The Nepali Congress (NC) has said it will take the lead to end the political deadlock, which emerged following the constitution promulgation, through dialogue with the ruling and protesting regional parties.  

At the first meeting of the NC Central Working Committee (CWC) after the party’s 13th General Convention, held on March 3-6 to elect new leadership, on Friday, the main opposition party said that as the largest party in Parliament, it is the responsibility of the Nepali Congress to start the process to resolve the political stalemate.

The meeting, presided over by the newly elected party President Sher Bahadur Deuba, also decided to create an environment to make the Constitution of Nepal acceptable to all.

Currently, around a dozen Madhes-based political parties are protesting against the constitution, saying that the charter promulgated on September 20 has failed to address the concerns of some sections of the society. The Madhes-based parties have made redrawing of federal boundaries their key demand.

The newly elected NC President Deuba has long been saying that he will take “some concrete steps” to bring the Madhesi parties on board and resolve the ongoing political problems which could hamper the charter implementation.

“The constitution was promulgated under the leadership of the NC. So the CWC has decided to play a similar role to make it acceptable to all dissenting forces,” said Balkrishna Khand, a CWC member of the party. “It will start dialogue with all the parties to find a meeting point,” he added. Friday’s meeting also formed a three-member committee comprising CWC members Ramesh Rijal, Surendra Pandey and Guru Ghimire for the election of Parliamentary Party leader. The post is lying vacant after the death of former prime minister and then NC president Sushil Koirala on February 9.

Ram Chandra Poudel, who lost to Deuba in the party presidential election, is once again likely to contest against Deuba for the post of PP leader. The Constitutional Council (CC) has not been able to convene its meeting as the NC does not have a PP leader at present. As per the constitution, the leader of the main opposition must be present for the CC to hold a meeting.

Friday’s NC CWC meeting, however, did not enter into the agenda of nominating three office bearers: party vice president, general secretary and joint general secretary.

According to Khand, who is close to Deuba, the nominations for the remaining office bearers will be made only after the election of the PP leader. The meeting also decided to hold general conventions of its sister-wings within six months. Conventions of some of the sister wings, including the Nepal Student Union, have not been held for over a decade.

Friday’s CWC meeting also spent a considerable amount of time to criticise the government for “its failure to ensure smooth supply of the daily essentials and curb black-marketeering”.

The main opposition party also flayed the government for its lackadaisical approach towards reconstruction and sluggish progress in rebuilding quake-ravaged structures.