Prez starts political consultations

KATHMANDU, July 26 - President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Friday started political consultations on the formation of a new government. Dr Yadav held separate meetings with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and top Maoist and UML leaders in this connection. Dr Yadav sought suggestions from Koirala on how to ... ...the parties and who should be invited to form the government.According to a source close to Koirala, the PM suggested that the president consult all the political parties first and call upon the Maoists to take initiatives in their capacity as the largest party, toward forging a consensus for government formation.Koirala said there was need for a consensus government at least until the drafting of the constitution.In the evening, Dr Yadav held a meeting with Maoist leaders and asked them to take immediate initiatives to form a government of national consensus."We informed the president that there will be no moral ground for us to lead the new government while the alliance forged at the time of the presidential election remains intact," said Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara.Mahara said the Maoist leaders have informed the president that the three points raised by them during an all-party meeting Thursday were not preconditions for government formation under their leadership but ways to make for a conducive atmospher.Mahara said the president is meeting all the 25 parties in the Constituent Assembly as part of his political consultations.During their meeting with the president, UML leaders argued that there was need for an all-party government to ensure smoothness in framing the constitution."Since it is the serious responsibility of the new government to draft a new constitution, we need a stable government," said UML General Secretary Jhala Nath Khanal. "So we suggested to the president that there is a need to form a national government through the consensus of all the parties in the CA." He said the UML has stressed the need for comprehensive discussions on formation of the government.PM meets Madhesi leaders Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala met with leaders of the Tarai Madhes Democratic Party and Sadbhawana Party at his residence. According to Sadbhawana leader Rajendra Mahato, the prime minister was in favor of forming a government of national consensus."We also had the same opinion that the constitution-making process would be difficult if we fail to form a government of national consensus," said Mahato.Both the PM and Madhesi party leaders had the common position that alternatives should be sought only if the Maoists refuse to lead the future government.A participant at the meeting said the Madhesi leaders urged the PM to take the initiative for controlling the protests against Vice President Paramanda Jha for his oath-taking in Hindi.The prime minister also met Indian ambassador Rakesh Sood and discussed recent political developments.

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