Prachanda, Koirala discuss inclusion of Maoists in govt

In what is being seen as a fence- mending meeting, Maoist chief Prachanda and top NC leader G P Koirala have explored ways to include the former rebels in the ruling coalition and discussed setting up of a consultative mechanism to take forward the fragile peace process, including the Constitution-drafting.
Prachanda, the leader of the opposition CPN-Maoist, met Koirala, whose party is a major constituent of the CPN-UML-led coalition government, at the residence of the Nepali Congress (NC) leader at Maharajgunj Monday.
Foreign Minister and Koirala''s daughter Sujata was also present during the meeting. According to sources close to G P Koirala, the NC leader and Prachanda held serious discussions on the evolving political situation during the meeting.
They discussed the formation of a high-level political consultative mechanism and also delved on ways to include Maoists in the ruling coalition to give it a shape of a national government, according to high-level sources. The meeting came against the backdrop of the threat from Prachanda that he would do everything possible to topple the CPN-UML-led government.
After the meeting, Prachanda told reporters that they focussed on forming the consultative mechanism as per the understanding reached earlier among the major parties. "Both of us stressed on the need to set up the high-level political mechanism to give momentum to the peace process and Constitution-drafting," he said.