Nepal's major parties ink deal on 6-province model along with delineation

Nepal's major political parties agreed on Saturday night to a federal model with six provinces along with their delineation, party leaders said.

The major parties - the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), UCPN ( Maoist) and the Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum (Democratic), are all involved in the Special Committee of the Constituent Assembly's Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee.

They have agreed in writing to opt for the six-province model with the boundaries of the new federal provinces fixed, the leaders said following a meeting.

The deal will be forwarded to committees in the Constituent Assembly to be formalized, the leaders added.

The six provinces have yet to be named.

However, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and MJF (D) Chairman Vijaya Kumar Gachhadar expressed their reservation over the demarcation of the federal provinces.

Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told media that the country would promulgate a new constitution soon.

According to the leaders, a meeting of the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee would approve the deal and finalise its report before sending it to the 601-member Constituent Assembly.

Constituent Assembly Chairman Subhash Nembang has summoned a meeting on Sunday.

The major parties had earlier vowed to promulgate the new constitution by August through fast-track.

If the new constitution is promulgated, it would be Nepal's first full-fledged constitution after the country became a democratic republic in 2008. Endi