The president at the same time urged agitating political parties to sit for talks with the government and other major parties by becoming flexible on their demands.[break]
President Yadav suggested to Khanal to further intensify negotiations with the agitating parties to make sure that more parties join the election process.
´Focus all the energies in creating election environment. Listen more seriously to the dissidents" concerns and persuade more and more political parties into joining the elections process,´ president"s press advisor Rajendra Dahal quoted Yadav as saying during the meeting with Khanal on Tuesday.
Saying that only an election can bring the entire political course onto the right track, the president suggested to Khanal to urge all major political parties to concentrate solely on the new election and aviod wasting time and energy in insignificant issues.
HLPC Coordinator Khanal reached the president"s office at Sheetal Niwas on Tuesday to brief the head of state on the discussions taking place among the constituent parties of the HLPC in the recent days.
HLPC member parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and United Madhesi Democratic Front (UDMF) -- themselves are sharply divided over some of the proposed provisions relating to election laws while some dissident political parties including Mohan Baidya"s CPN-Maoist, Upendra Yadav"s Madhesi People"s Rights Forum Nepal and Ashok Rai"s Federal Socialist Party have openly announced to boycott the elections if conducted by the current government.
The president also talked to MPRF-N Chairman Upendra Yadav on Monday and repeatedly urged the latter to be flexible and sincere toward participating in the election.
´Try to get more and more of your demands addressed now but don"t be rigid on the demands. There shouldn"t be a situation when election is foiled just because of your demands,´ Dahal quoted the president as saying to the MPRF-N chairman.
He also suggested to the dissidents that they can try their level best to get their demands fulfilled from the negotiation table. The president was of the view that if dissident parties" demands aren"t addressed before elections then they should contest the election with those very issues.
According to Dahal, the president is holding talks with major political parties as well as agitating groups with a broader perspective of how to make the election possible instead of discussing specific contentious issues.
Lately, the president is also concerned over the delay in finalizing the election ordinance and fixing the poll date even as nearly three months have passed after the formation of the present interim government with the only objective of conducting polls.
´The government still has time to conduct election but frustration is likely to increase among the public as there has not been satisfactory progress in recent days toward preparing firm ground for the elections,´ said Dahal. ´Therefore, it is obvious that the president is concerned.´
The government has failed to forward the ordinance on election laws and to fix the poll date as major political parties have remained sharply divided over some crucial election-related provisions. The dissident parties have demanded dissolution of the present Chief Justice-led government and formation of a government of political parties and revocation of new election provisions proposed by the Election Commission in the ordinance.
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