UCPN-M has proposed to go for seven-province model that NC, UML presented on Nov 3 Kathmandu, August 19 Special Committee formed by Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee held a marathon meeting today on key issues of constitution but failed to reach a conclusion. Negotiators said they were close to reaching an agreement and would probably settle the key issues tomorrow, including the boundaries of the provinces. According to Unified CPN-Maoist negotiator Narayan Kaji Shrestha, his party proposed to go for seven-province model as presented by the ruling parties, including the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, on November 3 to the CPDCC. Shrestha said his party also proposed to put Rolpa and Pyuthan into Province No 4 and carve out a separate Tharuhat province from Nawalparasi to half of the Kailali district and if they did not agree on this proposal then his party would write a note of dissent on NC/UML’s decision. Shrestha said his party decided to write a note of dissent so that the constitution-making process could move on. NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Democratic Chair Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar termed UCPN-M’s proposal positive. According to Shrestha, UML negotiators told the UCPN-M leaders that they would think about it but Prime Minister Sushil Koirala was livid after listening to the UCPN-M’s proposal and said, “I do not know what they (second generation NC leaders) made me sign on.” The PM then left the meeting venue. Shrestha said the UCPN-M leaders then asked NC negotiators what the PM meant when he said he did not know what he was made to sign on, but the NC negotiators said they too did not know and they would ask the PM tomorrow what he really meant. Exiting from the meeting, CPDCC Chair Baburam Bhattarai said they had resolved most of the issues but they were yet to resolve the boundary question. When asked why they failed to sort out all the key issues today even after discussing for hours, Bhattarai said, “Sometimes birth pangs can prolong for unnecessarily long hours.” NC Vice-president Ramchandra Paudel said parties were close to an agreement on the key issues of the constitution and they would probably finalise the issues tomorrow. He said parties decided to hold internal, bilateral and trilateral meetings on the boundaries of the provinces and the status of some districts before sitting for final agreement tomorrow. Paudel said boundary question was becoming tricky for the negotiators. “There were proposals for five-, six-, seven- and eight-province models but eight-province model was not possible as that was rejected by the people,” Paudel said. UML Deputy General Secretary Bishnu Paudel said they would probably reach a deal tomorrow and he was confident that the parties would not go for more than six provinces.