Kathmandu, Aug 18: The second day of peace talks between rebels and the Nepalese government, scheduled to be held in the Maoist stronghold dang, has been delayed due to bad weather. A negotiator said rain had prevented a helicopter from ferrying the government team to dang from Nepalgunj where the two sides had met yesterday.
The government side is being represented by Finance Minister Prakash Chandra Lohani and Minister for Information and Communications Kamal Thapa at the talks which resumed after a seven-month deadlock.
The venue of the talks has been changed because the rebels wanted to hold talks "in secrecy and away from the media," he said.
The first session of talks yesterday in Nepalgunj did not make much headway as the rebels rejected the government's proposals for sweeping constitutional reforms.
"We are disappointed by the government's political proposal as we want a complete change, not just reforms," chief Maoist negotiator Baburam Bhattarai said after the talks yesterday, adding "the government's proposal does not resolve the current political crisis."
In its political concept paper presented at the first session of talks, the government had said it was ready to form a multi-party interim regime which would include the Maoists, but rejected the rebels' demand for elections to a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. Bureau Report