Major parties strike 5-point deal to form national unity govt; ministers resign en masse at midnight

Major political parties - UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and (UML) along with the Madhesi Front signed a five-point agreement Thursday midnight to form a national unity government.

Top leaders of the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, UML and Madhesi Front signing...

This is the first time the major political actors are going to form a national consensus government after the election to the Constituent Assembly.

Several rounds of talks between the major political parties were held throughout the day Thursday and continued till late night, finally resulting in a breakthrough agreement to clear the decks for formation of national unity government under incumbent Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai within the next two days.

As per yesterday’s landmark agreement, all 48 government ministers representing coalition partners UCPN (Maoist) and UDMF in the current cabinet tendered their resignation to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Thursday night itself.

As per the agreement, another government led by the Nepali Congress will be formed ahead of the promulgation of the constitution. The parties also agreed to promulgate the constitution "before May 27".

The next government would hold the general elections within a year after the promulgation of the new constitution. nepalnews.com