Nepal's political parties have agreed to hold elections to the constituent assembly in November this year.
At a crucial meeting held at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's residence in Baluwatar, the nation's eight political parties asked the government to fix the date of polls to decide the fate of the monarchy by Mangshir as per the Nepalese Calender, which lies in the month of November, Anil Jhapa, central member of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party, who was also present at the meeting, said.
However, the exact date for the polls will be fixed by the cabinet, he said.
The eight parties also decided to review the delineation of the electoral constituencies to accommodate the demands of agitating Madhesi groups.
The meeting also agreed to find a solution to the problems related to the agitating teachers, civil servants and the landless settlers for creating a favourable atmosphere for the election.
The meeting also asked the government to expedite works of the probe commission formed to investigate into the violence in Terai which claimed at least 60 lives.
This was one of the major demands of the agitating Madhesi groups.
The eight-party meeting also urged the government to initiate a dialogue with the agitating Terai and ethnic groups and ensure peace and security in the country during the polls.
However, the Nepal Communist Party-UML and Nepal Sadbhavana Party separately wrote notes of dissent in the minutes in favour of adopting a proportionate election procedure while conducting the constituent assembly polls as no consensus was reached in this regard, a source at Baluwatar said.
Besides Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Maoist chief Prachanda, CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress (Democratic) President Sher Bahadur Deuba were among the top leaders present at the three-hour meeting.
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