Nepal president calls all-party meeting amid political crisis

Kathmandu: Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss contemporary issues amid the political crisis that has gripped the country, with the ruling CPN-UML factions, including the one led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, making last-ditch efforts to strike a deal to sustain the government, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Tika Dhakal, a senior communication expert at the Office of the President, said that President Bhandari has called a meeting of leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament as well as former prime ministers to discuss contemporary politics, the Kathmandu Post reported. The parties represented in the Nepal Parliament that will attend the meeting are Prime Minister Oli's CPN-UML, Nepali Congress led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, CPN-Maoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda", Janata Samajbadi Party, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, Rashtriya Janamorcha and Nepal Majdoor Lisa Party.

The meeting comes amid a political crisis triggered by Prime Minister Oli's dissolution of the House of Representatives in December. However, in a landmark ruling, the apex court last month reinstated the lower house of Parliament.