of federal units, electoral system and judicial system.
But after the 7.9 magnitude quake, the political parties appear to have come together, in a likely boost for constitution writing process and national government.
About 8,000 people have died and nearly 17,000 have been injured in the massive quake. More than two lakh houses have been damaged.

Khanal attributed the loss of life and property to the lack of disaster management and preparedness.