Barely three weeks after agreeing to hold new elections, leaders of two major parties have spoken publicly about the reinstatement of the defunct Constituent Assembly.
At a programme organised at the Reporters' Club in Kathmandu on Tuesday, UCPN(M) spokesperson Agni Sapkota said that his party would agree to an Nepali Congress-led consensus government only if the CA was revived to pass the constitution based on issues that have been agreed upon. "Otherwise," he added, "the government will expand the cabinet and move forward."
Earlier on Tuesday, a meeting between UCPN(M) officials at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar had concluded that the PM could not resign unless the parties agreed to a 'package deal'.
But speaking at the same programme, NC central committee member Arjun Narsingh KC refused Sapkota's offer saying that CA-revival was against democracy and the Supreme Court, and that his party would not be lured into agreeing to such proposals.
On Monday, a meeting at NC president Sushil Koirala's residence discussed UCPN(M) president Pushpa Kamal Dahal's proposal to revive the CA. NC vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel then spoke on Tuesday about the need to revive the CA.