Kathmandu: President Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday warned against Nepal slipping into another conflict because of the delay in the constitution-writing process, and appealed to political leaders to be accommodative to deliver the statute by the January 22 deadline.
Yadav expressed concerns over the delay to top political leaders in a meeting he called to learn about the progress of the constitution-writing process.
He appealed to them to fulfil their commitments made before people during the 2013 Constituent Assembly polls to deliver a constitution within a year.
The President asked the ruling parties to be accommodative and advised the opposition to provide the base for agreement, according to leaders present in the meeting.
Yadav also held a separate meeting with the leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, UCPN-(Maoist) of Prachanda and other parties representing the interests of Madhesis -- people who inhabit the Terai region.
During the meeting he appealed to the ruling parties to prevent the country from sliding into another conflict, adopt past agreements and understandings, and deliver a constitution as agreed earlier.
The three-party meeting, however, ended inconclusive.
According to Nepali Congress sources, the high-level meet held at the Constitution Assembly Hall at New Baneshwor ended without any decision as Maoist chief Prachanda did not attend.
"We waited for Prachandaji. As he did not appear... We headed to the President for another meeting," Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said after the meeting.
The possibility of delivering a constitution by the January 22 deadline appears bleak as there persist several contentious issues for the political parties to sort out.
The parties are divided on four key issues: forms of governance, federal structure and number of federal units, judicial system and electoral system.
Nepal was declared a secular state through Parliament declaration in 2008 when monarchy was abolished after Maoists came to power.
