He had talks separately with Maoist Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya, who leads the party´s rival faction, and General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa of the same group, and sought their cooperation to settle the major contentious issues in the peace process. [break]
Both Baidya and Thapa have objected strongly to proposals put forth by the prime minister and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants.
While Bhattarai and Dahal have lately appeared keen to resolve the integration issue, leaders from the Baidya faction have stood against integration unless it is in ´a dignified fashion´.
"This is an initiative taken with a view to create an environment conducive for the upcoming Central Committee meeting of the party and to seek cooperation from the party´s senior leader in running the government," said Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister, Devendra Paudel.
However, according to another Maoist leader privy to the talks, Baidya told the prime minister that he was never against expediting the peace process and constitution writing as projected outside.
"We are always for concluding the twin tasks at the earliest but the main issue is what type of statute you are going to frame and how you are to integrate the PLA," the Maoist leader quoted Baidya as telling the prime minister. "Are we here just for drafting a constitution as per the wishes of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML?"
The prime minister also urged Baidya to send minister-nominees into the government and give the cabinet full shape. The minister-nominees from the Baidya faction have refused to join the cabinet following the party´s factional dispute over allocation of ministerial portfolios among Maoist ministers.
PM assures speaker on expediting peace process
The prime minister assured Speaker Subas Nembang that he had already talked to key leaders within his own party and other parties and that he was optimistic about expediting the peace process within a couple of days.
"He told me that he will make some tangible progress by Monday. And he was quite optimistic of seeing some achievement in the next two days," Nembang told Republica.
The speaker said he called on the prime minister as part of his continuing efforts to push key leaders to advance the peace process.
He said this was a followup with the prime minister because the latter and other top leaders had earlier pledged to expedite the peace process prior to Vijay Dashami.
"They then said they would do it after Dashain and the prime minister promised to make tangible progress before he left for India. But we have seen no results so far," he said.
"I have been consistently urging the leaders because they halted the constitution making process on the understanding that they would resume it only after settling the peace process," he said.
A Maoist leader claimed that the prime minister, who held a meeting with Baidya and Thapa before talking to the speaker, was optimistic as he found Baidya ready to settle the contentious issues through the party´s Central Committee and not further prolong the indecisiveness.
Dahal assures prez of expediting peace and statute
Meanwhile, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has assured President Dr Ram Baran Yadav that his party was not delaying the constitution making and peace process any further.
Dahal made this clear Saturday after the head of state invited in the chief of the largest party and enquired about the reason behind further delay in statute drafting and the peace process.
"Worried about the fast approaching Constituent Assembly (CA) deadline of November 30, the president invited him to his office and enquired about it," President´s Press Advisor Rajendra Dahal told Republica. Yadav had expressed concern that failure to make tangible progress on the twin tasks may spread frustration among the people.
"We are going to conclude the peace process soon. Then we will expedite the statute drafting. This time we are not causing further delay," Dahal quoted the Maoist chairman as saying.
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