The Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist organised a roundtable discussion involving leaders of almost all political parties and civil society representatives. The party said the roundtable was part of its bid to find a way out of the current political deadlock.

Leaders of the major parties spent most of their time reasserting their respective positions and blaming the opponents.

UCPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said fresh election for the Constituent Assembly would be best option in the present context. He said his party was not the ready to back the Nepali Congress to lead the next government, but would reconsider its position provided there was an agreement on identity-based federalism and on how to promulgate the constitution.

He also said the UCPN (M) was ready for an election government headed by a civil society leader or a former Chief Justice.

Responding to comments of opposition leaders over the attempts to form a Maoist-led alliance of 'federalists', Dahal said the NC and the UML could as well form such a similar alliance if they were feeling threatened.

Likewise, NC vice chairman Ram Chandra Poudel said the UCPN (M)'s latest initiation to form an alliance was nothing but an attempt to project the opposition parties as anti-federalists. Things will take a course only when Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai resigns, he argued.

UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal accused the UCPN (M) of obstructing a consensus between the parties and that solution would not be possible if the parties continued to stick to their the stances.

CPN-Maoist chairman Mohan Baidya said his party hosted the roundtable as it believed that only such a broad debate could lead to a solution. He also said his party should get the leadership of next government as the UCPN (M), NC and UML have already proven themselves a failure. nepalnews.com