The “summit level meeting” between top leaders of the ruling Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and CPN (Maoist) scheduled on Friday has been postponed.

The decision was taken after an informal meeting between the members of the government and Maoist negotiating teams in Lalitpur Thursday evening.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, chief Maoist negotiator Krishna Bahadur Mahara said the “summit meeting” had been postponed on the basis of consensus. He said both the sides were engaged in necessary “home work” and expressed hope that talks would take place soon.

Earlier, during an informal meeting at the Godavari resort last Friday, leaders of the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist) had agreed to hold the second round of ‘summit talks” on Friday. However, members of the ruling SPA later said they needed more time prepare for the “summit talks.”

During the first “summit level talks” that were held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Kathmandu on June 16, both sides had reached into an eight-point agreement. However, the decision to “dissolve the reinstated House of Representatives by making an alternative arrangement” drew sharp criticism from the ruling alliance constituents. There have been discussions on constituting an “interim legislature” but the SPA is yet to arrive at a consensus on the basis.

A parliamentary committee on Wednesday asked the government to enter into Ceasefire, Peace and Human Rights agreements with the rebels as part of the peace process. Officials say the “Peace Committee” led by Nepali Congress general secretary, Ram Chandra Poudel, has been working on to draft those agreements.