Prachanda meets PM, seeks common stance

Prachanda meets PM, seeks common stance
KATHMANDU, Oct 14 - As part of the ongoing homework to explore a common stance between the ruling alliance and Maoists on the issues of monarchy, interim statute and arms management, Maoist chairman Prachanda and second-in-command Dr Baburam Bhattarai met with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Saturday.
The meeting held at the Prime Minister's residence at Baluwatar this evening, was aimed at preparing a framework of consensus on major contentious issues in the ongoing talks, a senior minister said.
"The informal talks have so far been positive in achieving a common view on several political issues," said Pradeep Gyawali, a member of the government talks team and Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation.
Gyawali said that the fourth session of the ongoing second round of the summit talks between the ruling seven-party alliance (SPA) and Maoists to be held on Sunday is likely to yield a consensus on "some" of the prickly political issues.
Earlier on Thursday, the summit talks had been postponed for Sunday, as the two sides could not reach any agreement on any of the contentious issues.
"The meeting between our Chairman Prachanda and PM Koirala was focused on how to prepare a conceptual framework for the consensus we are going to derive during the next summit talks," Dev Gurung, member of the Maoist negotiating team told ekantipur.
Gurung said the negotiating teams of both sides will start working on the nitty-gritty of the issues once a general framework is prepared by top leaders.
He, however, said that no agreement has been reached on any of the political issues so far.
All sides in the negotiations are engaged in internal homework for the next summit talks slated for Sunday.
The top leaders on Thursday had adjourned their meeting until Sunday to carry out extensive homework and develop common positions on contentious issues.
On Tuesday, the seven-party alliance (SPA) government and the Maoists agreed to hold the constituent assembly elections, which will rewrite the country's constitution permanently, by mid-June next year.
Senior rebel commanders in capital
The Maoists too including their senior leaders held an internal meeting in preparation for tomorrow's peace talks.
According to a Maoist source, senior commanders of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the Maoists too, who were hitherto in different districts, have joined their senior leaders to hold discussions in the preparatory meeting for Sunday's peace talks.
The source also said, tomorrow's peace talks will concentrate on completion of the interim constitution and resolving arms management issues.
On Tuesday, the seven-party alliance (SPA) government and the Maoists agreed to hold the constituent assembly elections, which will rewrite the country's constitution permanently, by mid-June next year.

Peace Committee begins discussions on peace accord

KATHMANDU, Oct 13 - Discussions on a peace pact to be signed between the SPA government and the Maoists began Friday.
Members of the Peace Committee formed to assist the ongoing peace process in a meeting discussed the pact today, said co-ordinator of the Peace Committee, Ram Chandra Poudel. "We have begun discussions today and will submit the draft to the government within a few days," he said.
The committee has already submitted its draft pacts on human rights and the ceasefire.
The meeting also discussed the ongoing peace talks between the SPA government and the Maoists.
The 10-member Peace Committee comprises leaders of 10 political parties including the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML.

Significant progress in summit talks, says Prachanda; asks all to remain optimistic
KATHMANDU, Oct 12 - Maoist Chairman Prachanda on Thursday said that the ongoing high-level peace talks between the seven-party alliance (SPA) government and the Maoists were progressing significantly and asked everybody to remain optimistic about a positive outcome when the two sides meet next on Sunday (Oct 15).
"Today's talks were very positive. Learning from past experiences, we are seriously trying to take a mature decision instead of deciding in haste," said the Maoist supremo, adding, "Though today's talks ended quickly, the homework with the government has created a positive environment."
In an exclusive live interview with Kantipur Television after the end of Thursday's session of the summit talks, Prachanda also said that today's SPA-Maoist meeting was "qualitatively better" than the previous two sittings, adding that both the SPA and the Maoists were serious about a positive outcome.
"Though an agreement is yet to be reached, discussions have been held on all major issues with a view to conclude the talks positively," Prachanda said, "We hope that a positive outcome will come out after the interaction (between the SPA and the Maoists) in the next two days."
"We are saying the talks have been positive because the discussions on all crucial issues including the issue of monarchy, management of arms and armies, interim constitution, interim legislature, interim government, fixing dates for constituent assembly polls and its modalities have been positive," Prachanda said.
The spirit of the ongoing talks is to settle the issues of interim constitution-legislature-government by mid-November, he added.
"We are aware about the people's desperation for peace and progressive change…I appeal to everyone to remain convinced about the positive efforts being made for the success of the talks, and at the same time, keep raising voices in a positive way for a new conclusion by October 15," Prachanda said.
He, however, ruled out rumours that he had already reached a "secret agreement" during his informal meeting with PM Koirala, NC-D President Sher Bahadur Deuba, and UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, held at the PM's Residence prior to today's summit talks.
Saying that his party was constantly showing more and more flexibility to resolve the crisis, Prachanda also asserted that the Maoists were ready to lock up all kinds of arms in their possession under an agreement with the UN "if all the eight parties decide for a republic through the constituent assembly."