Kathmandu, Nov 2:  Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki held discussions with Nepali Congress General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma.

According to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the meeting was part of her consultations with political leaders regarding the upcoming elections. The discussion, which lasted about an hour from 4 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, focused on the government’s and political parties’ preparations for the polls and the steps needed in the coming days, said the PM’s chief personal secretary Adarsh Kumar Shrestha.

PM Karki stressed the need for political parties to make clear commitments to the elections. In response, Thapa and Sharma said, “Although a formal decision is yet to be made, the Nepali Congress is committed to participating in the elections. We will finalize the decision soon. We believe the CPN-UML also cannot avoid elections if it wants to provide the nation with a political way out. The government should make more efforts to bring UML on board, and we will do our part as well.”

They also informed the Prime Minister that their party plans to hold intensive discussions with Gen Z youth groups and other political forces. The Congress leaders said there should be early agreement on how to address the youth movement’s demands before the elections and what the first session of the new parliament should decide after the polls.

PM Karki has also invited UML leaders for similar talks. The UML leadership informed Baluwatar that due to their party meeting today, they would meet the Prime Minister another day.

Prime Minister Karki has already held several rounds of talks with leaders from different parties, and a tripartite dialogue among the government, political parties, and Gen Z youth has also been held at her initiative.

People’s News Monitoring Service