HLPC decides to send third letter to disgruntled parties

KATHMANDU: In a bid to convince the poll-opposing 33-party alliance, the High Level Political Committee (HLPC), the cross-party task-force formed to support the Chief Justice led election government, has decided to send another written invitation to the 33-party alliance led by CPN-Maoist for talks.

A meeting of the HLPC decided to send the third letter, addressing the 33-party alliance instead of its major few allies such as Mohan Baidya’s CPN-M. The HLPC decision comes a day after the disgruntled parties said they were ready to sit for talks, but won’t accept any precondition.

The 33-party alliance also decided to participate in talks as a single entity instead of engaging in separate talks with the constituents.

CPN-Maoist had earlier rejected the invitation from the HLPC for talks expressing dissatisfaction over the language used in the letter. Earlier today, leaders of HLPC held separate meetings with the leaders of the dissenting parties. UCPN-Maoist chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who heads the HLPC, will write the letter.

According to UML leader Raghuji Pant, who was present in the HLPC meeting, the letter will address the concerns raised by the 33-party alliance for it to participate in talks

UCPN-Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal had discussed with Federal Socialist Party Nepal Chairman Ashok Rai. In response to Dahal’s request to sit for dialogues and take part in elections, Rai said that his party would join the election process if its demands, including fixing the proportional ratio, were met.