In a desperate bid to find agreement, the parties sat together until wee hours on Friday morning. The meeting that began late in the evening on Thursday finally ended with a 5-point deal between the three parties and Madhesi front, following which the ministers have resigned en masse from their offices. They submitted their resignation to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai under the condition that the national unity government would be formed under Bhattarai.
The parties had to come up with a clear deal again after there was difference in the reading of Wednesday’s informal understanding. While the NC and UML claimed that the Maoists and Madhesis had agreed to step down from their office and dissolve the government in order to pave way for national consensus government, the later insisted that the agreement was reached for reshuffling of the cabinet.
A new coalition government will be formed under PM Baburam Bhattarai, including leaders from the NC and the UML within two days. The parties have also agreed to sort out all contentious issues of constitution drafting within the next three days and to promulgate it within the 27 May deadline.
According to the agreement, PM Bhattarai will have to resign before 27 May and open roads for a NC-led national consensus government. The new government will be expected to hold parliamentary elections in a year after drafting the constitution.