Kathmandu – UCPN (Maoist) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that their alliance of opposition parties and the ruling NC and UML are still far from reaching a consensus on the key issue of the new constitution.
At a hastily-called press conference on Monday evening, Dahal said, "The key issue (of the new constitution) is the basis of federalism; and we are yet to reach an agreement on this very issue."
Dahal said they are close to an agreement only on the issues of judiciary and electoral system.
"We are even ready to give up our stance on form of governance," said he. "But, that could be possible only when the NC and UML agree to our demand of identity-based federalism."
On Sunday, MJF (Democratic) leader Bijaya Gachchhadar, whose party is a member of the UCPN (Maoist)-led alliance of 30 opposition parties, had told journalists that they were close to an agreement on almost all the disputed issues.
Quoting Gachchhadar and some NC and UML leaders, major daily newspapers on Monday reported that the political parties had narrowed down their differences on basis of federalism, judiciary model, electoral system and form of governance.
In the afternoon, leaders from the both sides, however, started claiming that there was no agreement as such.
The UML Chair KP Oli, addressing his party cadres at an event in Kathmandu, alleged that Dahal backtracked from what he had agreed on just a day before.
Later, Dahal said, "I have not backtracked. In fact, all media reports about our agreement are baseless."