The Interim Constitution Drafting Committee (ICDC) has asked the government and the Maoists to reach consensus on an alternative body in place of the parliament.

The ICDC made the appeal during consultations with the government and the Maoist talks teams on Wednesday. The Maoists are demanding immediate dissolution of the parliament and the ruling seven party alliance are advocating in favour of continuing the parliament.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, coordinator of the ICDC, former Justice of the Supreme Court, Laxman Prasad Aryal, said the committee has already completed the draft of the constitution and will finalize it once the government and Maoists reach consensus on the alternative parliament issue.

The meeting of the top leaders of the ruling seven party alliance and the Maoists are expected to approve the draft presented by the ICDC.

Members of the Government-Maoist talks team in an interaction program with Interim Constitution Drafting Committee members to find consensus on some important issues to be incorporated in the draft, Wednesday, Aug 02 06. nepalnews.com/rh

Coordinator of the government talks team Krishna Prasad Sitaula and coordinator of the Maoist talks team Krishna Bahadur Mahara said they were satisfied with what had been done by the committee and added that the seven-party alliance and the Maoists were yet to reach an understanding on political issues to be incorporated in the interim statute.

Meanwhile, the Government-Maoist talks teams said that they would be able to come up with a common understanding on the issue of arms management of both sides by tomorrow when the high level assessment mission of United Nations leaves for New York.

Talking to journalists after holding interaction with the ICDC at Peace Secretariat coordinator of the government talks team, Sitaula said, “We may come up with a common understanding about arms management by tomorrow.”

He further said that another round of talks with the Maoist talks team would reach a common understanding in this regard.

Coordinator of the Maoist talks team Mahara also said that they would discuss the issue of arms management and try to reach a consensus by tomorrow.

Mahara however ruled our that Maoist arms would be managed before the election of the constituent assembly.

He said, “The Maoist army will stay in some particular area during the election of the constituent assembly, so it will not have any impact during the constituent assembly poll.”

He added that the rebels’ army will be managed as per the constitution formed after the election of the constituent assembly.

Talking to Nepalnews on Wednesday, one of the members of the Maoist talks team, Dev Gurung, said that the armies from both the sides should be treated equally and be placed under the supervision of the UN during the election of the constituent assembly.

He suggested to keep the armies of both the sides in camps during the election of constituent assembly. They would then be managed after the election of the constituent assembly.