Kathmandu, December 4:

The Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-Maoist leaders could not meet today for talks to evolve a way out of the current political crisis with both the parties remaining adamant on their respective stances.

The talks were initially planned to be held between NC delegation led by Sushil Koirala and Maoist delegation headed by Dr Baburam Bhattarai. The unchanged bone of contention between the two parties is implementation of the directives issues at the end of the special session on early republic and election system based on all-out proportional representation.

“We were looking forward to talks. But that did not materialise since they (Maoists) expressed inability to attend the meeting. They had some engagements of their own. We are meeting tomorrow,” said NC leader Dr Minendra Rijal while talking to this daily.

The talks were expected to revolve around evolving a common stance on the need to reschedule election to constituent assembly before mid-April, rather than remaining stuck on their respective political stands.

The talks are part of the series of meetings such as the one which was held between NC and CPN-UML yesterday.

Meanwhile, the NC today maintained that the United Nation Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) needs to “stick to its mandate” even after its extention here for six months, while the UNMIN expressed “constraint” about the mandate that they have been given.

Some NC central leaders today “exchanged ideas” related to the peace process with UNMIN chief Ian Martin. NC central leader Dr Prakash Saran Mahat termed the meeting an “exchange of ideas” on the difficulties faced by both the sides for “safe-landing” of the peace process.

The two sides also discussed on the continued Maoist atrocities like abduction and extortion.

The issue of Maoist combatants displaying arms during a programme in Chitwan recently was also discussed, a source said. The UNMIN, however, said the whole episode happened inside the cantonment.

NC leader Dr Ram Saran Mahat, who was also present during the meeting, said the UNMIN needs to “stick to its mandate”.