Talking, finally

The meeting between Prime Minister Karki and leaders of big parties is a step in the right direction.

Political developments of the past few days have increased the prospect of March 5 elections. Not long ago, things looked much bleaker. But on Tuesday, chiefs of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the Nepali Communist Party—the first, second and third largest forces in the dissolved House of Representatives—sat down with Prime Minister Sushila Karki. The ice-breaking meeting was convened by President Ramchandra Paudel. For the first time since September 12 when Karki became prime minister, top leaders of the three major parties sat down with her. Otherwise, until recently, Oli, who was ousted by the Gen Z uprising and replaced by Karki, had ruled out participation in polls conducted under her leadership. For her part Karki had reportedly said she didn’t even wish to meet Sher Bahadur Deuba, KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal.